Sprouting Seeds

St. Mark reminds us of the mysterious sprouting of seed, sown into the soil where it is buried in darkness, then a few days later begins to send shoots above the surface of the soil into the sunlight. (Cf. Mk 4:26-34). Eventually the full plant evolves, yielding its fruit and fulfilling its purpose. We all experience this pattern as we began as seed and egg in the womb of our mothers.  Nine months later, we appeared in the sunlight of the world and gradually matured into as adults with a purpose, a mission. 
Jesus did this, with most of his life hidden from the world until he began "to go public" and made his purpose known, a purpose which has affected human history since and will continue to do.
We remember St. John Bosco today, who, as a young boy, had a dream of himself working with poor, street children and bringing them to Jesus. His dream came true as he founded two religious orders, the Salesians and the Daughters of Our lady, Help of Christians, who continue to bring his dream to reality around the world. As we look at ourselves, our children, the world around us, may we remember and trust that even from the tiniest seed, the tiniest effort, with God's grace, things, "miracles" we never dreamed of, can and will happen.
Bro. Rene

Loving Without Measuring

St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: "The measure of love is to love without measure,"  He must have come up with that thought from today's gospel passage, Mk 4: 21-25, where Jesus speaks about "the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you and still more will be given to you."  (Mk 4:24).  The greatest gift which we have been given is the love of God who IS love.  That gift comes to us in his Son, Jesus, and the grace flowing from him through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus wants to flood us with his love, an immeasurable love, as he and St. Bernard state, and he wants us to open our floodgates and let that love flood the lives and hearts of all.  We cannot be stingy with the love that comes so freely and abundantly to us; we are to give it as lavishly as we receive it.  Our role in the Body of Christ is truly TO LOVE WITHOUT MEASURE.  May the love of Christ, compel us so that we can say with St. Paul, "Caritas Christi urget nos."  (The love of Christ impels us. 2:Cor 14 )
Br. Rene  

Growing The Seed

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed as today's gospel, Mk 4:1-20, invites us to look at both the seed and the Sower.  The seed, thrown indiscriminately by the Sower, only reaches maturity in the "good soil."  As Jesus himself explains, the seed is the Word of God, the soil is the heart.  Where there is waiting and calm, quiet trust, (Cf, Is 30:15) the seed eventually produces its fruit. The Psalmist calls for commitment and trust, as triggers for the Lord to act. (Cf. Ps 37: 5)  Patience and a willingness to wait, work for the seed in soil, as well as for the Word in the heart.
The Sower, lavishes his seed, apparently not caring about wasting it on rocky soil, or amid brambles that will choke it.  He wants the opportunity for the seed to grow anywhere.  It cannot grow in these places unless we make the effort to removed the rocks and brambles.  We cannot do it alone, but with the help of others, our families, our communities, we can succeed in clearing the soil.  Again, patience, commitment and trust are necessary. Can we match the abundant generosity of the Sower?
Bro. Rene

Patron of Universities and Schools

Appropriately, the Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas falls in Catholic Schools Week for he represents not only scholarship, but holiness, which is the fruit and purpose of the examination of and search for truth.  It is said that Jesus once appeared to him saying, "you have written well of me, Thomas, what can I give you in return?"  Thomas answered, "You, Lord,." Indeed, he had a vision on the feast of St. Nicholas, which caused him then to look upon all his writings as "straw", and devote himself to prayer and contemplation until he died at the age of 50.
Nevertheless, the Church and the world owe much to the "Angelic Doctor", as he is known,  for the  magnificent legacy he left us in his Summa Theologiae (summary of theology) and other writings, including the hymns we sing at Mass and Benediction: Lauda Sion, (Sequence for Corpus Christi), O Salutaris, and Tantum Ergo (the last two verses of Pange Lingua)
We pray that he might influence us today not only  to continue to search for and deepen our understanding of the Truth, and of our faith, but also to help us to use our education to bring us closer to God and to one another.
Bro. Rene
Note: A stunning wooden carved statue of St. Thomas Aquinas,  given by his family in memory of Matthew Navien, a Central Catholic graduate, who was killed in an accident by a drunken driver,  hangs on a pillar in the library of Central Catholic High School, Lawrence, Massachusetts

Catholic Schools Week

Yesterday was the official opening of Catholic Schools Week, an annual observation including gratitude, renewal and promotion.  The theme of the week this  year is LEARN, SERVE, LEAD, SUCCEED. We are grateful for the Catholic School System, begun over a century ago by courageous, dedicated congregations of sisters, brothers and priests, and now continues under the leadership of dedicated laymen and laywomen who struggle with financial and enrollment challenges to continue providing an environment where God, prayer, the Bible, the Ten Commandments and sound moral principals can be taught freely to counteract the half-truths and even untruths that are gaining such headway in our culture. Based on a solid foundation in Truth, students learn to serve others as Jesus did and thus become leaders and successes in the truest sense.  When Jesus was accused of driving out demons by "the prince of demons", he retorted:  "How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against himself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.  And if Satan has risen  up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him." (Mk 3: 23-26). The Catholic school is an effective tool in dealing with the wiles of the Evil One in our day and of keeping the kingdom, the house, on solid footing.
Bro. Rene

Overcoming Darkness

As Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, one often quoted during Advent: "the people who sit in darkness/ have seen a great light,/ on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death/ light has arisen," (Is 9:2), we are reminded of our calling to be that light ourselves, to overcome the darkness of division, selfishness, materialism, indifference, immorality, atheism and relativism that plague and erode our culture, from the individual to the family, to the nation. Jesus began his ministry of light with ordinary fishermen, Andrew, Peter, James and John, and eight others, one of whom betrayed him.  He did not choose scholars or geniuses.  We, therefore, have no excuse.  We are among those called to be light for our time.  None of us is perfect, but by simply living what Jesus taught and by following his example, we can overcome the darkness. Hidden and unknown, in our corners of the world, without the glare of spotlights or the sensationalism of headlines, we move forward, step by step in accord with God's plan and will for us, and quietly let his light shine through us.  It can be done; it must be done.
Bro Rene

God's Ways Outdo Ours

We celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul today, a man with a mission to eliminate the "New Way", the followers of Jesus.  A man staunch in his beliefs, a man of energy and determination, a man unstoppable. Yet, the man chosen by God to use his amazing gifts to Spread the New Way by his preaching, teaching and letters; an evangelizer whose impact is still felt today; a man who serves as a role model for us who are also called to evangelize, but who might think that we can't because we are not Paul.  We need to be reminded by the conversion of Paul, that God can turn  things upside down, inside out and make changes in us that we never dreamed of.  And it may be a simple as our presence.
At the March for life hundreds of thousands were simply present; one young man, part of a large contingent from a Catholic High School in Wichita, Kansas, a faith-filled athlete, spent 24 hours on a bus with two other bus-loads of students, giving up classes which need to be made up, simply to walk and show his support for life.  His presence gave hope and was powerful as was the president's speech, that things can change, and will change, because God is in charge, and his ways are not our ways.
Bro .Rene