Seraphic Virgin, Passionate Lover of the Crucified Christ - Scolder of Popes?

Today is the Memorial of the Seraphic Virgin - St Catherine of Siena. 

St Catherine is one of those eccentric, passionate and unusual saints that we may struggle to understand or relate to. She experienced visions of Jesus and Mary, fell into ecstasies for long periods of time, received an invisible stigmata and in one of her visions she was mystically married to Jesus Himself. During her ecstasies she dictated to others her dialogue between God and herself, this book is her most well known. She apparently lived only on the Eucharist at some points in her life, and intensely fasted to the point that some modern authors have considered her to have been anorexic! 

Many of us often think she was a nun due to her wearing a habit in pictures. However she was technically a laywoman! She was a Third Order Dominican, which meant she had the privilege of wearing a modified version of the habit, but lived in her own home and not in a convent. These women were sometimes known as the Mantellate - due to them wearing veils associated with nuns. 

St Catherine had some excellent insights on the spiritual life as part of her doctrine, and this has been verified by the Church when she was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1979 by Pope St Paul VI. From the little I know of her teachings, the following have stood out for me - the inner cell of self knowledge, Christ as the bridge, her obsession with the Blood of Christ, and her dedication to Church reform. 

St Catherine taught that all of us have the ability to create an inner sanctuary, room or cell (referring to the bedrooms of monasteries) where we can continuously dwell alone with God within us. In this cell within, we must learn about ourself and our true intentions, through rooting out sin and vice - and growing in virtue and holiness, the more we know who we really are, then the closer we come to God. This is very similar in many ways to the Carmelite mystical tradition of the Divine Indwelling and St Teresa of Avila’s insistence on self knowledge to progress in the spiritual life. They were both proclaimed the first ever female Doctors of the Church within 4 days of eachother. 

Her image of Christ the Bridge that unites heaven and earth is one that I have found helpful in my own spiritual life. It is the sacred humanity of Christ that becomes the bridge and sure way that we can safely pass over to heaven and to God. This is also linked to what can be termed as her obsession the Blood of Christ. In her letters she often refers to being washed, bathed, immersed, covered, drowned and even inebriated/drunk on the Blood of Christ - because it is what saved us, purifies is, protects us and also inflames us with divine charity. It is truly powerful stuff. 

Last but not least was her dedication to Church reform and her devotion to the Papacy. During her time there was a schism with two different Popes - one residing in Rome and the other in Avignon. This was because previously the Popes had moved to Avignon in France due political issues. She encouraged the Pope to move back to Rome, basically telling him to “man up” and do the right thing! Later on there was an issue with two rival popes - and she supported the correct one that history has shown was the legitimate pope. 

Can you imagine the turmoil of the time in which she lived? The Bishops of Rome, the Popes, had been living in Avignon France for about 70 years, there was spiritual and moral decay, political infighting in the Church among the Cardinals and bishops…. See things never really change that much!! And this was 600 years ago! 😂

But she steadfastly strove for her own holiness first, and then worked to encourage others around her. She had a group of followers around her who affectionately called her “mama” and who would distribute her letters or write them down. These letters were often for Cardinals and even the Pope himself! She would encourage them, plead with them and urge them to be good shepherds to look after the People of God. She became very influential and later on, she herself was requested by the Pope to be his messenger and to mediate some disputes. All through this, she fasted for the Pope and the Church. 

She was someone who had moral authority, people would listen to her, she had her own disciples and was known as someone who was a mystic who had supernatural knowledge and visions. She could have easily gotten so frustrated with the Church and tried to create her own church. I am sure many would have followed her and she could have easily been the leader of this new church. However she did not. She believed that the Pope was the “sweet Christ on earth” and that no matter how weak or sinful or cowardly or corrupt he may be - he deserves our respect, because he represented Christ on earth as His Vicar. What faith and humility she must have had! 

Now many of you might say, hang on a minute, how can you say she was humble when she wrote letters to the Pope himself and told him to man up and do his job! That doesn’t sound like humility to me. Didn’t you say she was a laywoman who wore a veil? 

And I answer a resounding YES! to all of this and more. 

It is precisely because she knew her place in the plan of salvation, that we can say she was humble. Humility is not about acting all sweet and passive on the outside - it is about knowing who we really are, accepting it honestly, and then working within those boundaries. 

She was a laywoman who had visions of Jesus, was mystically married to Jesus, went into ecstasies and then had messages from these written down and passed around, she had the invisible stigmata - and yet she did not start her own church, or denounce all the hierarchy as heretics. She remained within the Church, fasting and praying for reform, supporting priests within the Dominican Order to be passionate preachers, and held the Pope personally accountable. But all this was done with respect and humility  - dare say, even with love. Not a false pious charity, but a true love for the Church and God that enflamed her entire being for the Truth of Jesus and His Gospel. 

She did not fall into bitterness or despair or complaining. She prayed, fasted, grew in holiness, supported the clergy, encouraged others and cared for the sick. All of us can also do the same here and now. We can all become saints and inspiration for reform in the Church when we truly live our faith in humility and charity. When we hold the authority in the Church accountable, while praying for them, respecting them and not trying to illegitimately usurp their authority. 

As she famously said, “Be brave, be bold, in Christ Crucified you can do all things… be who you truly are and you can set the world on fire!” 

St Catherine of Siena, Seraphic Virgin and lover of the Crucified Christ, passionately obsessed with His blood - pray for us and the Church to be faithful to Christ.

Divine Mercy and the Victory of Christ applied to us in the Sacraments

Here in Australia it is a day late… but blessed Divine Mercy Sunday to you all! 

Divine Mercy Sunday is my patronal feast in the eremitic life, with my full religious name being Br Jerome Mary of Divine Mercy. I chose this because the mercy of God is something I realise has been such a big part of my own spiritual journey, as well as my calling as a hermit. 

When I was not living my faith and was in a period of living an active gay lifestyle, I would often struggle to pray. Now I love Our Lady and the rosary, but unfortunately for me I have always associated the rosary with guilt, and so it’s something I would struggle to regularly pray. So when I had my moments of wanting to pray, I would pray the Divine Mercy chaplet as it never had any negative associations for me. I specifically loved to chant it as I had learnt to chant it many years before, and so those would always be special moments of grace for me in prayer while chanting the chapel. I believe this played a huge part in me keeping my faith and eventually coming back to God and now living as a hermit. So this is why the Divine Mercy is special to me and why I chose it as my religious name. 

In the Gospel for today, it can sometimes be overlooked that this is when Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession. It was this moment that Jesus gave the Apostles the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. It was the Resurrected Jesus, victorious over death and ful of power who now imparts the life giving Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. 

The beautiful way that the Divine Mercy devotion is linked to the Sacrament of Confession and the way that the graces of the Passion and Resurrection are dispensed to us, poured out through the sacrament is something I find very beautiful. The Divine Mercy devotion highlights sin and how much we need to repent and turn to our Saviour. But it also tells us that we should not fear Jesus - we should trust in Him, turn back to Him, allow Him to wash us, clean us, bathe us in His love and mercy. His mercy is a soothing balm for our hurt and wounded souls. What more beautiful way do we experience this than when the priest raises his hand over us and prays these words “through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace. I absolve you of your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”

What peace and joy this gives to us! Do we always feel it? Not necessarily. But the beauty of the Sacraments is that they are not based on our emotions or feelings. They are concrete physical signs and actions, that impart and convey the reality behind what it symbolises. This is why we have the Sacraments, because we are physical beings - we are spiritual and physical. So through the Incarnation and specifically His Resurrection, Jesus has redeemed creation, and now it can be vessels of grace and goodness in the economy of salvation. 

We know that we can ask Jesus for forgiveness of our sins at anytime. This is what it means to be living a life of conversion and repentance - to continually turn back towards Jesus anytime we go astray, miss the mark or fall down. We look to Him, reach out our hand and say “Jesus I’m sorry, I help me. I trust in you, have mercy on me”. In that very moment we are in the arms of Jesus, our Good Shepherd who knows our weakness and comforts us.  

But our spiritual life can become messy and tricky. The devil loves to play with our mind, causing temptation, doubt, scrupulosity… does God really love you? Are you sure you repented fully? If you’re forgiven why do you keep doing the same sins over and over again? How do you know you’re forgiven? Are you even saved? Does God even care? 

These are all the many ways that Satan attacks us, tricks us, wears us down to isolate us, make us feel shame and fall into despair. But Jesus has already given us the solution to this! The Sacrament of Confession! When the priest prays over us and absolves us - we are guaranteed 100% that our sins are forgiven! No doubts, no ifs and buts. We have been forgiven, absolved, cleansed and freed from those sins that burdened us and chained us down. But we NEED to hear those words, because we are physical beings. So through the person of the priest, it is Jesus Himself who says “I forgive you… go in peace”. Hallelujah!! 

Is there any wonder why so many of us are scared of confession? Why we have wrong ideas and conceptions of the Sacrament? For many it can cause anxiety, stress and fear. This is exactly what Satan wants. If he can make us so scared to run to Jesus and fall into shame and despair, then he can trap us just like he did with Judas. 

But Jesus is the Victorious one who has already won the battle. He had defeated Satan and risen from the dead. He has conquered and overcome, He has redeemed us, freed us, saved us and is now able to transform us. So whenever we go to the Sacrament of Confession it is the Victory of Christ being applied to our life. We are receiving the graces and blessings from the Risen Jesus who washes us in His mercy, soothes us and applies His Victory over sin and the devil to us again and again and again. 

This is why in the Responsorial Psalm for today we hear “there are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the just” (Psalm 128:15). Jesus is Victorious! He has conquered death and won the war for us. Jesus is still with us in His Sacraments and the Church. His Victory is continuously being dispensed and applied to us in the Sacraments. The Gospel is continuously being announced, proclaimed and declared over our lives. The Church through the Sacraments continuously proclaims to us over and over “you are forgiven, you are redeemed, you are healed and saved.. go in peace!” 

Doesn’t this make you want to say “WOW!!” For me, it feels me with awe, wonder, joy and gratitude. It helps me to understand what a true gift the Sacrament of Confession is and why Jesus continues to heal and restore us through this precious and wonderful Sacrament. 

The glory of the Resurrection shines precisely through the sacred wounds of Jesus. Although he is Risen, and alive He still bears His wounds. Why? 

Because St Thomas Aquinas teaches that this is the trophy of His Victory! His wounds shine out always for us, reminding us how much He loves us and that through our own woundedness, that is exactly where He can be found - soothing us with the tender balm of His mercy. Washing us clean, annointing us, comforting us and strengthening us. Renewing is always through the new life He shares with us now. 

This is the beauty of the power of the Sacraments flowing to us from the Paschal Mystery. The Victory of Christ is dispensed, poured out, given, announced and applied to us physically in the Sacraments. All of this is highlighted for us in the devotion to Divine Mercy - we see the rays pouring out from Christ’s wounded side, His Sacred Heart bursts forth with love and mercy for us. All we need to do is to open our eyes and our heart, to accept His mercy and healing, to bask and soak in it as we say: 

“My Lord and my God - Jesus I trust in you”

The power of the Resurrection is poured out and given to us in the Sacraments

Happy and blessed Easter to you all! 

Christ our Saviour and Redeemer is risen from the dead as he promised, he has conquered death! Alleluia Alleluia! 

May you experience the joy and love that Jesus passionately has for each and everyone one of us from eternity and still does today! 🙏 

This love is available to us at every moment in prayer and especially through the Sacraments where the power of His Death and Resurrection are poured out for us, dispensed to us and applied to us for our salvation, healing and transformation. 

Christ has conquered death, sin and the devil! Alleluia Alleuia 

He loves us and nothing can separate are us from this victorious love!! (Romans 8:35-39) Alleuia Alleluia!!

This is the night. This is the moment of salvation - the Resurrection, our strength and hope

Wishing you all a wonderful, blessed Easter. Christ is Risen as he says, Alleluia Alleluia!! 

Just finished serving at the Easter Vigil Mass, and there is a beauty to it, that no matter how you’re feeling or what you are going through - some part of it will touch your heart. The fire, the paschal candle, the readings, the songs, the bells, the incense, the candles, the flowers, the homily, the Eucharist or the other people gathered in the pews celebrating together with you of the hope that unites us - whatever it is, some part of us will speak to you in whatever way you need to hear right now. 

This has been a tough Lent for me , there has been a lot of personal struggles, issues resurfacing or disappointments that have made me feel hurt, angry and disappointed. But no matter what life throws my way, no matter how much I struggle or sin or fail or even be unfaithful - Jesus is always faithful (2 Timothy 2:18). He loves me, He loves you - the love He has for us is so real it killed Him (Galatians 2:20. Yet He is still alive and is with us, telling us to take refuge in His wounds where He will heal us, restore us, sanctify us and give us shelter. But even more than that - He will transform us! (2 Corinthians 3:18). He will one day make us like He is, and this is the hope that gives hs strength!! 

Tonight, it was the words of the Exsultet that spoke to me and that I needed to hear. Words of joy, beauty and hope. Reassurance that even in the darkness of pain and hurt - He is in control and working out all things for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28) 

This is the night. The moment of salvation is now (Hebrews 4:7-11). Not yesterday or tomorrow but now - the eternal now of Christ alive and Risen who loves us and is with us always. We have no need to fear or despair, He is Risen and alive!! Because He lives, I can face tomorrow 🙏🙏

——- 

This is the night,

when Christ broke the prison-bars of death

and rose victorious from the underworld.

O wonder of your humble care for us!

O love, O charity beyond all telling,

to ransom a slave you gave away your Son!

O truly necessary sin of Adam,

destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!

O happy fault

that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!

The sanctifying power of this night

dispels wickedness, washes faults away,

restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners.

O truly blessed night,

when things of heaven are wedded to those of earth

and divine to the human.

Holy Saturday - the hidden silent power of God in our salvation

In the Apostles Creed we profess “he descended into hell” … this is the mysterious silent action that occurs on Holy Saturday. 

One thing I never realised before is that the Church teaches that although Jesus died, his body was still united to His Divinity - even though His soul had descended into Sheol, the place of the dead, those righteous of the Old  Testament waiting for Him to free them and allow them into heaven. This is known traditionally as the “harrowing of hell”. 

Before the crucifixion there was Sheol, the place of the dead, where all the dead went - the good and the bad. No one could enter heaven because it was closed, and only Jesus through His Paschal Mystery now has the keys of life and death (Revelation 1:18), and so he was able to bring the Gospel to those righteous ones who have been waiting in the “Bosom of Abraham” for Him to save them since the beginning of time. In Orthodox icons this is usually depicted as Jesus stretching out his hands to Adam and Eve to bring them to heaven - the Last Adam giving life to the First Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). 

So this awkward liturgical time of Holy Saturday that is characterised by silence, is not just an “empty” moment or a transition period. It is an essential part of what happened during the Triduum and the Paschal Mystery.  Even in His death, Jesus was still at “work” while His lifeless body lay in the tomb, but His soul was saving those spirits who had been in prison (1 Peter 3:19) to bring them the liberating power of the Gospel, of Himself - the Love of God made flesh. 

Because of the Hypostatic Union - the humanity and Divinity (2 natures) united in Jesus Christ (1 person), that means that even though His soul separated from the body at death, but His Divinity was still united to His body and soul, because He is an indivisible whole person. Fully human and fully divine. So even the action of His dead body laying in the tomb, was sacred and redemptive. It had meaning and salvific power. But we cannot understand it comprehend this without the life giving power of the Resurrection. 

May this silent day of rest and quiet on Holy Saturday, be a moment for you too to “rest” from the drama of Holy Thursday and Good Friday. A moment of contemplation and resting in God, in the knowledge that even when we do not know it, but Jesus is always doing the “work of the Father” (John 5:17) in hidden silence - but with more power than we could ever believe!

Entering into the Paschal Mystery through the Holy Triduum

As we end Holy Week and begin to enter into the Triduum, let us remember that we do not focus exclusively on the suffering and death of Christ so as to negate the wonder and joyful life giving awe of the Resurrection. Nor do we solely focus on the Resurrection of Christ so much as to downplay or minimise the reality of the suffering Jesus underwent for our sins out of love for us, and how it killed him. This is why even after the Resurrection that He still bore his sacred wounds for us. We need to have a unified harmony of both together, this is why the Church gives us this Triduum to liturgically enter into the entire Paschal Mystery, so it becomes a reality to our own lives here and now. 

Just as the Hypostatic Union harmonises the the Divine & human natures of Jesus into one person. So too the Paschal Mystery is the birth, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This is our calling as Christians to not only understand what it is, but also to learn through grace to live it in our own lives everyday and enter into this mystical reality through the Liturgy of the Church and also participate in the graces of this dispensed and poured out for us in the Sacraments of the Church. 

Through the Triduum we are about to enter, may you rediscover the reality of sin in your life and the harm it continues to cause you. But also learn to take hope that we have been liberated from this sin and are given the power to live new lives in Christ, here and now - today and every moment you are alive (1 Corinthians 5:18). 

May you have a Blessed Holy Thursday and appreciate with wonder how Jesus left us a memorial of His Passion in the Eucharist, so that he is as real and present to us today as he was 2000 years ago (John 6:53, John 14:18-23).  May we also pray for all priests on this memorial of the institution of the Priesthood of the New and Eternal Covenant, so that they may be renewed in their faithfulness and continue in their ministry as the stewards of the mysteries of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:1). 

On Good Friday may you remember the harm and danger of sin, the destructive and corruptive power of sin that kills and destroys (1 Peter 2:24, John 10:20). This is what Jesus took upon himself, accepted willingly for love of us to save us from death that destroys (2 Timothy 1:10). Let this remembrance not be a past event, but a living moment of grace here and now of your liberation from the slavery and burden of sin, so that unite with Christ and His death - you too will enter into His Kingdom one day with Him (Luke 24:42-43, 2 Timothy 2:12, Romans 5:8-10).

Then on Easter Vigil - the Night of all nights, may you celebrate with joy and exsultation the Victory that Christ has won for us all. His defeat of sin and death and the devil now give us new life here and now, to die to sin and live in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:57). This new life that we are given to live, is now our life hidden (Colossians 3:3) in Life itself and the Author of life, the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13)- Jesus the Christ, Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour and Redeemer. 

He loved us so much, and He still does (Galatians 2:20).  Let us enter into the mystery of His love for us this Triduum and participate in the Paschal Mystery through the Liturgy of the Church He founded and has called us to belong to. Through the sacraments He has left us, may we encounter Jesus Crucified and Resurrected - so that taking refuge in His wounded humanity, He will transform and change us (Ephesians 4:7-10, John 7:38, 1 Corinthians 15:51-57). 

Let us renew in our hearts what we proclaim at Mass in the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again (1 Corinthians 11:26). Amen amen 🙏

Invalidating your suffering does not make it holy

I came across this on Instagram and wanted to share it in case any of you need to hear it. 

As we are now in Holy Week and prepare to celebrate the Resurrection, it can be important not to try and minimise the suffering of Jesus or our own. When we invalidate or dismiss our pain and suffering it does not make us more “spiritual” but rather it means we are trying to find God where we want, on our terms - rather than where He is leading us and He in fact already is present. 

This Lent for me I have to admit had been the “lentiest Lent I have ever lented”, and yet I know that in the pain and hurt and even emptiness that it is exactly there that Jesus is most with me and offering be transformative union. If you are going through something too atm, you are not alone, your hurt is real and it is horrible - but through the mystery of the Paschal Mystery, your pain is not less painful, but somehow there is grace to be found there.  

We don’t have to take up grandiose penances to become holy. But we do need to embrace our daily struggles, hurts, disappointment, bitterness, loneliness, anxiety, anger, sadness and all the human emotions we have - in the knowledge that they have all been redeemed and that union with Jesus can be found precisely there where he has placed us, where He has allowed us to fall or hurt - and not where we think He should be. In the abandonment there is also fulfilment, this is the mystery of the cross we are each called to embrace.

If we saw Jesus crucified, would we dare say to him: “it’s ok, you’re the Son of God and you’ll be resurrected, so yeah it’s painful but you’ll be fine”? 

If not, then don’t also say it to others or to yourself. Don’t invalidate the reality of someone else’s pain or your own - Unite it with Jesus abandoned on the cross.