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THUS HE PREACHED TO THEM

A Collection of
Homilies and Reflections of
Servant of God
Mgr R. F. C. Mascarenhas
Edited by
Ronald Serrao
Published by
Asian Trading Corporation
Bangalore, India
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THUS HE PREACHED TO THEM
A Collection of Mgr R. F. C. Mascarenhas
Homilies and Reflections
Imprimatur
+ Most Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D Souza
Bishop of Mangalore
11.08.2014
Copies : 1000
Copyright 2014
The Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means - for example, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording without the prior written
permission of the Superior General.
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-81-7086-705-0
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1. On Will and Testament of Jesus
(Holy Thursday Homily, 1919)
2. Solemnity of Annunciation
(Homily, March 25)
3. The Wedding at Cana
(Homily, II Sunday after Epiphany, Jn: 2-11)
4. The Cleansing of a Leper
(Homily, III Sunday after Epiphany, Mt 8:1-13)
5. Jesus Calms the Sea
(Homily, IV Sunday after Epiphany, Mt 8:23-27)
6. The Love and Grief of Jesus
(Holy Thursday, Bendur, 1921)
7. I believe in the Resurrection of the Body
(Easter Sunday)
8. Catechesis to the First Communion Children
(1902)
9. St Rose of Lima
(For the Sodality of Girls, St Agnes Convent,
Bendur, 30 August 1929)
CONTENTS
11
15
20
24
29
32
36
38
41
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10. To Parents - On Christian Education of
Children
(Palm Sunday, Bendur)
11. On the Agony of Jesus in the Garden of
Gethsemane
(The Four Gospel stories in one narrative with
pious reflections on the same, suitable for
meditation or Spiritual Reading).
12. Diamond Jubilee of Rev Fr B Aranha
(Homily)
13. Retreat to the Cloistered Carmel Sisters,
Kankanady
14. The End of Man
(Meditation - I)
15. You are Called to be Holy
(Meditation II)
16. Tantum Ergo Sacramentum
(Homily)
44
51
59
63
70
74
77
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On 19
th
March 2014, Sr Lillis BS requested me to write an
article on Mgr RFC Mascarenhas for The Compassionate Pastor.
She assured me that she would give me three months for
the assignment; so I said fiat. She gave me a number of topics
for the article, but I preferred to work on his contribution to
the Church in the area of liturgy. When I requested Sr Lillis
for material on the subject, she promised to send
immediately; and in a few days, Sr Hilarita BS came to me
personally with lots of material, both in English and in
Konkani. Indeed, I had more material than needed for an
article!
Reading through the material supplied to me, especially
the homilies and reflection notes of Mgr Mascarenhas, I felt
that it was valuable and wondered how such a precious
treasure has been kept hidden! That is why, while returning
the material I suggested to Sr Lillis that it be published so
that many may be inspired by Mgr Mascarenhas spiritual
wealth. Sr Lillis was surprised! I could sense her anxiety as
regards my suggestion. Perhaps, she was asking herself, but
who will do it for me? I put her at ease saying: Would
Foreword
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you mind, if I take up this task? Now, I saw her brightened
up. She was more than happy! This is the story of this book:
Thus, He Preached to Them.
As editor, I have given a shape to the homily/sermon notes
given to me, may be a little sense to the texts when they
were unclear, and an omission of a line here and there when
it was impossible to know its sense! I am grateful to Fr
Aloysius D Souza for his help. I am glad that Mgr
Mascarenhas thoughts are now available to many.
Ronald Serrao
St Josephs Seminary
Jeppu, Mangalore
Solemnity of Assumption
15
th
August 2014
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How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the
messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who
announces salvation ( Is 52:7).
The Servant of God Raymond Mascarenhas, the Founder of
the Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany
and former Vicar General of the Diocese of Mangalore was
an eloquent preacher who brought the good tidings of peace
to various categories of people. He was acclaimed as
Bossuet of Mangalore. The book, Thus He Preached to Them
edited by Fr Ronald Serrao, is a collection of sixteen homilies
and reflections of Mgr Raymond, preached during the years
1902-1938 while he was serving in various parishes and as
Vicar General of the Diocese of Mangalore. After his
ordination in 1900, enthused by the missionary zeal of his
patron saint, St Francis Xavier, Fr Raymond Mascarenhas
gave his best while serving in the parishes of Milagres-
Mangalore, and Milagres-Kallianpur, as assistant parish
priest, and at St Francis Xavier, Udyavar, Most Holy Saviour,
Agrar and St Sebastians, Bendur, as the parish priest. The
eye witnesses of Mgr Raymond have recorded that people
used to flock to St Sebastian Church, Bendur, to listen to his
homilies especially during the Holy Week. We are
privileged to have a few of them in this book. They are
addressed to different categories of people- the parishioners,
Message
children of the sodality, parents, sisters of the cloistered
Carmel, and one to the people on the occasion of the first
Diocesan Eucharistic Congress.
Mgr Raymond had peerless competence to bring home to
the hearers profound truths in simple language and make
it captivating. Only the one, who is intimately in love with
Jesus and has the openness of a little child, could give such
a personal touch to the homilies and conferences. Fr Ronald
Serrao deserves credit for identifying these as treasures to
be unearthed and shared. I thank him for volunteering to
edit them. May God bless him for his commendable service.
I am highly indebted to Most Rev Aloysius P D Souza, the
Bishop of Mangalore, for granting the imprimatur. Thanks
to Mr Gilbert Miranda for sparing time for translating some
of them into Konkani. The late Mr Leo D Souza, with the
assistance of Sr Theresine and the late Sr Bertha had
translated the renowned homily of Mgr Raymond preached
on the occasion of the First Diocesan Eucharistic Congress
in 1938. It was published as a booklet on the occasion of the
104
th
Ordination Anniversary of Mgr Raymond in 2004. The
same is included among the other unpublished works. Sr
Lillis, Sr Hilarita and Sr Miriam have made unique
contribution to make this book see the light of day. May the
Word of God that the Servant of God preached more than a
century ago continue to bear fruit in hundredfold.
[Sr M Wilberta BS]
Superior General
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Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine (This is the chalice
of my blood of the new testament, 1 Cor 11:25). When we sing
the Konkani hymn: Sorgim Thavun we say: On the last night
of Holy Thursday, the Master with His disciples sat at the table.
There is no such a beautiful day in the life of our Lord other than
that night of Maundy Thursday, the day the Sacrament of the
Eucharist was instituted! It was a day brimming over with His
mercy, compassion and love. We cannot fathom his love on the
Cross.
He showed us his great love by dying on the Cross on that day;
but his sufferings were restricted to that day, and Good Friday
was over within a day. But the Holy Thursday was not like Good
Friday. The day which had begun then has not yet ended. The
day which had dawned on that day had not set yet, and it will
not until the end of the world. Jesus had made that day, the love
shown on that day, and the light that shone on that day
everlasting. Haec dies est quae nescit occasum (Exultet) - It is a
day which does not set.
That day was the day on which Jesus had made His (last) testament,
or His will. Jesus knew he would be dying on the following day
and would not be around. He remembered that He is a father; so
like a good father, he makes his last testament or will.
1. ON WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JESUS*
(Holy Thursday Homily, 1919)
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Making or writing a will in a family is a heavily burdensome
matter. Heavily burdensome is to the one who makes it and
heavily responsible to the ones who continue living. We can say
that it is the last action of a person. On the one hand, the act may
be the last, but on the other, it makes the departed person or his
love or his goodness stay back.
When making a will, a good father gives away all he has, whatever
loved possessions he has he shares them among his children. He
gives everything except himself because it (his body) is not his. It
belongs to somebody else and he gives it to him. But the testament
of Jesus is quite different (Jesus wills Himself to others. He gives
everyone a portion of Himself).
Unlike the man who makes a will, Jesus did not have any wealth,
property, possessions, a house or even a place of his own to rest
his head at the time of His death. Those who eagerly expect to get
a share of His worldly possessions will not get anything. The only
worldly possession that he left was His Cross, His nails, and His
crown of thorns. His followers, who got these things left by Him,
have kept them safely. But Jesus did not have any possessions or
money to give. If He had, how many people would have come
forward for a share! In order to get a share of this, they would
have tried to become good Christians and would have come
forward to be His disciples.
Though He did not have such possessions, like a good father Jesus
made a testament. He gave Himself up which no one else could
have done; yes, giving Himself, because He is both God and man,
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and as He is God, He is the Lord of all humanity, He is able to give
us his humaneness, and with it another thing, His God-head, His
divine nature. He truly gives this to us; He is not giving it to us
just to experiment, but entirely as a gift.
And to do this, He Himself deals with it. If an ingot of gold or
silver is to be useful to us, we should get it in the form of a coin or
a note. Likewise, Jesus who is gigantic in stature and wants to be
such as could be given to us, and that we are able to accept Him,
He not only deals but also melts Himself.
Big machines, big vehicles or cars are transported from one country
to another. They are dismantled and packed in an easily stackable
knocked down condition, ready to be re-assembled. Likewise
when loose cotton is to be transported from one place to another,
it is tamped down hard in manageable bales so that not much
space is required. Thus, Jesus, the great Lord whom the heaven
and earth cannot contain, wants to give Himself to us and makes
His body, blood, soul and divinity, His virtues, power, wisdom,
might, strength, goodness and love, all rolled into a small negligible
unit, so that we can hold it in, keep it. He hides Himself in the
bread, becomes bread so that we could hold Him, eat Him and
enjoy Him. See then our Lord Jesus Christ who became our
bequest, left by His testament.
But alas! When He gives Himself to us like this, how many do not
want Him! Some others want Him but find the terms set by Him
in His will, that is, a good, clean life, too hard to follow, and they
say, keep your will and bequest to yourself.
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This moment loved by Jesus and made by His love, is a loving
miracle of miracles. No one else could have thought of this, except
Jesus; neither the angels nor the Holy Virgin could have ventured
to pray for it or think about it.
Jesus says to us: Do you like bread? Do you relish it? It is the best
of all the food you eat. So, I shall become bread and give it to
you. Thus, He died happily, giving us this bread, leaving this
bread for us. A father, who has worked hard all his life, dies
happily, thinking: It does not matter if I die now. My followers
will have for themselves all my earnings to live comfortably.
Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine (This is the chalice
of my blood of the new testament). We have everything, in the
chalice and the host of the new testament. During the Mass, the
priest raises the host and the chalice in both his hands, showing
them. Likewise, every Christian could raise them up to our
heavenly Father and say, O Eternal Father, I offer you the most
precious blood of Jesus for the reparation of my sins and the needs
of the Church.
The Church has very many needs; we have very many needs; we
want a lot of Gods grace; we need Gods powerful grace to obey
the rules of our (religious) career, to practice virtues, to avoid sin
and to overcome our evil desires.
* This homily was preached in Konkani on the First Sunday of
October 1919, as Vicar of St Sebastian Church, Bendur (Cf Doc:
5, F 121.1.8). This is a translation by Gilbert Miranda, Bajpe.
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God from God, light from light! The eternal Son of God
became man in her womb. You express this mystery during
the angelus- How devoutly do you say it? When we say the
Creed during the Mass and when the priest reads the final
Gospel of the Mass, he and the people genuflect when these
words are said. How do you kneel at that time? Do you
think about the great favour done by Jesus?
The moment Mary gave her consent, her fiat, she became
the Mother of God. He called her Mother at that instance.
In spite of this, how humble she is! She says that she is the
handmaid of the Lord. Therefore, learn from her to be
humble. When God raised you up, even though you were
not worthy of it, He was humble and gave you more. Glory
be to Him.
And the angel came to her and said, Hail, full of grace,
the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb. The angel came to her.
How respectfully and courteously he speaks to her. How
do you behave when you speak with God? How respectfully
do you enter the house of God? Or how long do you visit
2. SOLEMNITY OF ANNUNCIATION*
(Homily, March 25)
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it? How do you say the Hail Mary to our Lady during the
angelus and the Rosary? Do you meditate on that salutation?
At least try to understand it now. The Lord is my light and
my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector
of my life. Whom shall I fear? It is a great honour to be
with God. Blessed Mary was always with God. But you,
how rarely are you with God? About whom do you think?
What words do you use? Try to make them lead you to God.
Hail, full of grace! This is the commendation in the presence
of God, and joy that of being in abundant grace. God began
to fill your soul with grace at Baptism, and He would
increase it daily through a Sacrament or any other pious
means but you obstruct Him by your sin. Do you, a sinner,
let God to fill your soul with grace? By committing a mortal
sin you obstruct its penetration and lose whatever grace you
had already been given. The angel said to Mary, full of
grace. Must it not be said of you, full of pride, anger, envy
and other faults?
The Lord is with you. During the Mass and at other times,
the Holy Mother the Church prays for you and says Dominus
Vobiscum, the Lord is with you. Prophet David says, What
God considers is quite different from what man feels. God
likes justice, devotion, celibacy (chastity), humility; man sees
family, riches, pomp. Whom do you try to please? If you
want to please God, try hard to earn what God likes.
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You are blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of
your womb. Mary is blessed among women, for, her
immaculate conception, the perfection of her body and soul,
accepting Gods grace fully, giving us the perfect example
of every virtue, in every calling: as a child, a wife, a mother,
a widow and a virgin., being the holy temple of God, the
virgin mother of God, the mother of man, taken to heaven
body and soul, and crowned the Queen of Heaven and earth.
Therefore, be happy that she, who belonged to our race and
was of flesh and blood, received so much of respect from
God. Thank God for having received through Mary the
favour of salvation, see her greatness and joy and be happy;
recite well your Hail Mary, your Angelus and your Rosary,
in order to show your happiness for these favours; try to
understand that true greatness and respect lies in doing the
will of God, and accepting His grace and if He makes you
great, you will then reign in the house of Jacob forever.
To be in Gods grace! The angels intention here is to allay
all apprehensions. Those who love God need not fear
anyone. So, one should try to please God. You would be
pleasing to God, if you shun the companionship of evil
people and stop doing things in order to please them.
Praise the Mother, meditating the greatness of her Son. Adore
Him with a humble heart, acknowledging Him as your God.
Trust Him entirely and have faith in Him. Ask Him to lead
you, pray to Him and let Him to reign over you.
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When she heard this, she was confused by the words of the
angel as she did not understand the angels greeting our
Lady is confused and sad because of the praise and respect
shown by the angel. How much difference is there between
our Lady and you! You will be pleased when someone
praises you. You will get angry if someone shows you your
shortcomings. Mary does not want even the praise that she
rightly deserves. You try to get praise which you do not
merit and which is dishonest.
The angel tells her: Mary, do not be afraid. You have found
favour in the sight of God. You will conceive and bear a
Son. You shall call him Jesus. He will be great and will be
known as the Son of God Almighty. Mary asks him. How
can it be, since I do not know man? With these words, the
Virgin Mother shows that she likes much more to remain
immaculate than to becoming the mother of such a great
Son. She wants to know whether there is going to be anything
against the vow of chastity she had made. So, try to pray to
this immaculate Virgin and look after the purity of your
body and soul.
And the angel replied: The Holy Spirit will descend on
you and the power of the almighty will overshadow you.
And so the holy child who will be born of you will be known
as the Son of God. The angel explains to her how she will
conceive with the help of the Holy Spirit while remaining a
virgin intact. Therefore, praise and glorify the Holy Virgin
who became the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and go and
meditate on how the Holy Spirit lives in you, talks to you in
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your heart, and tries to make virtues grow in your soul.
Heed his inspiration. Do not think about, talk about and do
anything else.
Mary said: Behold, I am the Lords handmaid. Let it be
done unto me according to your word. In the beginning
the Lord had said, Let there be and everything was done
instantly. Let there be light, he said and there was light.
He had said, Let there be and the sky, the sun, the moon,
the stars, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains were made.
He said, Let there be man and man was created. All these
happened instantaneously. But a greater wonder took place
when the Holy Virgin had said, Let it be done.
Jesus, Our Way, Our Truth, Our Life. Jesus says, I am the
Way, the Truth and the Life. So, let us learn from Jesus
how to move and behave, what truth is and how to live. We
shall learn this if we meditate devoutly on the life of Jesus.
God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in
Galilee to a virgin who lived there and who was engaged to
Joseph, and the virgins name was Mary. The Virgin Mary
was poor, engaged to a carpenter but who had offered her
body and soul to God. She was chaste and led an
unblemished life. Her husband was also a poor person, a
carpenter, but just.
* This homily was preached in Konkani Cf Doc: 01, F121.1.8).
This is a translation by Gilbert Miranda, Bajpe.
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Jesus goes to a wedding with his Mother and his disciples.
He wants to make marriage an abiding and strong, a respected
and holy institution. Blessed is this wedding, which has Jesus
and Mary as the invited guests; They have come and enriched it
with their blessings. How nice wouldnt it be if this happens at
all weddings of the faithful! How pleasant would it be if those
getting married and those who give them in marriage tried to
invite Jesus and Mary in their midst at their wedding! This
happiness could be had by keeping the commandments of God
and the Church concerning marriage, by shunning the
worldliness which makes us forget God and by maintaining
Christian decency in everything.
They have no wine. There is no wine. It is finished, says the
Mother to her Son. This is the quality of the Mothers generous
heart, understanding everything without asking or requesting,
and offering help. The person who helps only after a lot of asking,
pleading and imploring, has a worthless heart, incapable of love.
Woman, what does it matter to you and to me? My time has not
come yet. We must try to understand the correct meaning of the
reply of Jesus to his Mother, keeping in mind the relevant facts.
3. THE WEDDING AT CANA*
(Homily, II Sunday after Epiphany, Jn 2 : 1-11)
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Calling his Mother woman is not insulting, but it is a word of
honour and respect according to the local parlance, like saying,
Lady. From the Cross, Jesus had called his Mother, using the
same word. God had used this word when He had envisioned
Our Lady at the Garden of Eden; St John in his Revelations
explains the vision he had, she was the woman who was robed
with the sun, who had the moon at her feet and a crown of
twelve stars on her head.
What is to you and to me, my time has not come yet, according
to the wise holy fathers these words are spoken in the form of a
question: what you are saying and what I am saying, has not
my time come yet, or what is in your mind and also in mine, has
not my time come to start my divine work with a miracle?
Do whatever he tells you! When Mary hears the words of Jesus,
she is relieved; she boldly asks servants to do what Jesus wants
them to do; Jesus performs the miracle. From the very beginning
the Mother has won over the heart of Jesus and he has performed
the miracle for her sake.
The way Jesus speaks to his Mother makes her and through her
makes us understand one more thing, that is, Jesus must have
waited for his Fathers will and time for his redemptive work
and in this matter, he need not have obeyed his Mother.
Nevertheless, the time of the Father coincided with the Mothers
desire; or, the Father made the time for Jesus come earlier and
made it merge with her desire. These things demonstrate
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Mothers support and authority in relation to God. Therefore,
how confidently must we say everyday Holy Mary, Mother of
God, pray for us, now and forever.?
Fill the jars with water! Mary asking the servants to do what
Jesus tells them also applies to us. The tired servants fill the six
empty water jars meant for the ablutions, without knowing why,
but respecting the words of the simple looking guest; this is a
lesson in faith and humility for us, who listen to the words of
Jesus. Thus, we must show our love and devotion to the Mother
by listening to the words of her Jesus.
Any one serves the good wine first and when all are drunk then
the cheap wine! This is how the world treats us and cheats us,
making the nefarious pleasures appealing at first and we lose
ourselves in them only to know our folly at the time of our death
and for all eternity, filling us with bitterness that emanates from
them and damnation.
This was the first miracle of Jesus: This means that he worked
his miracle for the first time to proclaim his divinity and to do
his work as the Redeemer. He might have worked many other
miracles in private, about which we do not know, because many
of the things that he had done have not been recorded.
And his disciples believed in him! The faith the disciples had
become more firmly grounded after seeing this miracle of Jesus
likewise, by seeing every miracle and every extraordinary deed
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of Jesus and by listening to his divine words, we must also grow
always in our faith and his love. We can compare our human
weaknesses to the water in the jars filled by the servants. If we
get our Mothers help and the blessing of the grace of Jesus, this
water of ours becomes wine, our weakness becomes our strength,
and our human nature becomes divine.
* This homily was preached in Konkani Cf Doc: 02, F 121.1.6).
This is a translation by Gilbert Miranda, Bajpe.
-24-
The people who have come to hear Jesus sermon on Mount,
follow him when he comes down. The crowds following him
teach us that once we listen to a sermon, we must not leave it
behind; we must try to profit from it and be drawn towards
God and follow him.
Then a leper came to see Jesus! When Jesus comes down a leper
comes to see him. The plight of the leper even now is pitiable,
but at that time it was more so. According to the law of Moses,
a leper had to cover himself in a long hanging garment, his head
uncovered, and a piece of cloth covering his mouth; whenever
someone was about to come towards him, he had to shout, I
am unclean, unclean; he had to live outside the camp occupied
by the people, in a lonely uninhabited place. He was not to touch
anyone, and no one was to touch him.
Such a person comes running to Jesus, prostrates himself before
him, and says, Lord, if you so desire, you can make me clean. You
have, in his action and words, an example of a great prayer
which is proper and it reaches God.
Prostrate. This word shows us how we honour God in our
prayers. By saying Lord he humbly expresses Gods greatness,
4. THE CLEANSING OF A LEPER
(Homily, III Sunday after Epiphany, Matt 8:1-13)
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and teaches us that our prayers show true humility. If you so
desire. He makes his desire to get cured subservient to the will
of God, the Omnipotent, and which is of great compassion. You
can. This shows Gods immense power to do anything and his
complete confidence in Gods power. This lepers prayer has all
the characteristics of a complete and fruitful prayer, that is,
reverence, humility, faith and obedience to Gods will. The prayer
was quite effective as it was heard by God immediately.
Jesus says, I desire so. Be Clean. This means, you have done
my will, I shall do as you desire and it is my desire too. Be
cleansed, You have believed in my power and my power will
reach you. Jesus touches the leper and heals him. He need not
have touched him. It would have been enough for him to say
just the word, and he would be made clean. According to the
law of Moses, no one was allowed to touch an unclean leper,
but Jesus shows that the law is not for him as he is above the
law. Even if it was not necessary for him to touch the leper, his
action shows his human, compassionate heart; and also makes
us realize the healing and soothing power of his holy person.
The same compassion and soothing nature of the heart of Jesus
has been inherited by the Holy Mother the Church. That is why
her chosen children engage themselves happily in the care and
service of the lepers. St Francis of Assisi had hugged a leper and
licked his sores. Though we need not go to such extremes, or
touch them personally, we can try to touch them with our hearts
and funds in order to lighten their burden and console them.
-26-
Do not tell anyone, said Jesus ! These words of Jesus teach us
that when we do good, we must not let everyone know about it
by speaking about it or showing that we are doing good, and
not to seek worldly praise for it. Jesus did not have to be careful
about it, and it was also not an order; he just did not want it
publicized. The leper does not keep quiet because he is grateful,
and spreads the news everywhere. He teaches us not to be
ungrateful people who forget the favours as soon as they are
received.
Show yourself to the priest and offer a gift as a testimony! The
law required that the priest recorded the leper as unclean, and
later if he finds that the leper is cured of leprosy, he records that
the leper is not unclean. Jesus wants the leper to do his duty; he
teaches us to give respect to the priest as required by the law.
Even though the priest may not have a good character, we must
not go against Gods commandments and our duties towards
them.
Offer a gift that Moses commanded as a proof ofProof that he
is completely cured of leprosy; that he has become healthy again;
but more than that a clean and outstanding testimony as to how
he was made clean, as leprosy was thought to be a scourge from
God, a testimony that the man who made the leper clean has
really come from God, that he has the power of God so that
they would not have any excuse to be used in their intrigues.
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The Healing of a Centurions Servant.
A Centurion came to him and said, My servant is paralyzed.
The centurion, a man of responsible position, goes to Jesus to
plead for his servant; he shows that he really cares about him.
This is indeed praiseworthy! Our servants are not just for making
them work hard get a lot of work done, and abandon them in
their sickness and infirmity. In their good health, they have done
their duty of serving us; likewise, it is our duty to look after
them in their sickness and their hour of need; along with this
just duty, there should be Christian charity and compassion.
The servant must be treated as a member of the household.
I will come home and cure him. The Lords tender-heartedness
is shown to be greater than that of the centurion. He says that
he would come to his house to cure the servant. Jesus had no
need to go to the centurions house; he could have just said a
word from where he was. On another occasion, when an official
asked him to come home and heal his son, he had said, Go
home, your son is healed from where he was, but here, even
though he is not asked to come home, he says that he would
come home to cure a servant of a disease. The heart of a
Christian does differentiate between the position and status of
a person; it is inclined more towards the poor and it shows them
more love and charity.
Lord, I am not worthy! How humble, beautiful and full of faith
these words of the master are! The Holy Mother the Church has
-28-
made them long-lasting as she makes us say these words before
every Communion
For I am also a man of authority The centurion explains his
own, the Masters authority. He says that those who are under
him, a petty master, obey him without fail and with fear. But
Jesus is an all powerful Master. You can have this small ailment
of my child obey you. Your word is sufficient to chase it away.
I have not seen such a faith in Israel. Jesus was amazed!:
When Jesus says this, he does not compare the Centurions faith
to that of Abraham, John the Baptist, the Apostles or the Virgin
Mary, but to that of those who have come to hear him, who see
his actions, who want to know him or those who want to believe
him.
Jesus was amazed not because he has not seen, as he knows all
things, but to show those people how miraculous the faith is.
We of the orient and occident are the children of the Kingdom.
The Jews were the chosen people of God and were given the
rights of the Kingdom. The piercing anon, the darkness, the
weeping and the gnashing of the teeth express eternal suffering
of the soul and body, in Hell.
* This homily was preached in Konkani (Cf Doc : 03, F 121.1.6)
This is a translation by Gilbert Miranda, Bajpe.
-29-
Jesus was asleep! The sleep of Jesus is the sleep of human
fatigue. This shows that Jesus had a body just like us. This body
could feel, and endure and Jesus used to wear it out for our sake
Body of Christ, save me. Must not I wear it out and tire it in the
service of Jesus?
They woke him up. Lord save us or we will perish! Jesus slept,
may be because of tiredness of his human nature, but also to
give the disciples an opportunity to know their own weaknesses
and also let them know of Christs love, its outcome and above
all, to show his power over the dominant forces of nature. St
Ambrose says, Jesus slept in order to wake them up, that is to
say, to make their faith spring up and unwavering.
You are of little faith! Jesus tells the disciples that they are of
little faith; though they had enough faith to wake him up and
ask for his help, they had thought at the same time that he had
slept and he did not know what was happening around him
and he would allow them to be sunk. This shows that lack of
faith. Meditating on this event St Bernard says, When the world
is chaotic, when the wicked are enraged, when the body rises
up against the spirit, I shall trust in Jesus; is there anyone who
has trusted in him and at the same time is bewildered?
5. JESUS CALMS THE SEA*
(Homily, IV Sunday after Epiphany, Mt 8:23-27)
-30-
The men were amazed what sort of man is this whom the sea
and the winds obey! Men here does not mean just his disciples;
it includes all those in the boat, the rowers, the travellers, in that
and the other boats following it; they who witnessed this act of
power, were amazed. In this world of ours, around us, any
event, big or small from the rising of the sun to its setting, like
the thistle growing among the blades of grass, the lightning
striking the mountains, and the populated areas inundated by
the floods, is the deed of Gods immense power. Only we do not
recognize this power properly, and do follow it in our life. If
only we recognized it and lived accordingly!
The boat is a representation of the Church. This boat is in the
sea amid the surging waves that is to say that the Church faces
troubles, harassment, rebellions; the sea is the world and the
waves are the dangers faced by the Church. It looks as if our
Lord is sleeping because of his patience with us, until the prayers
of the saints seem to wake him up. Then, finally, he rises and
calms all the storms and tempests.
The Church is the boat rowed by the apostles, with our Lord at
the helm and the wind from the Holy Spirit filling the sails; the
words of the sermon taking it forward; this is a priceless force.
The sea is world, disrupted by the waves of all types of sins and
temptations. The stormy winds are wicked and dirty spirits
which like the waves of the sea raise all sorts of temptations and
deceits and try to fragment the ship of the church, and drown
it. Jesus can be seen as if he is fast asleep in the boat, letting his
Church undergo hardships as a result of the attacks of the world
-31-
and the wicked men. The disciples shouting and waking him
up, asking him to help them are the prayers of the holy souls for
the Church. This type of prayer is also said by the priest and the
faithful after the low Mass. Let us say that prayer properly.
Lord save us, we will perish! This prayer, said by the disciples
is a proper prayer for us to say during our physical and spiritual
distress. Jesus commands the sea and the winds to be still and
immediately all their disturbances stopped, and there was calm.
He commands you many times to calm the turbulent state of
your mind. Has it ever calmed immediately or even gradually?
What sort of man is this whom the sea and the winds obey?
Marvelled those men in the boats! But the heavenly angels say
to you: what sort of a person you are who disobeys him whom
even the sea and the winds obey? Yes, todays Gospel teaches
us many lessons.
* This homily was preached in Konkani (Cf Doc: 04, F 121.1.6)
This is a translation by Gilbert Miranda, Bajpe.
-32-
God has granted that we should once more see this Blessed
Day and that on this Blessed day we should once more meet
together. It is a Holy and Blessed day filled with the good
things and favours of God who could express all its beauty
and loveliness.
This is the day on which we have received the favours from
our Mass, our Communion and the Priesthood. On this day,
he ends the Old Testament of fear and the begins the New
Testament of love. This is the day in which men who
remained in fear and away from God and as servants, were
brought near and treated as friends and were made to sit
and eat with our Lord. This is the day in which man, we
may say sat in the place of God and God sat at his feet and
kissed his feet and held them just to his breast!
Who can embrace its beauty and loveliness? Jesus says:
Ego Dominus et Magister (I am your Lord and Master). While
such are the favours of this day, what must have been the
invitation and joy of this day! But at the same time, it is a
day of dauntless mourning and weeping. It is a great day of
great sorrow for the Church. Why? Because it is a day of
6. THE LOVE AND GRIEF OF JESUS*
(Holy Thursday, Bendur, 1921)
-33-
great sorrow for our Lord and a day in which our Lord wept
more than any other day. Why? He said: Truly I tell you,
one of you will betray me (Mt 26:21). This was the sorrow
of his life, which is crowned today and which sorrow he
had often expressed.
When he came into the world, In propria venit et sui eum non
cognoverunt (He came to his own, and his own people did
not receive him). This might be excused perhaps, because
he was so hidden! But when he manifested himself his lot
did not accept him. Surrounded by his wonderful miracles,
he was not recognised! Therefore he was forced to say: The
Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man
by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been
better for that man if he had not been born (Mt 26:24).
Abraham desired to see my day and saw and he was glad.
Queen of Seba wanted to see the riches of Solomon and she
travelled all the distance. But the Jews failed to recognize
the son of God amidst them! Therefore he wept over
Jerusalem and said because you did not recognize the time
of your visitation from God (Lk 19:44). Today all this grief
is together! He feels intensely in his heart the grief that they
do not know him. The day of the Lords Supper - Who knows
his thirst? Is not today the same? Jesus says: Accipite et
manducate (Take and eat). And around him how little he is
known! How little he is thought at large! And by us too!
How little we know His love and we think of His love? This
-34-
is the waste of his love that grieves him. Waste then - and
waste now! Waste in our souls! How much is it wasted little
that need of human love which is wasted in the Church?
Not knowing would be tolerable. But those who knew,
betray him!
It is the day of his betrayal. Jews wanted to kill him and
they were afraid of the crowd. They want to do it suddenly
and later trickily. But they had no courage. They were also
afraid of the disciples that surrounded him. At this time
Judas offers himself. They fix price for Jesus. This guide
throws his plans and programmes to give his master in the
hands of those who want to destroy him for thirty pieces of
silver! He says to them: What you are not able to do I
accomplish. Jesus could not resist the plot although he had
eluded the Jews formerly.
What would we do, if one in whom we had confided betrays
us? It is this sadness which tears the heart of Jesus and of
those that are dear to him, of those connected to him! Today
if Jesus suffers in his Church in this betrayal; it is not from
outsiders but from insiders - those who betray him and deny
him. Those who eat at his table and those who kneel for the
absolution! It is in their grief and sorrow and broken hearted
men, Jesus finds out the treasures of his heart. It is like
breaking the alabaster jar at our feet. But who could express
his humility when he goes to wash the feet of his apostles!
-35-
Who could express this? One of the disciples? St John? St
Peter? Perhaps Peter must express it. Thy should have filled
for him the basin and towel. But what is His humility!
Jesus takes bread not only what was there before him, but
all the bread that was to be consecrated in the world and
says not only to them that were there but to all who would
have been possible at any age, and says: accipite et
manducate (take and eat). What would have angels
thought at that time?
What has been the effect of this accipite et manducate?
Christians, who adore that host, do you consider through
what ocean of sorrow that host has travelled! Christians who
receive that communion do you consider this sacrifice! Let
the great sacrifice of our Lord be to us a reason to love him.
Let us not be a grief to him; grief by our carelessness towards
the Eucharist; grief by our bad life; grief by our betrayals;
grief by not arresting the efforts of those who want to weaken
faith and destroy religion!
*This homily was preached in Konkani on the Holy
Thursday, 1921 as Vicar of St Sebastian Church, Bendur
(Cf Doc: 08, F 121.1.8). But, it appears that the text was
prepared in English.
-36-
Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo (I desire to depart and
be with Christ, Phil 1:23-24). This must be our desire when
we contemplate the risen saviour. It is faith that not only
our souls but our bodies are destined to rejoice for ever
with God. Credo carnis resurrectionem! (I believe in the
resurrection of the body!).
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now
know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been
fully known (1 Cor 13:12). The selfsame body, but will be
strengthened, beautified and nicely adorned with
supernatural gifts and powers, beyond the power of the
highest inequities. Imagine the most beautiful form that has
ever aroused the admiration of the world. Indeed it is the
work of God but God who did it could easily make another
house as beautiful and thrice for him!
It is God who does it entirely and directly in beauty and by
his power. Our piquant bodies are only imperfect but the
risen body will be the perfect work of a perfect artist. The
present body is made to suffer. It is a load upon at the end.
Hence subject to suffer in punishment for sins. But the risen
body is made in such a way that it has not to suffer anything!
7. I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION
OF THE BODY*
(Easter Sunday)
-37-
The present body is for a few years, but the other, for eternity.
How a permanent house is built amid the lodgings of a
traveller! Our present body is to live upon the things of this
world and the surroundings of the world in the midst of
filth and of animal love. Whereas the other body must be
worthy of the heavenly city, to live with heavenly spirit.
Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel. The latter was terrified
and fell on the ground speechless. He had taken the form
of a man clothed in linen, girded with finest gold, face like
lightening, eyes like lamp burning, arms and all downward
and even feet like glittering brass and the voice of a
multitude. Daniel trembled before him, his joints were
loosened and he fell to the ground. If the shade of the
angel was such, what will be the presence in heaven! And
in heaven, we shall have to be in familiar company with
them and with all the nine choirs! And there the angels are
innumerable! There, we shall know each other! All loved
and respected by each other unlike as in this world! Come,
you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world
(Mt 25:34). Yes there, He that shall overcome shall possess
these things and I will be His God and He shall be my Son
(Rev. 21:7).
*This homily was preached in Konkani on Easter Sunday,
1921 as Vicar of St Sebastian Church, Bendur (Cf Doc: 09, F
121.1.8). But, it appears that the text was prepared in
English.
-38-
My dearest children,
I feel great pleasure in seeing you here. When I see you, I
remember the children that were brought to Jesus when on
earth by their mothers. The mothers bring but the apostles
hinder them. At that time, our Lord says: sinite paruulos venire
ad me (Let the children come to me). And I say: You know
there is Jesus in the tabernacle. He was telling your parents.
He is telling us: sinite paruvolos venire ad me. But are you not
such a big God ? The angels tremble before you! But he
says: Sinite Talium est regnum coelorum (Letfor the
Kingdom of God belongs such as these).
Come my children, Jesus invites you. Yes, within eight days,
you will go to him or rather he will come to you. He will
make you sit on his lap. He will embrace you. He will kiss
you as a mother. He gives milk to his children. He will give
you his blood, his flesh. But how will you go to him? With
your dirty clothes? This does not matter! He knows that you
are poor. But he sees your soul! He sees with how many
sins it is filled! Will you go with this soul?
8. CATECHESIS TO THE
FIRST COMMUNION CHILDREN (1902)
-39-
When you go to him your soul must be filled, like a glass of
clean water, so clean. Like a flower so beautiful, so adorned!
Like a lighted lamp, so shining! How beautiful was your
soul, when the Priest poured over it the waters of Baptism!
Do you know what happened to you at your Baptism? Just
what happened at the Baptism of Jesus! At the Baptism of
Jesus, heavens opened! The Holy Spirit came in the form of
a Dove. A voice was heard from heaven, saying. Hic est filius
meus dilectus in quo mihi bene complacuii (This is my beloved
son, with whom I am well pleased). So at your Baptism, the
heavens had opened. All the angels had come to see you!
The Holy Spirit had come upon you and put in your heart
the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity . The Eternal Father
was telling all the angels: Hic est filius meus dilectus (This is my
beloved son). He had told the Church: Take good care of
him. He was telling the angels: Talium est regnum coelorum
(For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these). He was
telling others: To go to heaven you must be like children.
You were an angel on that day!
If you had died on that day, God would not have judged
you. You would have had no purgatory. You would have
gone straight to heaven like the Blessed Virgin Mary. You
would have been among the choir of angels! The church
would have rung festive bells for you! She would have put
flowers upon your grave! She would have invoked you in
the litany of saints and said Omnes Sancti innocentes (All the
Innocent saints!). Such you were on the day after your
Baptism!
-40-
But now are you like that? When you were sitting on the
lap of your mother and sucking her, and when she was
feeding you and was teaching you, with your little hand
you were making the sign of the cross and pronouncing the
holy name! Are you so now? When others were feeding
you, you were so! But when you used your own hands you
began to steal! When you could not walk, it was your delight
to come to Mass! But when you could walk, no; you
remained away from Mass! You were falling when kneeling,
but when you could do so yourself, you gave up prayer!
You were pronouncing the holy name of Jesus! But when
you could speak, you began to say few things. From venial
sin to venial sin you got companions. You escaped the eyes
of your parents. You learnt bad before you learnt good. You
were ashamed and at last you sinned! You turned against
God. You became his enemy. You left his house. If you have
died, you would have become a devil. You were a child of
God! Are you an angel now? Are you the child of God? He
was preparing a garden for you but then came the devil
and you said yes to him. You left your Fathers house like
the prodigal son and you died. Is it not?
*This catechesis was given to the First Communion
Children in Konkani as Assistant Vicar of Kallianpur
Mount Rosary Parish (Cf Doc: 01, F 121.1.7). It appears that
the text was prepared in English, as many priests of the
time did.
-41-
My dear Children of Mary,
The Feast of your patroness, St. Rose of Lima, has brought
us here together. Most of you are already children of Mary.
Several others are going to be received among the members;
others are offering themselves as candidates for that
privilege. Anyway, each and every one of you desires to be
a dear one, as favourite of your Mother Mary.
In this your desire you could not have a better model than
your patroness, St. Rose. She received her name Rose
because when an infant, she was once miraculously
transfigured so to appear like a Rose! And Our Lady added
to her own name as a surname and ordered her to call herself
Rose of St Mary. And today while you all assemble around
her as children of her own Mary, this is what she tells you
Be like me; every one of you must be a Rose of Mary!
And now, your face must be transfigured like her face so as
to appear like a rose. How can it be done? Not by soap or
powder or paint, but by making it a mirror of your rosy
heart! The face is the window of the heart and a rosy heart
will make it a rosy window! You know what rosy windows
9. ST ROSE OF LIMA
(For the Sodality of Girls, St. Agnes Convent,
Bendur, 30 August 1929)
-42-
are! You have to go to Jeppu Church or to the Cathedral to
see rosy windows! They illumine and colour the whole
church. But they require two things: beautiful colours of the
glass and the light of the sun. Now your heart must be like
that of rosy window, full of colours! They must have the
virtues of faith, hope, charity infused into them. The image
of Jesus Christ must be carved upon these windows. But
the grace of God, the charity of God must light this window.
It must not be darkened by sin neither mortal nor venial
sin. Even venial sins, as feeling envy and disobedience
tarnish this window. Therefore, you must also keep it
polished by humility.
If you fill your heart with that true love of God and love of
your neighbours, the window of your heart will be
illumined. It will shine through your eyes, your ears, your
tongue, your whole demeanour- and your whole being.
Then, you will indeed be a rose under the protection of
Mary, and in fact, a Rose of St Mary.
Remember my children, a rose grows upon thorns! St Rose
grew upon thorns-thorns of penance and mortification. She
made a vow of virginity. She cut off her hair that she may
not be compelled to matrimony. She fasted the whole Lent
without any bread having only five little balls of citron.
Later, she joined the third order of St Dominic and doubled
her austerities. She had a crown of thorns under her veil
and a chain on her body to which were attached needles. A
-43-
chain around her neck! Her bed was made up of knotty
pieces of wood the interstices of which were filled with
pieces of tiles or bricks and over this she disciplined herself
and then she had to bear sickness, contradictions from her
own sisters and calumnies. Thus she grew upon thorns!
You may not have courage to imitate her fully, but
remember that without the thorns of mortification of your
body, you cannot be a red rose. Can you not mortify yourself
by using less soap and less powder and less scent on your
body? By being in your simple dress? By imitating the world
less and imitating St. Rose more? If you cannot mortify your
heart, mortify at least your self-will and pride by being
humble, obedient, meek and gentle. It is only by imitating
her you will be a Rose of St Mary.
*This catechesis was given to the Sodality of Girls, St. Agnes
Convent, Bendur, on 30 August 1929 in Konkani as Vicar
of Bendur (Cf. Doc: 04, F.121.1.8/04). It appears that the text
was prepared in English.
-44-
Filias Jerusalem nolite flera super me sed super vos ipsas flete et
spper filiis vestres (Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for
me; weep for yourselves and for your children). You have
have heard these words often! When our Lord with the cross
on the shoulder was walking the way of Calvary, he met a
group of women who were weeping over him. He paused
on his journey and with the cross on his shoulders he spoke
to them. Making little of his own suffering, he said most
pathetically: Filias Jerusalem nolite flera super me sed super vos
ipsas flete et spper filiis vestres.
Our Lord bids them weep. He speaks to the women that
accost him but through them he speaks to all women,
daughters of Jerusalem, nay all sons of Jerusalem, to all
having children, especially to all Christian parents and tells
them to weep; weep over themselves. What is special to
weep over their children? Yes, he bids all parents weep for
their children.
They are two kinds of weeping: one fruitless because there
is no hope, and another fruitful in time. Hence, you must
weep in time by entertaining great anxiety about your duties
10. TO PARENTS ON
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION OF CHILDREN*
(Palm Sunday, Bendur)
-45-
towards children; great anxiety about their well-being.
Therefore, materialize this anxiety by taking proper means.
Today I speak to you, how to weep in time about your
children and about the care you have to take of them. What
is your duty towards children? It may be reduced to this:
You must reach them to their proper end!
Each thing has its end and only if the end is realized, then it
is useful. A clock however beautiful it may appear, what is
the use, if it does not move. A lamp, however beautiful,
what is the use, if it cannot be lighted? A carriage, if it cannot
be made use of, what is the use? A house, which cannot be
lived in, what is the use? Similarly, a child if it does not
reach its end, it is better if it did not exist! Look at the animals
and watch how their mothers lead their young ones to the
proper end! Watch a dog, a hen.
Now, what is the end of your children? It is the end which is
of the children of God, namely, to know, love and serve their
heavenly Father and finally to take their place with him,
because they are such.
You had brought these children to the church. God gave
them back to you having adopted them as his children. They
were taken from his altar. Jesus gave them to you: Dedit
illum matri suae (he gave them to their mothers). Therefore,
God has given his child in your hands to take care of them.
-46-
You are not like a tutor to teach a language or like one in
whose house a boarder is kept.

If a man would give a child
in the hands of another, how much the mother would feel if
the child is allowed to fall down, to weep and to get its
clothes dirty? Or if allowed to wander in the street, if it were
allowed to get drowned?

Or if it were not fed properly and
allowed to starve? Therefore your children are, the children
of God. God has given a charge to you, for God is their actual
father, therefore, you must educate them for God.
Videte ne contemnatis unum on his presillis, quia angeli eorum in
caelis semper vident faciem Patrismei qui in caselis est - (See that
you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you
that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father
who is in heaven (Mt 18:10). To bring up the children to
their proper end, therefore, the parents must have good
tongues to teach them the knowledge of God, the fear of
God and the love of God. But what is actually done? Teach
them how to eat, drink, stand and walk? This is what a cat
or dog does! To speak, to read or write? This is what
heathens do! To teach them a trade, earn a living, to be well
employed in this world? This is what all men in the world
do! But is the other object taught, what they may do in the
real life? Will he reach the house of His Father? Will he be
an angel? In heaven or will he be a devil in church area?
What a serious question! If this is not properly answered,
parents, you will become the murderers of your children!
-47-
St. John Chrysostom says; Alii suis fillis provident, alii honores,
alii dignitates, alii divitias (Some provide to their children
honour, some dignity and some riches).
But, if this is to be true, they are like plants. Like soft wax
says St. Basil. They are like canvas says St. John
Chrysostom. You can paint upon it the face of the devil or
the Lord. Therefore, teach them now the fear of God, as the
psalm says: Venite filii, audite me: timorem Domini docebo vos
(Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of
the Lord (Ps 33:11).
St. John Chrysostom says: Libri sunt , labia parentum , nempe
ad eru- diendos filios (the lips of the parents are books for
instructing their children). But, how? Not only a little by
heart, but make it enter into the soul as food is given by the
mother. The mother does not merely shows the food to the
babies but necessarily makes into pieces and puts into their
mouth. When the child is not eating but is running about,
how the mother is after it to make the child eat with a lot of
ingenious ways! In the same way, you must speak of God
our Creator and Father, about his rewards for those who
love Him, about displeasing him and hence how hard sin
is in his sight, about prayer to him, about our Lord Jesus
and about his life and pain. Take to heart the example of
St Edmunds mother or Queen Blanch!
-48-
Is this enough? Send them to the Church. House is not
enough, therefore the Church. As Our Lady was presented
in the temple, you must see that they go. Take an account of
what they have learnt. You are anxious about their
necessities in school. Do you examine about their
attendance, about their learning and about their Confession
and Communion? Do you take any trouble about their
preparation and thanksgiving? Keep an eye over them. But
to do all this, you must have the knowledge and fear of God
yourselves. If you have no light, how will you communicate
to your children?
Kindly send them to a School, a Catholic School. The laws
of the Church and the direction of the Bishop is clear on this
point. It does not matter if they do not go to school at all,
but if they go, it must be Catholic School. Why? Because
education opens up the soul, sets before it the knowledge.
But, if there is not corresponding knowledge of God, it
imbibes only one and forgets the other. Take the use of our
hands. If we use only the right, the left becomes powerless.
Therefore, the more there is of secular learning, there must
be more religious knowledge.
The Catholic school sees that nothing bad is taught and at
the same time that God is not forgotten. While secular
learning is taught or rather that from one there is love to the
other, which keeps before children the example of the life
of our Lord and the Blessed Mother. This to have good
-49-
examples before children! Besides, a good Catholic
atmosphere around them is present. Hence Pope Pius X
said: If you build a church, build also a school.
But what danger is non-Catholic school! God, and our Lord
is simply ignored. He cannot be quoted as an example. Who
is vita aeterna ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum et quem misisti
Iesum Christum (he is eternal life: that they know you, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent
(Jn 17: 3). Even there is a talk against God! The evil examples
are in plenty. Some may say, but there is Catechism. By
whom? This is from those not of the school. It is taught
outside school hours and only for those who may come or
without any responsibility. There, others also can teach their
religion! What will be the effect, if when these little children
see different people teaching different religion and when
they speak among themselves are praising and defending
their own story of Augustine who wanted to put Jesus
among the gods?
Some may say, we have difficulty with money. Tell me,
for what money is not spent? For food, dress and often for
fancy? If it is not to be spent for the immortal soul, why do
we need money? In a Catholic school, you have good
education and saving of money. Do you eat a food because
it is cheap? Would you take poisonous food because it is
cheap? Do you not pay a high rent for a healthy house?
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The code of Canon Law says: Christians must make
sacrifices What is done elsewhere? I have no responsibility
to what has been done in the parish without any burden
upon people in the parish.
So many are under Catholic education. Good many say: I
wish that my children have what I had - those daily prayers,
those daily catechisms, and daily points, Sunday Mass
together and catechism together and everywhere something
inspiring!
*This Catechesis must have been preached in Konkani on
Palm Sunday as Vicar of St Sebastian Church, Bendur
(Cf Doc: 07, F 121.1.8). But, it appears that the text was
prepared in English.
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The arrival in the garden: When Jesus had spoken these
words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook
Cedron, and according to his custom he went to the Mount
of Olives. And they came to a place called Gethsemane,
where there was a garden, into which he entered with his
disciples. And He said to his disciples: Sit you here, while
I go yonder and pray. Pray that you may enter not into
temptation.
If the common tradition be correct, we are at the night of the
24
th
of March according to our modern calendar. And, as far
as we can calculate in conjecture, it is about 9 O clock at
night when Jesus leaves the Cenacle. At this season in
Jerusalem, a chill evening and a cold night succeed to the
warmth and bright sunshine of the midday.
The full moon is shedding its tranquil light on Mount Sion,
Mount Olivet, Mount Moriah, and Mount Calvary. This still
moonlight suggests nothing but peace and repose and gives
no sign or indication whatsoever that the greatest, the
fiercest, the most stupendous death-struggle that shall ever
be decided in this world is about to begin; we may say is
begun.
11. ON THE AGONY OF JESUS IN THE
GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE
(The Four Gospel stories in one narrative with
pious reflections on the same-suitable for
meditation or Spiritual Reading)
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Lucifer, when he assailed the first man and woman in
paradise was not only infuriated with envy against Gods
new creation which was to occupy the place lost by him,
but he and the rest of the fallen angels looked upon Adam
and Eve with unspeakable scorn and contempt because they
were beings of a lower grade and made out of the slime of
the earth. It was to confound and scatter these proud spirits
in the conceit of their hearts, that the Lord God decreed that
they were to be conquered and crushed this time, not by
their faithful compeers, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael and
the rest but by a man and a woman of the race that they
condemned so much.
Death and life, light and darkness, are to meet in a contest
that the blessed angels shall gaze upon with silent
amazement: The fight is now commencing. Let us in spirit
follow our Lord watching carefully, listening attentively and
trying reverently to read his thoughts
He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron.
From the Cenacle which is in one corner of the city, Jesus
goes to the opposite corner and through one of the gates,
gets out of the City of Jerusalem and crosses the brook
Cedron, which is across his way to Gethsemane. Jesus leaves
the city for the last time as a free man. The next time he
passes through the gates, another shall lead him as a prisoner.
Jesus leaves the city, so dear to him, the city of His
predilection, the recipient of so many divine favours, but
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the city which has shown herself ungrateful to God and
particularly ungrateful to Jesus in the highest degree.
Its sight a few days before had wrung out from Jesus the
bitter words: Jerusalem, Jerusalem thou that killest the
prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, but often
would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth
gather her chickens under her wings and thou would not?
Behold your house shall be left to you desolate (Mt 23:37-
39).
Jesus, thus, leaves Jerusalem. The favours which we receive
from God demands our gratitude and our fullest co-
operation. We should seriously fear, lest for want of this
Jesus deserts us as he deserted Jerusalem and left it to its
sad fate.
According to His custom He went to the Mount of Olives.
And Judas also, who betrayed him knew the place; because
Jesus had often resorted thither together with his disciples.
Let us learn from Jesus the custom and habit of prayer, at
the proper time and place, and with those who are
dependent upon us.
Jesus does not give up this custom though he knew what
would happen to him in that particular night and in that
very place. Learn not easily to admit difficulties or
hindrances in the performance of your spiritual duties
prescribed by daily custom or rule; much less try to create
these impediments on the slightest pretext.
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Jesus goes forth with his disciples. Here Jesus teaches us
not to miss our usual good company in the performance of
our prayers and spiritual duties. There are particular graces
attached to common prayer which are not obtained by
individual prayer. As the Imitation of Christ says, - He who
withdraws himself from the community withdraws himself
from grace.
Gethsemane where there was a garden into which he
entered. It was in the garden given by God to Adam and
Eve that Lucifer won his terrible victory. Of set purpose the
new Adam Jesus Christ has planned to begin the second
conflict in the garden of Gethsemane to make good all that
was lost in the garden of mans ruins. In a garden therefore
shall His passion begin; and when all is consummated in a
garden close beside the cross His Sacred Body shall be laid.
Sit you here till I go yonder and pray. This was addressed
to eight of the eleven who were with the Lord - The three,
Peter, James and John followed him further. Contemplate
the thoughtful and compassionate care of our Saviour for
His disciples. He knows that their weakness could not bear
the sight of His infirmity; they would be over much shocked
and shaken. Despite His own trouble, he is full of solicitude
for them.
This we must not fail to note; for sorrow easily demoralizes
us and renders us more intensely selfish, wants everybody
to think of our miseries, and quite deadens sympathy for
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others. Sick persons who expect service and sympathy from
others may well think of this.
Christs Prayer and Agony. He taketh Peter and James and
John with Him. These three he had once before taken to
Thabor and there by His transfiguration shown them a
glimpse of His Glorious Divinity, which had made them
intensely happy. Their faith was there strengthened so that
now they can better bear the spectacle of their Masters great
prostration.
It is not their chastisement but a great privilege and an
earnest signal of graces to come, when our Saviour chooses
any of His disciples or friends to be with him or be close to
him in sorrow.
Even if we have not strength to drink the bitter chalice with
him or are not called upon to drink it, yet even if we merely
watch with Him in His sorrow and listen to His sighs and
feel pity for Him, He is most grateful and virtue will surely
come out from him and grow in us as it did when someone
touched the hem of His garment.
Jesus is now on the spot where five days ago He was seated,
on the asss colt and listened to the loud Hosanna to the Son
of David That was His brief hour of consolation. Now the
dark hour of desolation is settling on His soul- The change
is no surprise to Him. He knew what was in man, My Heart
hath expected reproach and misery (Psalm 68) With the
same readiness with which we receive Gods consolations
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let us also be prepared to receive His desolations. Let us
say like Job If we have received good things from God
why not evil?
He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad, to fear and to
be sore troubled. From these words we can see how the
paleness of death overspread His sacred face; and that a
look of inexpressible distress and anguish has quite
disfigured the beauty of His countenance. He is heard to
sob and groans as if His Heart would break. His tears are
falling fast and all His strength is apparently gone from His
wasted Body for his footsteps were faltering and His limbs
all trembled.
If his few tears at the grave of Lazarus provoked from the
Jews around the reflection Behold How He loved what
should not be my own reflection at the sight of my Lord
sorrowful and sad, in fear and trembling. The more lowly
you have become for my sake the more dear you are to me.
He said to them: my soul is sorrowful even unto death.
These words from the mouth of our Lord are not a mere
figure of speech. They are the exact account given by Him
of what is then and there passing within His Sacred Heart.
His Divinity has, as it were, hidden itself from His Humanity
- has so to say abandoned it to itself- so far at least as the
communication of His consolations is concerned, and He is
left to endure, strictly in its most aggravated form. All the
anguish and distress which sometimes oppresses the dying,
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when the great agony sets in and the soul must perforce go
from the body. He alone among men, without dying,
endured all the bitterness of death. So much so, that had it
not been already decreed that Jesus shall not die here, but
on Calvary, there is certainly in this hour enough of sorrow
and anguish at work within His breast to snap His life. O
Jesus sorrowful for me unto death that I may know Thee,
that I may love Thee
Stay you here and watch with me. Watch with me. Keep a
vigil with me; watch as a friend watches by the sick bed of a
suffering friend. Let me have at least the comfort of knowing
that some of those I love are remembering me in my sorrow.
Watch with me. It ought not to be hard to watch with our
Saviour. To spend the night sleepless and watchful in weary
longing for the dawn and full of anxious thoughts. Indeed,
our Saviour is watching with us and we are watching with
him, surely all is changed. May we not when we suffer
always say: In sorrow I am not alone, because Jesus the
man of sorrows, is always with the suffering.
And kneeling down, He fell flat with His face to the ground.
The growing and calumniating effect of his sadness and
sorrow unto death is that Jesus is unable to support Himself
on His legs and kneeling down or rather his knees giving
way under Him He falls flat with His face to the ground.
He fell flat. Satan had fallen flat - Vidi Satanam Cadentem De
Coelo sicut fulqur, said our Lord. By Satans revengeful
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endeavours Adam and Eve had fallen flat when from their
sanctifying grace which made them children of God, and
from their state of immortality and happy blessedness they
had sunk down to their sinful state of misery and
unhappiness, drawing down with them their whole
posterity.
All this misery and unhappiness caused by the sin of Adam
and Eve have now worked together and they have produced
such a tremendous effect on the sacred soul of our Lord
that he is not able to sustain himself erect but is completely
overpowered by the sorrow and sadness disgust and
heaviness that these have caused therein to His sacred
person.
*This meditation must have been conducted in Konkani
as Vicar of St Sebastian Church, Bendur (Cf Doc: 02, F
121.1.8). But, it appears that the text was prepared in
English.
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Recede a me Domine quia homo peccatus sum (Go away from
me, O Lord, for I am a sinnful man, Lk 5:8). Thus spoke
St Peter to our Lord, when he had filled his net and boat with
a miraculous Sachet of fishes - he had not caught in his life.
Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi (Not to
us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because
of your love and faithfulness (Ps 115, 3), said David the
Prophet and King meditating the many great things God
had done for him. In fact, God had delivered him from his
many enemies and made him secure on his throne.
Sic et vos cum feceritis omnia quae praecepta sunt vobis dicite servi
inutiles sumus quod debuimus facere fecimus (So you also, when
you have done all that you were commanded, say, We are
unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty
Luke 17:10). Thus said our Lord to his apostles when he
sent them to their missionary work. And now dear priests,
elderly priests who today after sixty years of Priesthood
which you received today, sixty years are here to beg pardon
of these sixty years and thank God for the favour to celebrate
this Thanksgiving Mass and has called us to join you in it.
12. DIAMOND JUBILEE OF
REV. FR B. ARANHA
(Homily)
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What is it you think, what is it you say? Is it not in the first
place, you try the cons of St Peter: Recede a me Domine
quia homo peccatus sum ... . St Peter was filled with awe,
seeing his boat and net filled with fishes he had not seen in
his life at the command of our Lord, felt what great thing
had been done for him so little and unworthy and exclaimed!
Depart from me I do not deserve this. I am not worthy to be
near you. I dread to be near you. This is what happened to
you Priests, sixty years ago today. Weak your body and
still more weak your soul. As frail as Peters boat and Peters
net. God suddenly filled it with all the cells of his own
Priesthood. Jesus Priest who became man, in you became
another man. He took your hands as once he had taken his
own hands to hold his sacred bread and wine; he made your
eyes as once he had taken his own eyes to raise them up to
heaven and thank the Eternal Father. He took your mouth
and tongue to say: This is my body, this is my blood. Your body
and your blood would be like his body and blood.
Not this only he made your ears his ears to listen to the
sinful stories of his faithful and made your tongue, his
tongue to say as if you were he his words of absolution -
Son, your sins are forgiven, and nobody has condemned you neither
do I condemn you, and sin no more. And to the dying - this day
thou shall be in paradise with him.
He further anointed your hands and anointed them with
The Father anointed our Lord Jesus Christ through the
power of the Holy Spirit. May Jesus preserve you to sanctify
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the Christian people and to offer sacrifice to God. These
words you must have said on the day of your Ordination,
much more you should say today. These words then, much
more now. When he has given you these sixty years to live,
your sacerdotal life with these his ineffable gifts. In the
words of our daily prayer you must say today with all the
fervour of your heart, saying: My Lord and God, I lie prostrate
before you and thank you for you have created me, made me a
Christian, made me a priest, and above all the blessings of sixty
years. Help me in my religious obligation.
You five were ordained together today, sixty years ago. Of
these five you were known to be the weakest in health! And
one of the five passed away 16 years after, the second passed
away 20 years after, the third passed away 37 years after,
and the fourth passed away 38 years after, and you know,
after sixty years you are here today to thank God for your
Priesthood. God has so well heard the prayer you were
constantly reciting in your Breviary, a rare favour indeed!
And these sixty years! How many are the Masses of the
sixty years! How many Confessions! How many baptisms
of the children of Christian parents! How many of the pagan
children you sent to heaven! How much the seed of the Word
of God you have sown in your sermons and Catechism! How
much you have walked! How much prayer! And how many
other things hidden to man but known to God! And looking
at all these things have you not much more reasons than
David Prophet to sing. Quid retribuam Domino Calice Salutaris!
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(What shall I render to the Lord?). Take up that chalice of
salvation with todays chalice with all the chalices. You must
take up your own body and soul which has been our Lords
chalice which he fills with all Sacerdotal gifts, and invoke
the name of God. Invoke it in thanksgiving! But also invoke
it in great humility! Remembering what Our Lord told the
disciples to say; Quid debemus facere. What must we do? This
has been done once with his grace and strength. Weighing
what we have done in one scale and the grace of God in the
other, what we have done will simply disappear. And we
shall all heartily join you in your Thanksgiving - praying
still greater graces for you, praying the blessings of the
several with festivities Ergo serve tum (Behold your servant).
*This homily was preached in English at the Diamond
Jubilee of Rev. Fr B. Aranha (Cf Doc: 12, F 121.1.8).
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Introduction
We have come together and for six days we shall be together
for a most important work. Most important than all the
works of the year! Most important, if you consider it or
God considers it. Most important, if you consider the good
and utility which will result to you from it.
Retreat is always a thing of high expectation for you. You
long and eagerly wait for it. You understand its importance.
You always say; This time I must make a good Retreat.
But how to make this retreat good? On what does it depend?
Is it on the one who gives it? Very little on him! He is like a
bell ringer. What does it matter who rings it? One string
may pull harder and quicker but what does it matter except
a little more or quicker sound? Or even more, he may be
the bell and sound itself? It may be a sweet tone or hard
tone or even a cracked bell. It is enough that it tells time or
indicates an exercise; the right thing be done in time. But it
depends upon the one, who has to hear it and follow it. Thus
the Retreat to be good depends upon you. What then must
you do?
13. RETREAT TO THE
CLOISTERED CARMEL SISTERS,
KANKANADY
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1) Persuade yourself of its importance, the supreme
importance in the sight of God. He is before you truly;
look at him well with full faith. God your creator, your
Father, your beginning, your end and there you are
before him - as clay in his hands in the Garden of Eden!
He took that clay and said Faciamus hominem, secundum
nostram imaginem et similitudinem (Let us make man in
our image and likeness). So you are there in his hands,
not like that original clay. But still like it very much
with your poor weak and sinful body and still more
poor sinful soul.
2) In Baptism he has shaped you unto his image and
likeness. It was as beautiful as an angel then, but now
in what state this image is, if you see it through his eyes!
3) If an image or statue originally beautiful but exposed
to sun and rain, or even kept inside especially and not
taken proper care, it loses its colour and brilliance. It
will be filled with dust in every part, sometimes some
parts broken! Your soul is like that statue! And our Lord
holds it in his hands and says: Faciamus hominem he
says: Allow me to make it as beautiful, as resembling
as myself. Behold he says: I have prepared the altar
and throne. I want it in heaven, not in a corner of it but
high, very near me, around my throne and among my
chosen virgins! Therefore allow me to clean it, to repair
its parts, to paint it anew with the colour of my own
blood and my grace. If we only saw and realize this,
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we would realize how our soul ought to be! Perhaps
God has shown it to a holy soul who has seen it filled
with ulcers, wounds and there is only life in it! Your
soul is perhaps is like that! If you see your soul as God
sees it, you will see death soon!
4) If we see the evils of this world, it is foolishness. If we
see the greatness of heaven, then we see the smallness
of this world, the shortness of time and the length of
eternity! Yes, this seeing is what we want. Yes, we want
to see our soul, God, eternity and how blind we are to
them!. At times, we see things like children. They make
so much of their quantities, homes of clay. They make
sinners, king and queen! But when we are old, we laugh
at these things. So, do we make much of our body of
this world, of the little conveniences and tastes? But one
day we shall have to laugh or rather to weep at these
things and say how foolish we have been! How much
time we have lost! What treasures we have thrown
away! We must further say: We are blind to the most
important things of our soul and body as we think much
of the little things before us, a tree, a house and a dog.
But great things at a distance like the stars, the Sun and
Moon the gnats we make little of - yet how great they
are! In the same way, as regards things of soul. They
are distant to us. God, heaven, hell, eternity, Jesus our
Saviour on Calvary, Jesus in the Blessed. Sacrament! Yet,
how great these things are! If we only saw them,
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everything else will sink into insignificance and we
would rush after these things. Good many saints have
seen this reality and therefore, they said: Quid hoc ad
aeternitem? (This is nothing before eternity). For this
reason let us take the example of the blind man of
Jericho. Let us compare his blindness to our spiritual
blindness. Yes, our soul is poor compared with what it
was in Baptism. At the time of your vows and profession
it was bright, but now? At the time of your last Retreat,
it was better! Consider, how the love of God and his
Holy Will has been abandoned by desires! Has
sufferings has enabled us to grow closer to him? Yes,
the cares and seeking consolation at the world, seeking
consolation in breaking of the rule, in grumbling and
adorning of the body has blinded us! And this blindness
has closed us to the things of God and led us to our
own miseries! Behold, our Lord is passing; he is near
you. The wonderful God, your Father, you brother and
your spouse. Are you saying: fili David, miserere? (Son
of David, have mercy on me?).
5) St. Bonaventure says: By the grace of God, our soul
becomes the first the daughter of the Eternal Father,
secondly, the spouse of Jesus Christ and thirdly, the
temple of the Holy Spirit. The world your flesh - the
languor of your soul and the weakness of your body
will try to hurt. But you must with still greater fervour
say: Let this be your great prayer and effort during
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this retreat. Your every meditation, instruction, spiritual
reading must resound this prayer and it must constantly
come from your heart.
6) For this reason try not to see the world, not to see others
by taking care not only of silence but of your senses
putting away distractions. Make your retreat a prayer
and a conversation with God. Consider the real truth
that you are in the hands of God as a child on the knees
of its father, as a sickly child in the arms of its mother.
This is a great truth- you must realize that God is a
loving father. Our Lord took great care to remind us of
this. You have but one Father who is in heaven ( 1 Jn
3:1). Therefore, You shall pray after this manner: Our
Father, who art in heaven listen to Jesus saying: I go to
my Father and your Father. If God is our Father, says
St Teresa He must be better than all the fathers of this
world. Indeed no one can be such a father as He is
and there is in him the ideal of all paternity and
maternity also.
7) Being Child of the Father, you are the sister of Jesus. He
is your brother. That is why he said: Go and tell my
brethren St Augustine says: Christ is our brother, both
by his Father and Mother, when he said: After this
manner, therefore, pray: Our Father who art in Heaven
and when he gave Mary His mother to us by saying to
all Christians, in the person of St John his beloved
disciple, Behold thy Mother. But you may go further
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saying: He is your Bridegroom, for so he calls himself
is the Gospel. And because this name is so consoling to
us and so sweet to him, Our Saviour has taken pleasure
in thus manifesting Himself most often to His chosen
souls. He comes into the very depths of my soul,
says St Gertrude that He may enjoy with me, in my
heart all the sweetness which a loving husband finds in
His own house with his bride. He Himself said to
St Margaret of Cortina Thou are my bride, for thou
lovest no one but me. St Teresa said: He desires to
be loved by us and to love us with a love so passionate,
so tender that it can only be expressed by the sweetness
of that name of spouse. He asks for all our love, and all
our heart.
8) He is in your heart as in a temple. Cure of Ars said:
The Holy Spirit reposes in a pure soul as on a bed of
roses. Therefore during this Retreat converse with this
God, your Father, your brother and your spouse, who
dwells in you. Tell him your wants, your faults, your
desires, your inclinations, your difficulties and even
your temptations. Ask him for light to know the right
and ask for the grace to do what is right. Purify your
conscience in such a way that you may have no trouble
at the hour of death. So remove all the obstacles to your
spiritual advancement.
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9) To know Gods design that he make you His image, as
He intends it, His image in this world in suffering work
and afterwards in Heaven. Make your heart generous
he says. Embrace him as you embraced Him when you
first entered, and tell him that you are ready to do His
Holy Will and to go where he wills.
Shall I advice you something for the Retreat ?
a) When fatiguing the mind, exercise your faith and your
heart.
b) Avoid violent affection, rather go for acts of humility
and great trust and confidence in God.
c) Expect trials from distraction, dryness and weakness.
Take them as penance! Sanctify them by humility and
the thought of the will of God, who desires to be glorified
in our infirmities.
(Cf Doc: 04, F 121.1.7)
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We have resolved to make a good retreat. We have
understood it as a most important thing. We desire to make
it in the best way possible and now let us make its first
meditation. We must make it well, because it is the
foundation of all the rest; it is a most important one. If alone
we make it and there is no other meditation, our retreat will
be well. Therefore, place yourselves with great faith in the
presence of God.
Let us make our first Meditation, a meditation is conversing
with God with great faith, with great confidence as a child
with a father, a sister with a brother and a spouse with a
spouse. Therefore in the first place, make a sincere act in
the Presence of God with an act of humility, confidence and
desire to make this meditation well and make a supplication
for grace to do it.
The end of this meditation is to know the will of God in my
regard. What is my end? Why am I in this world? What does
God want from me? To understand this consider the
following points:
14. THE END OF MAN
(Meditation - I)
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1) Deus Meus et omnia: My God is my everything,
namely, I and whatever is in me belongs to God. Some
time ago, I did not exist, but now I exist. I exist with all
these things that I have now. It is not by chance. It is not
by myself. It is not by my parents, for my soul is not
and cannot be from them. My body too is as much, by
them, as the first man was by the dust by which he was
made. Therefore I am what I am because God has made
me. Reflect this point by the creation account, God
creating man from the dust. In making me he has given
all these things that I have. How precious! How many
of these things which I have, but others have not! What
would remain if he took them away? And he preserves
them all! Every moment he makes a donation of them.
Hence my conclusion must be: He is my Lord. He is my
Master and he is my Benefactor.
2) What is his wish in my regard to me in general? He is
eternally happy. He is not in need of me. He has created
me out of pure love that he may give me a share of his
happiness. That is why he said: Let us make man in our
likeness and image. I am not like other creatures
perishable, but like himself immortal, to reign with him
forever - to deserve,qui vivis et reqnas in saecula
saeculorum cum Deo Patre et Spiritu Sancto et Mewho lives
and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever
and ever with me. To be that, we must deserve to prepare
ourselves by knowing and recognizing Him as our
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creator, master, benefactor by loving him and by
obeying him.
3) What is his wish as regard to me whom he has brought
here? From how many dangers of body he has protected
me! From how many dangers of soul! I might have gone
astray easily! But he has given me good parents, good
family, brothers and sisters, good school, good
education, confessors, early confession and communion
and this house He wants me to be very near to him in
this world and to be very near him in the next, to be his
spouse and to follow him in heaven wherever he goes.
4) This world is nothing; God alone is everything. The
world has nothing good; it is deceitful. In God alone,
there is true good. The world makes me unhappy, but
God makes me happy in His service. The world has
forgotten, and despised Jesus Christ, my spouse, my
master. Shall I, then love the world? I wish to be treated
similarly by it, with St Paul, I wish to be crucified to it.
Then I will with all my strength, struggle against my
disorderly affection for creatures. I will guard against
too natural affection. I will not let my thoughts run on
creatures but on God alone and on my neighbour in
God. I shall try to know him by my catechism
instruction, sermons and but especially by meditation
and prayer. I shall love him by doing everything for
His love and seeking Him alone in all things. I shall
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serve him by seeking His will in all things, in all the
daily duties and circumstances of life.
5) On the order of the Day! The order of the day is like
these fragments or broken pieces broken by the loving
hand of our Lord. This order tells us how to practice
obedience: what to do? when to do? And how to do!
Why is the order of the day given? The reasons are for
order and punctuality. But the infinite reason for me is
that he wants to know where to find me and wants me
to know, where to find Him. The order of the day is a
Gift of his hours, where, when and how I can imitate
Him. It is a continual communion! My time belongs to
him. It is also for constant mortification and to say: non
mea voluntas, sed tua voluntas (not my wish, but yours).
(Cf Doc: 04, F 121.1.7)
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Your morning meditation must have disposed you to say
to your Lord: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
with me and in me. Now what is the will of God in your
regard? You are called not merely to save yourself but
sanctify yourself, to become holy daily in a special manner
as the spouse of our Lord. Gods will is that as you are very
near to him in this world, you must be very near to him in
Heaven and for this you must be very holy. To say merely
it is enough, if I go to heaven would be ungrateful and would
be rash! It would be an act of ingratitude and misuse of so
many favours of God.
You are called to be holy. But how to become Holy? First,
by doing the holy Will of God in all things. This way we
become men according to Gods heart. Perfection does not
consist in fasting and mortification if they are not according
to the Will of God. Therefore the one rule of sanctity is the
Will of God.
How do you know that this is the will of God? It is known
by his Commandments but to you especially his will is
known by your Rule Book. It tells how to conduct myself in
the honour of any royal spouse! It tells me my duties
15. YOU ARE CALLED TO BE HOLY
(Meditation II)
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towards him and my relations towards those of his house;
his other spouses. It is the inner living of the vows. Therefore,
preserve the vows and it keeps the heart and soul of the
owner warm and fervent. The ways of regarding the rule
are: What is sin and what is not, what is to be is observed,
that is not observed. This rule book has been written by my
spouse and written for me. It is he who has given me a copy!.
All these little things he has taken the trouble in order to
train my whole soul and body and all its parts.
You have to do everything for pleasing him, to show that
you love him just as you were free to come or not to come,
but when you chose to come, so now you choose these
details of perfection because they will make you perfect.
They will ravish your heart. They will show him that you
are his bride, zealous for his house and thinking only of
him. Therefore love your rule book and follow all its details.
Keep up the spirit of the Institute. This is guarded by the
rule. It was written by Saints to show the way and means of
perfection. What a pity when one loses that spirit! She is a
jarring note in the music of the life of the convent. A rusty
nail or screw in the machine which is running for the glory
of God. How is it lost? By little negligences, omissions,
dispensations and privileges.
Better for not to live quite so long or not enjoy such good
health, and do all with the community that to live to a great
age in robust health by means of dispensations and
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privileges (Fr Balthazar Alvares). Let me therefore
scrupulously guard this spirit.
Dispensation? Do not ask unless it is necessary. But if
necessary, consult your Divine spouse and go to His
representative in a spirit of submission and humility
desiring not your will but Gods will in the matter. In this
case not to ask will be against the rule or will be against the
human respect on a love of self shown in the desire to appear
regular at any cost. But this is against the rule, for the rule
orders such dispensation. When getting older, the
temptation is greater to claim dispensation and privileges.
But the rule has not changed since the novitiate. And even
when apart from the community, try to keep the spirit of
the rule. Our Lord said to St Margaret Mary: Look with
suspicion on everything that interferes with the exact
observances of the Rule to which it is my will that thou
shouldst give preference before everything else.
(Cf Doc:04, F 121.1.7)
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Tantum Ergo Sacramentum, Veneremur Cernui Come, Let
us prostrate and adore the Great Sacrament words from
the hymn of the Church.
I. How Great A Sacrament!
And how great? As great as God Himself. And how great is
God? He is All powerful, Almighty, All Perfect, Creator of
heaven and earth, the One who was, who is and who will
be, for evermore, Truth itself, Immortal, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, one God in three persons-so great is
this Sacrament of the Altar!
The Scriptures try to tell us in these words, how great God
is: He said Let it be, and everything was created. He
ordered and everything came into existence. Again the
Scripture says, The Lord looks at the world and makes it
tremble; before Gods countenance, hills and mountains melt
like wax. When Moses requested God to show His face to
him, God answered Moses: You will not live after seeing
me.
16. TANTUM ERGO SACRAMENTUM
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Holy Mother the Church explains Gods greatness in these
words, Mundum pugillo continens- One who holds the
world in his hand. So great is this God; and therefore so
great is this Sacrament, and He is present there in all the
greatness of His divinity.
But this Sacrament is great, not only because such a great
God is present in it, but because such a great God is present
in it in such a humble form. From one abyss of littleness He
has leaped into another abyss of littleness, and has taken
the form of a little piece of bread, which can be blown off by
a little puff of wind.
From the glory of His Father in heaven, from the throne
before which the seraphs and angels fall prostrate saying
unceasingly, Holy, Holy, Holy, He leaps into the womb
of a humble virgin and remains hidden there. Ventris sub
arca clausus est He was confined to the enclosure of a
womans womb. From there He took another leap into a
shed, on a manger among the cattle and the sheep. Then
again, He took the form and life of a servant, a labourer,
thereafter the name and label of a sinner, a wicked man, a
drunkard, a rebel and a thief.
His next leap was into the humiliating prison cell, then on
to the disgraceful pillar, and lastly to the infamous gibbet
of the cross!
The human form He took was that of humility and disgrace
- that of a humble servant. His body and soul, His flesh and
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blood was torn into shreds by ungrateful men and trampled
underfoot during His Passion. Oh! What an abyss of
nothingness it was into which this great God dived! And as
if all this was insufficient proof of His love for mankind he
wills to perpetuate and keep alive the memory of His Passion
and Death. And therefore He attempts another leap of
infinite depth and breaks Himself into helplessness and
nothingness, hiding His Divinity and humanity in the form
of a small piece of bread which one can hardly hold in the
hand, and which can be blown off not only by the wind but
even by a single breath! Such is the greatness of this
Sacrament!
Tantum Ergo Sacramentum! So very great is this Sacrament!
Just consider the greatness of the love of this God who lives
in this Sacrament a love that has reduced Him to such a
humble state. But it was not force or compulsion that made
Him little, it was Love, love for humankind that made Him
little. And it was this infinite love of God that makes this
Sacrament so very great!
Because of love, God became man; came among us; lived
like us and died like any human being. Because of His love
for us, He gave Himself to us, He became a friend and
companion to us, and He gave His life for us. But His love
was not satisfied just by this. Therefore what does He do?
He gives Himself fully to us - He takes His flesh scourged
and torn into shreds and every drop of His blood that He
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shed, from His circumcision up to Gethsemane, to Pilates
court and to the summit of Calvarys hill. Putting them
together in the winepress of suffering He brings out its
quintessence in the form of this food which we can receive a
hundred thousand times. He gives Himself to us in this
Sacrament of Love. What does a mother do? Whatever she
eats - be it fish, be it meat, or any other food- she turns it all
into milk and feeds her children. But our Saviour is infinitely
greater than a mother. He gave to us not only what He ate,
but himself completely, His divinity and humanity in the
form of this small piece of bread. Oh, what a magnanimity
of love! Just like the doctor who knowing that his patients
cannot eat or digest ordinary food, gives them the essence
of that food through vitamin tablets and other tonics, so our
Saviour, in order to make available to us the food of the
angels in heaven, emptied Himself fully and into
nothingness. Oh! What infinite love and what infinite
wisdom!
Tantum Ergo Sacramentum Oh! How great a Sacrament! Not
only like God it holds the world in its hands, but works
another miracle, of giving Almighty God into our hands
as well. Jesus the Saviour and His complete salvation comes
into our hands in this Sacrament - His conception, His stay
in the Virgins womb for nine months, His birth, His life,
His prayers, His merits, His work, His labours and His
passion, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His glory -
Bethlehem, Nazareth, Olivet and Calvarys Hill- everything
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He has held in His hands, and He has made it remain alive
on our altars and has put it in the possession of each one of
us, giving Himself fully to everyone of us. And thus He
has used His infinite love, His infinite wisdom, and infinite
glory.
II
Tantum ergo Sacramentum, Veneremur Cernui! So then, let us
prostrate ourselves in adoration before such a great
Sacrament - Veneremur Cernui!
Cernui! means prostrating. Let us all prostrate before this
great Sacrament. In the first place, let our soul with all its
powers, intelligence, knowledge, and understanding lie
prostrate before Him in humble submission. Let us fall at
the feet of our Lord saying with St Thomas Dominus Deus
Meus (My Lord and my God). Let our hearts prostrate before
Him. Like Mary Magdalene, let us fall at His feet and say,
Rabboni! Master, my dear Master
Let our whole body - our flesh, our blood, and all our senses
- prostrate before Him. Oh! If it was possible for us to say
with St Ignatius, the Martyr, when he was taken to be thrown
to the lions: Frumentum Christi sum; dentibus leonum molar ut
panis mundus Christi efficiar. (I am the wheat of Christ. I desire
that I be kneaded by the teeth of these lions so that I may
become the pure bread of Christ). Let us knead ourselves
for Jesus; let us knead our body, our hands and feet, and all
our limbs. Let us knead them by denying ourselves, by
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waging a relentless war against Satan, the world, our own
bodies, our desires and inclinations; let us break them and
trample them underfoot so that we may follow the will of
Christ, and in this way, drive away all wickedness and
impurities in us, in order to be the wheat and bread of Christ.
Veneremur Cernui! Let us prostrate in adoration. Let our
sweat, our labours, our difficulties and our wealth and riches
fall at the feet of Jesus, in true worship. Let us join the crowds
that had gathered to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem on that
first Palm Sunday, with branches of trees in our hands, let
us offer Him the fruits of our fields and our gardens and
our labour...
As the Jews on that day had spread their clothes on the
pathway of Jesus, let us also spread our clothes, meaning
thereby the use of our wealth and riches, to keep Jesus
among us in our Churches and honour Him. We should offer
Jesus not that which we do not need, or that which is
superfluous with us but that which is precious and valuable
to us, that which requires great sacrifice to part with, which
would be like the fragrant oil Mary Magdalene poured on
Jesus feet!
What joy fills our hearts today when we raise our eyes and
see our diocese decked with several Churches and Chapels
that adorn it? Are they not the fragrant oil of the hard labour
and sacrifices of our people - the fragrant oil that our
ancestors and after them we, their children have poured on
the feet of our adorable Saviour?
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What a wonderful story each of these Churches tell us! The
earnings and the savings of our people are buried in each
of these Churches under the feet of Jesus. Every stone of
these Churches, every piece of timber, every tile, bathed in
the sweat and sacrifices of our ancestors and of us their
children!
Praise and thanks be to Almighty God for making it possible
for us to offer all this, for His love.
But there are people who like Judas of old complained when
Mary Magdalene poured the precious oil on the feet of Jesus
- What a waste! This could have been sold and the money
could have been given to the poor.
Many Christians also taking their cue from Judas today say,
Why this waste? Why so many Churches? Why so big, why
so exquisite, and why so expensive? Such people only
pretend to have love for the poor.
And what reply do the faithful children of God whose hearts
burn with the love of Jesus give to these people?
There is just one answer and only one answer, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus. We do this, because we get an opportunity to pour
the precious oil, not only on the feet of Jesus but also on
His hands, His body, His soul, His divinity and His
humanity, on the God who became man, the God who comes
and stays with us, the God who became our countryman,
our neighbour and our tenant. Would it have been too great
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if I had given him my whole house? Would it have been too
much if I had melted myself into oil and poured it on His
feet?
The answer is an emphatic no. King David bewailed the
death of his ungrateful son who sought to kill him saying,
O my son, Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Who will
give me to die for you?
Then who will make it possible for us to offer all to Jesus -
to Jesus who gave His life for us, who has given His flesh
and blood, body and soul, His divinity and humanity,
Himself, completely to us in this Sacrament! Who will make
it possible for us to hunger and thirst for Him, to toil and
sweat for Him, to shed our blood, even to give our life for
Him?...
Then forever :
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui
Before this sacrament so great,
Let us bow in adoration
* This homily was preached in Konkani on the 29 of
December 1938, at the closing day of The First Eucharistic
Congress of Mangalore Diocese (Cf Souvenir of The First
Eucharistic Congress of Mangalore Diocese 1938, pp 139 -
144). This is a translation by Mr Leo DSouza, Sr M
Theresine, B S and Sr M Bertha, B S

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