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Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Spirituality: U.S. Catholic Bishops

Racism can often be found in our hearts—in many cases placed there unwillingly or unknowingly by our upbringing and culture. As such, it can lead to thoughts and actions that we do not even see as racist, but nonetheless flow from the same prejudicial root.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Prayer: "When I Don’t Know What to Say to God” by Margaret Silf

You feel the need for prayer, yet, when it comes to the point,
you can’t put your needs, your feelings, your concerns into words.
The good news is our hearts don’t need words.
They have a language of their own, which is the language of God.
If you don’t know what to say, say nothing at all.
Simply be still, with the silence.

The time comes, for all of us, when words fade into silence,
and the silence can open us to the presence of God,
more powerfully than any number of words.
Let the eternal Word receive your silent yearnings.
Listen to the sound of silence.

Source: Margaret Silf, The Gift of Prayer: Embracing the Sacred in the Everyday, pp.94-95.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Poem: "O Living God," by Edwina Gateley

O living God, soften us!
Let the fire of your love
thaw the frost within us.
Let the light of your justice
sear away our blindness.
Let the grace of your compassion
heal our hardened spirits.

O living God, soften us!
That, flowing with Your grace,
we be impelled to face the world
in bold compassion,
that, driven to justice,
we may dare to cry aloud
for the little ones,
the raped, the beaten,
the imprisoned, and the hungry.

O living God, soften us!
Sweep us forward
in a Mighty Wave of Mercy
to heal our darkened world.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Spirituality: MLK

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.
Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

Friday, March 27, 2020

Spirituality: William H. Willimon

I know a church that spends three times more money on security (uniformed guards on Sunday morning, CCTV, alarms) than it spends on evangelism, welcome, and outreach. Judging from the median age of the congregation, this church will close in less than ten years. It is the nature of the body of Christ that locked doors are ultimately more costly to the survival of the church than open doors. There is a high price to be paid for fearing the threat of the Other more than we fear disappointing Jesus.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Spirituality: “In Praise of the Crushed Heart” by Dorothy Day

Here is a letter we received today: “I took a gentleman seemingly in need of spiritual and temporal guidance into my home on Sunday afternoon. Let him have a nap on my bed, went through the want ads with him, made coffee and sandwiches for him, and when he left, I found my wallet gone also.”

I can only say that the saints would only bow their heads and not try to understand or judge. They received no thanks – well, then, God had to repay them. They forbore to judge, and it was as though they took off their cloak besides their coat to give away. This is expecting heroic charity, of course. But these things happen for our discouragement, for our testing. We are sowing the seed of love, and we are not living in the harvest time. We must love to the point of folly, and we are indeed fools, as Our Lord Himself was who died for such a one as this. We lay down our lives, too, when we have performed so painfully thankless an act, for our correspondent is poor in this world’s goods. It is agony to go through such bitter experiences, because we all want to love, we desire with a great longing to love our fellows, and our hearts are often crushed at such rejections. But, as a Carmelite nun said to me last week, “It is the crushed heart which is the soft heart, the tender heart.”

Source: Adapted from “The Scandal of the Works of Mercy,” Commonweal, 1949, as found in Michael Leach, et al., (eds.), The Way of Kindness: Readings for a Graceful Life, pp.104-105.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Where were you, Lord?: The Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020

Where were you, Lord?:
The Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020
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March 29, 2020
Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45


The story of Lazarus brings up many complex feelings about life-threatening illnesses and death, feelings that we are going through it this time of uncertainty. Many of us are uncomfortable with silence and the open-endedness of mystery, and that is all we have right now – unanswered questions. We always want to know the reasons why tragedy befalls us and we will postulate many theories about the causes, and we ask questions like, “Did someone do something wrong to catch a disease or to bring about such a fate?” We also make Mary’s statement: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

COVID-19 returns us to the question that is central to faith: If you, O God, love us and are so powerful and good, why do you allow us to suffer like this? Many Christians believe that God might be permitting this virus to spread so that we return to a proper worship of God, that God is using this as an opportunity for us to check our behaviors and to make God the center of our lives again. I don’t believe God works that way. God always gives us free will to make our own choices, but I do see this as an opportunity for us to look at and embrace our suffering. It is also a time for us to ask: Where are you, O God, in my personal and our collective suffering.

Mary and Martha had to sit with their pain as Lazarus slipped towards death and finally died. They prepared his body for burial, blessed it, and prayed their goodbyes while their loved ones grieved with them. They lowered him in the tomb and closed the rock over the entrance, and they remained with their loss. I’m sure they had anger too. Their friend, Jesus, who worked so many miracles, did not immediately show up for his friend in his ultimate time of need. “Where were you, O Jesus, in my worry and pain? Why were you not there for me? I needed you, and you did not bother to come. I guess I did not matter that much to you after all.”

During this present time, it is important for us to speak about all our sufferings, all our feelings, not matter how ridiculous they may sound to ourselves. The gift is our prayer is that we can express ourselves as fully as humanly possible through our groanings. The Psalmist cried, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.” This is our invitation to be as articulate as possible in naming our feelings and using words suitable for our emotions. It is a time to plead for help, to ask for calmness, serenity, and patience, to yearn for solutions and healing, it is a time to yell at God for the predicament we are in, to share our biggest fears. It does neither us nor God any good if we hold back our feelings and thoughts in our prayers. Prayer is the place where we are liberated, where we are most free. I ask you not to restrain yourself from saying what is on your mind.

When you are finished your words and feeling as if you have spoken what is most pressing in your soul, you may notice something crucial: You may see Jesus before you. You may seem him weeping. You may see him weeping for you. He is not turning away from your suffering, but he remains close to you, and he will be there to embrace your pain and hold it for and with you. You do not have to hold it alone. Let him take it from you. And you may hear others whispering these words: See how much he loves you. See how much he cares for you.

These are the words we embrace during these difficult times. These are the words that make the difference between despair and hope. With Jesus, we always have hope. His love extends beyond all forces in life, even beyond life, into death. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He is the one who lives and gives life. He is the one who has the words of everlasting life. Let’s follow him as he journeys with us to the Cross. Let us go, onwards and upwards with him, trusting that he abides by us. Where are you, O Christ? You are on the Cross for us. We know that his Cross reveals to us the glory of God.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 
Monday: (Daniel 13) Daniel’s sharp advocacy skills spare the life of Susannah who has been unjustly accused of immoral sexual relationships.

Tuesday: (Numbers 21) As the wandering Israelites passed through the desert near the Red Sea, many are bitten by seraph serpents, but Moses erected a bronze serpent that he lifted up for those bitten to gaze upon the image and be cured.

Wednesday: (Isaiah 7) Annunciation: Ahaz is tempted by the Lord to ask for a sign but he will not. The Lord gives it anyways: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Emmanuel.

Thursday: (Genesis 17) The Lord said to Abraham: You are to become the father of a host of nations. You will become fertile; kings will stem from you.  

Friday: (Jeremiah 20) Terror on every side. Let us denounce him. The Lord is with me like a mighty champion.

Saturday: (Ezekiel 37) My dwelling shall be with my people. I will be their God and they shall be my people.  

Gospel: 
Monday: (John 8) A woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus for a verdict, but he does not answer as he calls upon those who are without sin to cast the first stone.

Tuesday: (John 8) Jesus tells the Pharisees that they will lift up the Son of Man and will then realized that I AM.

Wednesday: (Luke 1) Gabriel was sent to Mary of Nazareth to inform her that she has been chosen by the Lord to bear a son who will be called holy, the Son of God.

Thursday: (John 8) Whoever keeps my words will never see death. Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.

Friday: (John 10) The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus, but he wanted to know for which of the works he was condemned. He went back across the Jordan and remained there.

Saturday: (John 11) Many came to believe in Jesus. Caiaphas asked, “do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people?”

Saints of the Week

No saints are remembered on the calendar during this period.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      March 29, 1523: Ignatius' first visit to Rome on his way from Manresa to Palestine.
·      March 30, 1545: At Meliapore, Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle.
·      March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him.
·      Apr 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941.
·      Apr 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property.
·      Apr 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society.
·      Apr 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris.

¿Dónde estabas, señor ?: El quinto domingo de Cuaresma 2020

¿Dónde estabas, señor ?:
El quinto domingo de Cuaresma 2020
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29 de marzo de 2020
Ezequiel 37: 12-14; Salmo 130; Romanos 8: 8-11; Juan 11: 1-45


La historia de Lázaro plantea muchos sentimientos complejos sobre enfermedades y muerte que amenazan la vida, sentimientos que estamos atravesando esta vez de incertidumbre. Muchos de nosotros nos sentimos incómodos con el silencio y la indefinición del misterio, y eso es todo lo que tenemos en este momento: preguntas sin respuesta. Siempre queremos saber las razones por las que nos sucede la tragedia y postularemos muchas teorías sobre las causas, y hacemos preguntas como: "¿Alguien hizo algo mal para contraer una enfermedad o provocar tal destino?" También hacemos la declaración de María: "Señor, si hubieras estado aquí, mi hermano no habría muerto".

COVID-19 nos devuelve a la pregunta central de la fe: si tú, oh Dios, nos amas y eres tan poderoso y bueno, ¿por qué nos permites sufrir así? Muchos cristianos creen que Dios podría estar permitiendo que este virus se propague para que regresemos a una adoración adecuada a Dios, que Dios está usando esto como una oportunidad para que podamos verificar nuestros comportamientos y hacer de Dios el centro de nuestras vidas nuevamente. No creo que Dios trabaje de esa manera. Dios siempre nos da libre albedrío para tomar nuestras propias decisiones, pero veo esto como una oportunidad para que veamos y aceptemos nuestro sufrimiento. También es un momento para preguntarnos: ¿Dónde estás, oh Dios, en mi sufrimiento personal y colectivo?

Mary y Martha tuvieron que sentarse con su dolor cuando Lázaro se deslizó hacia la muerte y finalmente murió. Prepararon su cuerpo para el entierro, lo bendijeron y rezaron adiós mientras sus seres queridos lloraban por ellos. Lo bajaron a la tumba y cerraron la roca sobre la entrada, y se quedaron perdidos. Estoy seguro de que también tenían ira. Su amigo, Jesús, que hizo tantos milagros, no apareció de inmediato para su amigo en su momento de mayor necesidad. “¿Dónde estabas, oh Jesús, en mi preocupación y dolor? ¿Por qué no estabas allí para mí? Te necesitaba, y no te molestaste en venir. Supongo que no te importé mucho después de todo.

Durante este tiempo presente, es importante para nosotros hablar sobre todos nuestros sufrimientos, todos nuestros sentimientos, sin importar cuán ridículos puedan parecernos a nosotros mismos. El regalo es que nuestra oración es que podamos expresarnos lo más humanamente posible a través de nuestros gemidos. El salmista gritó: "Desde lo más profundo te lloro, oh Señor". Esta es nuestra invitación a ser lo más articulados posible al nombrar nuestros sentimientos y usar palabras adecuadas para nuestras emociones. Es un momento para pedir ayuda, para pedir calma, serenidad y paciencia, para anhelar soluciones y sanación, es un momento para gritarle a Dios por la situación en la que estamos, para compartir nuestros mayores temores. A Dios ni a nosotros nos sirve de nada si retenemos nuestros sentimientos y pensamientos en nuestras oraciones. La oración es el lugar donde somos liberados, donde somos más libres. Le pido que no se abstenga de decir lo que está pensando.

Cuando hayas terminado tus palabras y sientas que has hablado lo que es más apremiante en tu alma, puedes notar algo crucial: puedes ver a Jesús delante de ti. Puede parecer que llora. Puedes verlo llorando por ti. Él no se aleja de tu sufrimiento, pero permanece cerca de ti, y estará allí para abrazar tu dolor y contenerlo por y contigo. No tienes que mantenerlo solo. Deja que te lo quite. Y es posible que escuche a otros susurrar estas palabras: vea cuánto lo ama. Mira cuánto se preocupa por ti.

Estas son las palabras que abrazamos durante estos tiempos difíciles. Estas son las palabras que marcan la diferencia entre la desesperación y la esperanza. Con Jesús, siempre tenemos esperanza. Su amor se extiende más allá de todas las fuerzas de la vida, incluso más allá de la vida, hasta la muerte. Levantó a Lázaro de la muerte. Él es quien vive y da vida. Él es quien tiene las palabras de la vida eterna. Sigámoslo mientras viaja con nosotros a la Cruz. Vayamos hacia adelante y hacia arriba con él, confiando en que él nos respeta. ¿Dónde estás, oh Cristo? Estás en la cruz por nosotros. Sabemos que su cruz nos revela la gloria de Dios.

Escritura para la misa diaria

Primera lectura:
Lunes: (Daniel 13) Las habilidades de defensa de Daniel le salvan la vida a Susannah, quien ha sido acusada injustamente de relaciones sexuales inmorales.

Martes: (Números 21) Mientras los israelitas errantes pasaban por el desierto cerca del Mar Rojo, muchos fueron mordidos por serpientes serafines, pero Moisés erigió una serpiente de bronce que levantó para que los mordidos miraran la imagen y se curaran.

Miércoles: (Isaías 7) Anunciación: Acaz es tentado por el Señor a pedir una señal, pero no lo hará. El Señor lo da de todos modos: la virgen concebirá y dará a luz un hijo llamado Emmanuel.

Jueves: (Génesis 17) El Señor le dijo a Abraham: Debes convertirte en el padre de una gran cantidad de naciones. Te volverás fértil; reyes surgirán de ti.

Viernes: (Jeremías 20) Terror por todos lados. Denunciemoslo. El Señor está conmigo como un poderoso campeón.

Sábado: (Ezequiel 37) Mi morada será con mi pueblo. Seré su Dios y ellos serán mi pueblo.

Evangelio:
Lunes: (Juan 8) Una mujer atrapada en adulterio es llevada a Jesús para un veredicto, pero él no responde, ya que llama a los que están sin pecado a lanzar la primera piedra.

Martes: (Juan 8) Jesús les dice a los fariseos que levantarán al Hijo del Hombre y luego se darán cuenta de que YO SOY.

Miércoles: (Lucas 1) Gabriel fue enviado a María de Nazaret para informarle que el Señor la había elegido para tener un hijo que se llamará santo, el Hijo de Dios.

Jueves: (Juan 8) El que guarda mis palabras nunca verá la muerte. Abraham se alegró de ver mi día; lo vio y se alegró.

Viernes: (Juan 10) Los judíos levantaron rocas para apedrear a Jesús, pero él quería saber por cuál de las obras fue condenado. Volvió a cruzar el Jordán y permaneció allí.

Sábado: (Juan 11) Muchos llegaron a creer en Jesús. Caifás preguntó: "¿Considera que es mejor para usted que un hombre muera en lugar de la gente?"

Santos de la semana

No se recuerdan santos en el calendario durante este período.

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

• 29 de marzo de 1523: primera visita de Ignacio a Roma en su camino de Manresa a Palestina.
• 30 de marzo de 1545: En Meliapore, Francis Xavier llegó en peregrinación a la tumba de Santo Tomás Apóstol.
• 31 de marzo de 1548: p. Anthony Corduba, rector del Colegio de Salamanca, le suplicó a Ignacio que lo admitiera en la Sociedad para escapar del cardinalato que Carlos V pretendía procurar para él.
• 1 de abril de 1941. La muerte de Hippolyte Delehaye en Bruselas. Fue un eminente hagiógrafo y estuvo a cargo de los bollandistas desde 1912 hasta 1941.
• 2 de abril de 1767. Carlos III ordenó el arresto de todos los jesuitas en España y la confiscación de todos sus bienes.
• 3 de abril de 1583. La muerte de Jerónimo Nadal, uno de los compañeros originales de Ignacio, quien luego le confió la publicación y distribución de las Constituciones Jesuitas a las diversas regiones de la Sociedad primitiva.
• 4 de abril de 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordenó diácono en París.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Prayer: Angela of Foligno

O Lord Jesus Christ,
make me worthy to understand
the profound mystery of your holy incarnation,
which you have worked for our sake and for our salvation.

Truly there is nothing so great and wonderful as this,
that you, my God, who are the creator of all things,
should become a creature,
so that we should become like God.

You have humbled yourself and made yourself small
that we might be made mighty.
You have taken the form of a servant,
so that you might confer upon us a royal and divine beauty.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Prayer: Evelyn Underhill

O Lord,
cleanse my service of all selfishness, spiritual or material,
all criticisms or impatience,
all secret desire for consolation, recognition or reward.
May I love those you have given me, to the end,
for you and in your way.
May I give and go on giving.
May I bear and go on bearing.
Take all that I have and all that I am
and subdue it to your service. Amen.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Spirituality: “A Mercy” by C. S. Lewis

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single great injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life – to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son – how can we do it?

Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says.

Source: Michael Leach, et al., (eds.), The Way of Forgiveness: Readings for a Peaceful Life, page 141.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Prayer: John Paul II

O God, to you we offer our homage. Guide us on all the paths we travel upon the earth. Free us from all the evil tendencies that lead our hearts away from your will. Never allow us to stray from you, O God, author of peace and justice, give us true joy and authentic love, and a lasting solidarity among peoples. Give us your everlasting gifts.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Spirituality: Lewis B. Smedes

The problem with revenge is that it never evens the score. It ties both the injured and the injurer to an escalator of pain. Both are stuck on the escalator as long as parity is demanded, and the escalator never stops.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Poem: "Joseph's Song" by Michael Card

How could it be, this baby in my arms, sleeping now so peacefully;
The Son of God, the angel said. How could it be?
Lord, I know he’s not my own, not of my flesh, not of my bones;
Still, Father, let this baby be the son of my love.
Father, show me where I fit into this plan of yours:
How can a man be father to the Son of God?
Lord, for all my life I’ve been a simple carpenter.
How can I raise a king? How can I raise a king?
He looks so small, his face and hands so fair
And when he cries the sun just seems to disappear.
But when he laughs, it shines again. How could it be?
Father, show me where I fit into this plan of yours:
How can a man be father to the Son of God?
Lord, for all my life I’ve been a simple carpenter.
How can I raise a king? How can I raise a king?
How could it be, this baby in my arms, sleeping now so peacefully;
The Son of God, the angel said. How could it be?

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

From Quarantine to Communion: The Fourth Sunday in Lent 2020


    From Quarantine to Communion:
The Fourth Sunday in Lent 2020
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March 22, 2020
1 Samuel 16:1, 6-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41


During this time of self-distancing when many churches are closed for Sunday and daily worship, I am aware of the weightiness and responsibility of offering mass for the faithful. Our work as priests are to foster a spiritual communion in a time when we cannot offer the people the sacrament of God. We pray for those people who seek communion, and we pray that we experience communion with one another in a time of uncertainty. Communion is never an experience between you and God alone because by necessity it requires caring for the other person. Masses are always celebrated, not just for those who attend worship, but for the sake of the world.

The story of the man born blind in the Gospel of John has elements that are important to us during this crisis. First, the man is instructed to wash himself in the waters of Siloam while we are instructed to wash our hands repeatedly and to disinfect the surface areas that may carry virus particles. Second, like the Jewish authorities in the story, we are trying to find the cause of the virus. There are even some preachers who will make preposterous claims that God is angry about our sinfulness in particular areas of our moral lives. As Jesus points out in the story, sometimes these things just happen and trying to find causes does not solve the current crisis. Neither the man born blind nor his parents sinned. His condition may have come about through a number of physiological reasons, but it is not connected with any moral failure.

         While the Gospel is about coming to belief through the gift of visual sight, this is our present time to examine how and what we believe about Jesus. The man born blind’s entire world has been flipped upside down after a lifetime of disability and dependence upon others. His life, up until his healing, has been one of social quarantine as he could not work, play, relate to others, prepare his own meals, date, or enjoy the pleasures of life. His had been a lifetime of hardship.

         With the disruption we will face, we will find ourselves like the man born blind who has to reintegrate himself back into society. He had to learn new social customs; we will as well. We will face anxiety if we do not know how long our social exile will be. We will have increased time with ourselves, have to figure out what to do with the time and the silence, and we will recognize the importance of our social connections. We may have more time with the people we love, and we might not know how best to spend it. We are going from major swings in work-life balance from having too little time and rest to having far too much time and rest. We will have to re-establish commerce, find out how to resume to projects that were interrupted, sometimes major ones like job and school applications, and we will slowly come back as a community again, but with new protocols. Throughout this time, our desire to see Jesus will increase. We will have an opportunity to experience what many elderly, shut-ins, and hospitalized people face in their aloneness.

         Let’s examine how Jesus keeps us in communion during this time. Let’s continue to look for him until we see his face plainly. Let’s pray for those who are disconnected from us. Jesus will lead us through this and he will remind us that we have each other as gifts. All we have is the present moment. Jesus stands ready to heal our sight, bring us to greater belief, and to help us cherish the communities of which we are a part.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 
Monday: (Isaiah 65) The Lord is about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered; there will always be rejoicing and happiness.

Tuesday: (Ezekiel 47) The angel brought the prophet to the entrance of the temple where life-giving water flowed forth and bringing life to all.

Wednesday: (Isaiah 49) The Lord finds favor with Israel and promises help on the day of salvation. The Lord will help Israel keep the commandments because He cannot forget her beauty.

Thursday: (2 Samuel 7) The Lord said to David: Your house shall endure forever; your throne shall stand firm forever. 

Friday: (Wisdom 2) The wicked said, “Let us beset the just one because he is obnoxious to us. Let us revile him and condemn him to a shameful death.”

Saturday: (Jeremiah 11) Jeremiah knew their plot, but like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized they were hatching plots against him.  

Gospel: 
Monday: (John 4) Jesus returned to Galilee where he performed his first miracle. Some believed in him. A royal official approached him as his child lay dying, but at the hour Jesus spoke to him, his son recovered.

Tuesday: (John 5) Jesus encountered an ill man lying next to a healing pool, but when the water is stirred up, no one is around to put him in. Jesus heals him and he walks away. The Jews protest that Jesus cured on the Sabbath. The Jews began to persecute Jesus.

Wednesday: (John 5) Jesus explains that he is the unique revealer of God and cannot do anything on his own. He judges as he hears and his judgment is just because he does not seek his own will.

Thursday: (Matthew 1) The birth of Jesus came about through Mary, betrothed to Joseph. In his dream, the angel tells Joseph to take the pregnant Mary as his wife.

Friday: (John 7) Jesus did not wish to travel around Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him, but he went up during the feast of Tabernacles where he was spotted. He cried up in the streets, “You know me and you know where I am from.”

Saturday: (John 7) Some in the crowd said, “This is the prophet.” Some said, “This is the Christ.” A division occurred because of him because they could not settled how he fit into Scripture. Nicodemus interjected, “Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” The crowd dispersed to their homes.

Saints of the Week

March 23: Toribio of Mogrovejo, bishop (1538-1606) was a Spanish law professor in Salamanca who became the president of the Inquisition in Granada. As a layman, he was made the Archbishop of Lima, Peru and became quickly disturbed at the treatment of the native populations by the European conquerors. He condemned abuses and founded schools to educate the oppressed natives. He built hospitals and churches and opened the first seminary in Latin America.

March 25: The Annunciation of the Lord celebrates the announcement that God chose to unite divinity with humanity at the conception of Jesus. God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to inform her of God’s intentions to have her conceive the future Messiah. The boy’s name was to be Jesus – meaning “God saves.” This date falls nine months before Christmas Day.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      March 22, 1585: In Rome, Fr. General received the three Japanese ambassadors with great solemnity in the Society's Church of the Gesu.
·      March 23, 1772: At Rome, Cardinal Marefoschi held a visitation of the Irish College and accused the Jesuits of mismanagement. He removed them from directing that establishment.
·      March 24, 1578: At Lisbon Rudolf Acquaviva and 13 companions embarked for India. Among the companions were Matthew Ricci and Michael Ruggieri.
·      March 25, 1563: The first Sodality of Our Lady, Prima Primaria, was begun in the Roman College by a young Belgian Jesuit named John Leunis (Leonius).
·      March 26, 1553: Ignatius of Loyola's letter on obedience was sent to the Jesuits of Portugal.
·      March 27, 1587: At Messina died Fr. Thomas Evans, an Englishman at 29. He had suffered imprisonment for his defense of the Catholic faith in England.
·      March 28, 1606: At the Guildhall, London, the trial of Fr. Henry Garnet, falsely accused of complicity in the Gunpowder Plot.