It is the 4th year birthday of The Badger Catholic blog!
Traveling round Hungary, the great Italian preacher galvanized into action those who heard him speak. St.
John himself had been at first discouraged by the response to is
impassioned appeals, but one day at Mass he saw in a vision an arrow
with the words, "Fear not, John. Go down quickly. In the power of My name and of the Holy Cross thou wilt conquer the Turks." He
spoke of this vision in his sermons, and his new confidence was
infectious. Thousands of peasants and townsmen rushed to join the
crusade, both from Hungary and from the neighboring countries.
Okay,
I rehashed that all last year.
This year
let's look to the liturgy.
From the treatise Mirror of the Clergy by Saint John of Capistrano, priest
(Pars I, Venetiae 1580, 2)
The lives of good clerics bring light and serenity
Those
who are called to the table of the Lord must glow with the brightness
that comes from the good example of a praiseworthy and blameless life.
They must completely remove from their lives the filth and uncleanness
of vice. Their upright lives must make them like the salt of the earth
for themselves and for the rest of mankind. The brightness of their
wisdom must make them like the light of the world that brings light to
others. They must learn from their eminent teacher, Jesus Christ, what
he declared not only to his apostles and disciples, but also to all the
priests and clerics who were to succeed them, when he said: You are
the salt of the earth. But what if salt goes flat? How can you restore
its flavor? Then it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot.
Truly the unclean, immoral cleric is
trampled underfoot like worthless manure. He is saturated with the filth
of vice and entangled in the chains of sin. In this condition he must
be considered worthless both to himself and to others. As Gregory says:
“When a man’s life is frowned upon, it follows that his preaching will
be despised.” [so true!]
Presbyters who are born leaders deserve to be doubly honored, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
It is indeed a double task that worthy priests perform, that is to say,
it is both exterior and interior, both temporal and spiritual, and,
finally, both a passing task and an eternal one.
Even though they
dwell on earth and are bound by the same necessities of nature along
with all mortal creatures, at the same time they are engaged in earnest
communication with the angels in heaven, so that they may be pleasing to
their king and learn how to serve him. Therefore, just as the sun rises
over the world in God’s heaven, so clerics must let their light shine before men so that they may see their good deeds and give praise to their heavenly Father.
You are the light of the world.
Now a light does not illumine itself, but instead it diffuses its rays
and shines all around upon everything that comes into its view. So it
must be with the glowing lives of upright and holy clerics. By the
brightness of their holiness they must bring light and serenity to all
who gaze upon them. They have been placed here to care for others. Their
own lives should be an example to others, showing how they must live in
the house of the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment