>> A READING FROM THE LETTER OF ST. JAMES. BELOVED: IS ANYONE AMONG YOU SUFFERING? HE SHOULD PRAY. IS ANYONE IN GOOD SPIRITS? HE SHOULD SING A SONG OF PRAISE. IS ANYONE AMONG YOU SICK? HE SHOULD SUMMON THE PRESBYTERS OF THE CHURCH, AND THEY SHOULD PRAY OVER HIM AND ANOINT HIM WITH OIL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. THE PRAYER OF FAITH WILL SAVE THE SICK PERSON, AND THE LORD WILL RAISE HIM UP. IF HE HAS COMMITTED ANY SINS, HE WILL BE FORGIVEN. THEREFORE, CONFESS YOUR SINS TO ONE ANOTHER AND PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, THAT YOU MAY BE HEALED. THE FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON IS VERY POWERFUL. ELIJAH WAS A MAN LIKE US; YET HE PRAYED EARNESTLY THAT IT MIGHT NOT RAIN, AND FOR THREE YEARS AND SIX MONTHS IT DID NOT RAIN UPON THE LAND. THEN ELIJAH PRAYED AGAIN, AND THE SKY GAVE RAIN AND THE EARTH PRODUCED ITS FRUIT. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IF ANYONE AMONG YOU SHOULD STRAY FROM THE TRUTH AND SOMEONE BRING HIM BACK, HE SHOULD KNOW THAT WHOEVER BRINGS BACK A SINNER FROM THE ERROR OF HIS WAY WILL SAVE HIS SOUL FROM DEATH AND WILL COVER A MULTITUDE OF SINS. ♪ VERBUM DOMINI ♪ >> ♪ DEO GRATIAS ♪ >> LET MY PRAYER COME LIKE INCENSE BEFORE YOU. >> LET MY PRAYER COME LIKE INCENSE BEFORE YOU. >> O LORD, TO YOU I CALL, HASTEN TO ME, HEARKEN TO MY VOICE WHEN I CALL UPON YOU. LET MY PRAYER COME LIKE INCENSE BEFORE YOU, THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS, LIKE THE EVENING SACRIFICE. >> LET MY PRAYER COME LIKE INCENSE BEFORE YOU. >> O LORD, SET A WATCH BEFORE MY MOUTH, A GUARD AT THE DOOR OF MY LIPS. FOR TOWARD YOU, O GOD, MY LORD, MY EYES ARE TURNED. IN YOU I TAKE REFUGE, STRIP ME NOT OF LIFE. >> LET MY PRAYER COME LIKE INCENSE BEFORE YOU. [ORGAN] >> ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ >> ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ >> ♪ BLESSED ARE YOU, FATHER, LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, YOU HAVE REVEALED TO LITTLE ONES THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM ♪ >> ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ ♪ ALLELUIA ♪ >> Father: ♪ DOMINUS VOBISCUM ♪ >> ♪ ET CUM SPIRITU TUO ♪ >> Father: ♪ LECTIO SANCTI EVANGELII SECUNDUM MARCUM ♪ >> ♪ GLORIA TIBI, DOMINE ♪ >> Father: PEOPLE WERE BRINGING CHILDREN TO JESUS THAT HE MIGHT TOUCH THEM, BUT THE DISCIPLES REBUKED THEM. WHEN JESUS SAW THIS HE BECAME INDIGNANT AND SAID TO THEM, "LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME, DO NOT PREVENT THEM, FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE. AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, WHOEVER DOES NOT ACCEPT THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE A CHILD WILL NOT ENTER IT." THEN HE EMBRACED THE CHILDREN AND BLESSED THEM, PLACING HIS HANDS ON THEM. ♪ VERBUM DOMINI ♪ >> ♪ LAUS TIBI, CHRISTE ♪ >> Father: IF YOU MAY JUST BE JOINING US TODAY, WE ARE OFFERING A MASS, ONE OF THE VARIOUS MASSES FOR NEEDS AND OCCASIONS THE CHURCH HAS. WE ARE OFFERING THIS MASS AND TIME OF WAR. THE REASON FOR THE PURPLE COLOR. THINKING ESPECIALLY OF OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS IN UKRAINE. PERHAPS YOU SAW ON THURSDAY, ON "EWTN NEWS NIGHTLY," WE WERE SPEAKING TO OUR DIRECTOR OF EWTN UKRAINE. FATHER OLEKSANDR ZELINSKYI. HE IS IN KIEV. HE WAS STILL THERE ON THURSDAY AND HE SAYS WE ARE CONTINUING TO BROADCAST THE MASS AND DEVOTIONS OR PRAYERS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE NEED IT. THEY WERE CONTINUING UP UNTIL THAT POINT. AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, THE CITY, THE CAPITAL CITY IS NOW UNDER SIEGE. THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN IS POWERFUL INDEED. I OFTEN SAY ONE OF THE REASONS GOD BROUGHT ABOUT THIS GLOBAL NETWORK THAT REACHES THE WHOLE WORLD NOW, 145 COUNTRIES, AS A GLOBAL COMMUNITY, WE CAN BE PRAYING TOGETHER. CERTAINLY SO MANY VOICES LIFTED IN PRAYER TODAY FOR UKRAINE, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING THERE, FOR A SWIFT END TO THE VIOLENCE TAKING PLACE THERE. IT WILL NOT GO UNHEARD. WE LOOK TO OUR LADY TOO IN A SPECIAL WAY. OUR BISHOP RAICA SAID HE'S INVOKING THE PATRON SAINT OF UKRAINE FOR THE PEOPLE'S PROTECTION. THERE ARE A COUPLE STORIES I WANTED TO BEGIN WITH THIS MORNING. THE FIRST IS REGARDING A MAN WHO IS SOON PERHAPS TO BE CANONIZED, BLESSED TITUS BRANDSMA. THIS PAST NOVEMBER, POPE FRANCIS APPROVED A MIRACLE THAT WILL LEAD TO HIS CANONIZATION. THE MIRACLE WAS A CARMELITE PRIEST IN FLORIDA WHO HAD STAGE 4 MELANOMA CANCER. HE HAD A GREAT DEVOTION TO TITUS BRANDSMA, A LITTLE GUY, 5'1". BUT TITUS BRANDSMA DIED DURING WORLD WAR II IN DACHAU, THE NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP. WHEN THE PRIEST IN FLORIDA LEARNED HE HAD THIS ADVANCED CANCER, HE HAD PIECE OF HIS CLOTHING, A RELIC HE WOULD PRAY WITH. HE WAS COMPLETELY CURED OF THE CANCER. THE VATICAN PRESENTED THIS TO POPE FRANCIS THIS PAST NOVEMBER, APPROVED THE MIRACLE TOWARD THE CANONIZATION OF TITUS BRANDSMA. I THINK THE STORY IS RELEVANT FOR US IN THE TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE. TITUS BRANDSMA WAS A DUTCH CARMELITE PRIEST. AND HE WAS ALSO THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR OF THE CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERS IN HOLLAND. WHEN THE NAZIS BEGAN TO RISE IN POWER, THEY WERE INSISTING THAT THEIR PROPAGANDA BE PUT IN THESE CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERS. WELL, TITUS WOULD HAVE NONE OF THAT IN THE CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERS. HE WAS EVENTUALLY TAKEN AS A PRISONER AND ENDED UP IN DACHAU, WHERE MANY OF THE CLERGY WERE SENT. HE SUFFERED MANY BRUTALITIES THERE. THOSE WHO SURVIVED TALKED ABOUT THE VIRTUES THAT HE MANIFESTED THERE IN THAT HELL OF A PRISON CAMP. EVEN AFTER HE WAS BEATEN, HE HAD THIS FAITH IN THE LORD. AND ONE PROTESTANT COLONEL WITNESSED TITUS' VIRTUES, HE SAID HIS SMILE BROUGHT A WARMTH TO FROZEN SOULS THERE. BECAUSE OF THE HARSH CONDITIONS HE WAS LIVING IN, THE BEATINGS HE SUFFERED, THE LAST THING HE WANTED TO DO WAS BE SENT TO THE HOSPITAL BUT AT THAT POINT, HE HAD TO BE. OFTEN THERE WERE EXPERIMENTS DONE THERE WHERE YOU RECEIVE A LETHAL INJECTION THAT ENDED YOUR LIFE. HE WAS THERE. HE WAS MINISTERING TO THE OTHERS IN THE HOSPITAL, HEARING CONFESSIONS, DOING WHAT HE COULD TO LIFT THEIR BURDENS. THE NURSE THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY GIVE HIM THIS LETHAL INJECTION WAS A NONBELIEVER. IN FACT, SHE RIDICULED THE FAITH. BUT TITUS ASKED HER, HOW DID YOU GET HERE? SHE TOLD HER STORY ABOUT HOW SHE ENDED UP THERE. HE TOOK HER HAND AND SAID "YOU ARE A GOOD GIRL AND I'M PRAYING A LOT FOR YOU." AND HE GAVE HER HIS HANDMADE ROSARY. SHE SAID WELL, I DON'T PRAY. HE SAID, AT LEAST SAY THE LAST HALF OF THE HAIL MARY. "PRAY FOR US SINNERS." SO SHE TOOK IT. SHE WOULD GIVE HIM HIS LETHAL INJECTION IN 1942. IT WAS IN THE 1950s THAT SHE SHOWS UP AT A CARMELITE MONASTERY IN GERMANY ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS. SHE NEVER FORGOT TITUS' FACE. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT ALWAYS STUCK WITH HER. SHE SAID THAT HE NEVER LOOKED AT ME WITH THE LEAST BIT OF HATRED OR CONTEMPT. SHE HAD MET MANY PRIESTS BUT TITUS IMPRESSED HER. EVEN IN THAT HELLHOLE THAT THAT PRISON WAS, HE RECOGNIZED HUMAN DIGNITY. EVEN IN THE ONE THAT WAS GOING TO GIVE HIM A LETHAL INJECTION. HE REALIZED THE HUMAN DIGNITY OF THAT NURSE. "YOU ARE A GOOD GIRL, I'M PRAYING A LOT FOR YOU." THAT WAS HIS DESIRE FOR HER SALVATION. FOR RETURNING BACK TO THE LORD. AND SO YOU SEE THAT EVEN IN THESE HARSHEST CONDITIONS, OFTEN, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THESE PEOPLE RISE UP. THERE IS ANOTHER STORY I TOLD AT CHRISTMAS TIME, PERHAPS YOU'VE HEARD OF IT, DURING WORLD WAR I, THE HOSTILITIES HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR FIVE MONTHS. THERE WAS A HOPE IT WOULD END BY CHRISTMAS. WELL, IT DIDN'T. FIRST CHRISTMAS IN 1914, THERE WAS AMAZINGLY WHAT WAS CALLED "THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE." YOU HAD THE TRENCH WARFARE AND SOLDIERS ON BOTH SIDES WENT INTO NO-MAN'S-LAND, WHERE YOU DIDN'T GO. YOU'D GET SHOT. BUT ON CHRISTMAS DAY, THEY WENT OUT ON BOTH SIDES. THEY EXCHANGED GIFTS. THEY EVEN HAD A LITTLE SOCCER GAME IN SOME PLACES. THEY TOOK PHOTOS OF THAT SO WE KNOW HOW THIS EVENT TOOK PLACE. THEY RECOGNIZED EACH OTHER'S HUMANITY. POPE FRANCIS SPOKE OF THE EVENTS AS THE MADNESS OF WAR. IT'S MADNESS. IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT WE AS A GLOBAL COMMUNITY, THAT WE PRAY FOR A SWIFT END TO THIS AND KNOW THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN UNVEILETH MUCH. IT IS POWERFUL INDEED. WE ARE ALL PRAYING FOR A SWIFT END TO THESE HOSTILITIES. PRAYING IN OUR ROSARY, OUR TELEVISED ROSARY AFTER THE MASS. IT'S POWERFUL BEFORE THE LORD. NOT WITHOUT FRUIT. TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE SEE A BEAUTIFUL EVENT IN OUR LORD'S LIFE. THERE'S ONLY ONE TIME IN THE GOSPELS WHERE IT SAYS THAT JESUS BECAME INDIGNANT. AND THAT IS IN TODAY'S GOSPEL. THE DISCIPLES REBUKED THE PEOPLE BRINGING THEIR CHILDREN, THAT HE MIGHT TOUCH THEM. JESUS SAW THIS AND HE BECAME INDIGNANT. AND HE SAID TO THEM, "LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME. DO NOT PREVENT THEM. HE HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE KINGDOM IN MARK'S GOSPEL. THE KINGDOM IS LIKE A SOWER WHO SOWS A SEED. SOME FALLS ON DRY GROUND, OR THORNS OR THISTLES. THEN SOME FALLS ON FERTILE GROUND. LIKE A MUSTARD SEED THAT GROWS AND THE BIRDS CAN NEST IN ITS BRANCHES. HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. HE SAYS THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE. THESE LITTLE CHILDREN. WHOEVER DOES NOT ACCEPT THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE A CHILD WILL NOT ENTER IT. CHILDREN HAD NO SOCIAL STATUS IN THAT CULTURE. THE APOSTLES THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE A NUISANCE, JUST WASTING HIS TIME. AND THE LORD BECAME INDIGNANT. "NO, LET THEM COME TO ME." HE RECOGNIZED, OF COURSE, THE DIGNITY IN EVERY PERSON. THE LITTLE CHILD THAT HAD NO SOCIAL STATUS. HE RECOGNIZED THAT THIS IS A CHILD OF MY FATHER. IT'S MY CHILD. THE PARENTS WANTED HIM TO TOUCH THESE CHILDREN. HE GOES BEYOND ALL OF THAT. WHAT DO WE HEAR THAT HE DID? HE EMBRACED THEM AND HE BLESSED THEM. AND HE PLACED HIS HANDS ON THEM. AND SO HOW ARE WE TO RECEIVE THE KINGDOM OF GOD? LIKE A LITTLE CHILD. ST THERESE, THIS LITTLE DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH TEACHES US HOW TO BE CHILDREN OF GOD, HOW TO RECEIVE THE KINGDOM, AND SHE SAYS THE VIRTUES THAT WE HAVE, IT'S GOOD FOR US TO RECOGNIZE DIFFERENT VIRTUES AND STRENGTHS WE HAVE. TIMES WHERE WE ARE PATIENT, CHARITABLE, BUT SHE SAID LOOK AT THOSE THINGS AS TREASURES HE'S PUT INTO YOUR CHILD'S HANDS. I HAVE THIS ABILITY TO DO THIS GOOD. BUT IT'S ALWAYS HIS TREASURE AND HE HAS GIVEN IT TO YOU TO USE WHEN IT'S NECESSARY. SO YOU ARE ABLE TO PRACTICE CHARITY, FULFILL THE DUTIES OF YOUR LIFE. TRUST IS HARD WHEN THERE IS CHAOS ON IN THE WORLD. YOU ARE ABLE TO INTERCEDE, PRAY. THAT IS A TREASURE HE HAS PUT IN YOUR CHILD'S HANDS SO YOU CAN USE IT WHEN NECESSARY BUT IT'S HIS TREASURE HE HAS GIVEN TO YOU. SHE ALSO SAID "DON'T GET DISCOURAGED BY YOUR FAULTS." LITTLE CHILDREN, THEY FALL A LOT. BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALL, THEY DON'T GET HURT TOO BAD. WE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO LOOK TO HIM. IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE RECEIVE FOR HIM. NOT SOMETHING WE MERIT OR EARNED. BUT RATHER, LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN WHO ARE READY TO RECEIVE IT. WE THINK TOO ABOUT TODAY'S FIRST READING. TWO OF THE HEALING SACRAMENTS THAT ARE SPOKEN OF HERE. JAMES SPEAKS OF THEM, BRINGING HEALING. THAT'S WHAT GOD WANTS FOR PEOPLE. HE WANTS HEALING, PEACE, HE WANTS THEM TO BE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. HE WANTS TO EMBRACE THE CHILDREN, WE'RE ALL HIS CHILDREN. SEND FOR THE PRIEST. HAVE THEM ANOINTED, CONFESS YOUR SINS TO ONE ANOTHER AND PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER THAT YOU MAY BE HEALED. THOSE ARE OUR TWO HEALING SACRAMENTS, CONFESSION AND ANOINTING OF THE SICK. YOU SEE, GOD IS WITH US. HE'S ALWAYS READY TO GIVE US THE REMEDY, TO BE THE REMEDY FOR OUR SINS. TO BE OUR STRENGTH IN OUR ILLNESSES. TO BE OUR PEACE IN TIMES OF CONFLICT. MY DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, LET US SEE OURSELVES AS CHILDREN, TO RECEIVE THE KINGDOM THAT HE OFFERS TO US, LOVING ONE ANOTHER, SEEING THE HUMAN DIGNITY OF ONE ANOTHER, SMALL, OR ADULTS OR OLD. WHATEVER NATION WE MAY BE COMING FROM, THAT WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. WE RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER'S DIGNITY LIKE TITUS BRANDSMA. "YOU ARE A GOOD GIRL, I'M PRAYING FOR YOU." HE COULD SEE HER POTENTIAL. SHE WAS PRESENT AT HIS BEATIFICATION. HER LIFE WAS CHANGED BY THAT RECOGNITION OF HER OWN DIGNITY. EVEN THE EVIL SHE WAS GOING TO COMMIT. WE TRUST IN THE LORD'S POWER AND WE TRUST LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, PUTTING ALL THAT IS TOO BIG FOR US IN HIS HANDS AND TRUSTING IN HIS MERCY.
