Pray the Rosary for Our Country
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This past week has been an exhausting and tense one for us and for our country. The one sentiment that I seem to hear more than any other is: “I’m tired. How can I embrace/carry my cross as I should, when I don’t have any strength left?” My best answer is: Sometimes, the only thing we can do is to just take a rest, but take it in the shade of that Cross. God knows what it is to be tired; to be weary; to fall from exhaustion. When Jesus fell three times under the weight of His Cross, He didn’t immediately jump back up, grab the cross again and resume His agonizing walk to Golgotha. With His extreme loss of blood and brutally battered body, I can only picture Him as lying on the ground exhausted and weak, until he was violently jerked back to His feet by the Roman soldiers. There is nothing wrong with this notion, for as human beings we all have moments of exhaustion that in our day and age are usually not physical but tend to be spiritual and/or psychological. If you feel that you need a rest, take it, but use the time to spiritually refresh yourself. By this I mean, put aside the secular world for a while and concentrate on the spiritual world. Take a break from your i-phone, TV, newspapers and the constant stream of news and stimulation. Take a rest from all the noise and find time for silence and for contemplation. Remember that history tends to be cyclical.
Our Church and our country have gone through tumultuous times before. Now, Christ did not promise that countries would never fail, but He DID promise that the Church will never fail. It will stand the test of time until the end of time. With this in mind, put your worry aside and concentrate on your soul. Engage in activities that are conducive to prayer and contemplation. God moves us through our intellect (reading) and through beauty (nature); so first, read a good book! Our Cathedral Bookstore has dozens of books that can help you to center your thoughts on Christ. (I have always found that St. Francis de Sales is a great spiritual guide.) Then, continue your rest, your break from the media, with a walk in a park or any place that allows you to simply enjoy nature and contemplate its Creator. What a great place and time to say a Rosary or two!
Once you have rested and have recharged your spiritual battery, it will be time to “get back into the game,” but get back with a different attitude. Keep in the forefront of your mind that this life is short and is but a test; it does not last forever. Keep your focus on the next life, which does last forever. Cling to Jesus and to the Church which He founded. Stay close to the Sacraments, namely Confession and Holy Communion, which is our food for this short journey. Keep praying your Rosary, and for those of you who visit the Blessed Sacrament each day (housed in the east end of the PLC), keep it up for it is very pleasing to God!
—Fr. Epperson
Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church
Today, November 10th, is the Feast Day of the fifth-century Pope known as “Pope St. Leo the Great,” whose involvement in the fourth ecumenical council helped prevent the spread of error on Christ's divine and human natures. St. Leo intervened for the safety of the Church in the West by persuading Attila the Hun to turn back from Rome. Reigning for over two decades, he sought to preserve the unity of the Church in its profession of faith. Leo used his authority, in both doctrinal and disciplinary matters, against a number of heresies that were plaguing the Church at that time – including Pelagianism (involving the denial of Original Sin) and Manichaeanism (a gnostic system that saw matter as evil). Here are some quotes from him regarding the importance of unity and continuity of belief.
“Teach nothing new, but instill into all men's breasts those things which the Fathers of revered memory have with harmony of statement taught... Preach nothing else than what we received from our forefathers... Accordingly, both in the rule of faith and in the observance of discipline, let the standard of antiquity be maintained throughout.”
“A great safeguard is the entire faith, the true faith, in which neither anything whatever can be added by anyone nor anything taken away; for, unless faith be one, it is not the faith.”
“The devil is always discovering something novel against the truth.”
Announcements
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