Father Casey I 11/30/2020

him on salt and light radio several times there's some audio cds and some other items that the fathers of mercy put together for sale out in the front as you walk into the church or the table you probably passed it there's a box there so when you buy something just put your check in the box you can make your check out to st john's and then we will get everything over to the fathers of mercy there's also a free will basket where we used to have the basket before we started passing back the long-handled baskets but it's right there so uh father casey and the fathers of mercy are supported by our generosity they don't charge for these missions and so please ding in the bottom of your purses and your wallets and help support their their ministry that is so important to our church so enjoy the evening after the the mission talk this evening there's a reception downstairs as well as confessions in the confessionals in the chapel so father casey will be in the confessionals and um our dear rector father mariusz who spends all his time in the confessional for us so after this directly after this there's a little reception light treats and then confessions [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] um [Music] bye [Music] good evening everyone let's begin with a prayer in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen come holy spirit fill the hearts of your faithful and kindling them the fire of your love send forth your spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth let us pray o god who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the holy spirit grant us in the same spirit to be truly wise never to rejoice in his consolation through christ our lord amen mary mother of mercy pray for us saint joseph pray for us saint john the evangelist pray for us saint andrew pray for us in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen please be seated a reading from the letter of saint paul to the romans the spirit too helps us on our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we ought but the spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be expressed in speech he who searches hearts knows what the spirit means for the spirit intercedes for the saints as god himself wills the word of the lord please stand the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to john jesus said to his disciples i am the vine you are the branches he who lives in me and i in him will produce abundantly for apart from me you can do nothing man who does not live in me is like a withered rejected branch picked up to be thrown in the fire and burnt if you live in me and my words stay a part of you you may ask what you will and it will be done for you the gospel of the lord peace be seated well it is good to see so many of you here tonight as we begin our parish mission i thank all of you for coming and i know um that for many of you it can be uncomfortable and inconvenient to have to sit for a long talk wearing masks and well at the end of a long day it's a real sacrifice and i pray that god will reward you for it abundantly a while back somebody sent me a copy of this poem that was up on the internet one of those funny but pathetic little things because it rings so true and this i understand was written by a senior in one of our public high schools in california obviously a christian but i want to share this with you because it is a sign of the times that we're living in uh remember our lord tells us in the season of advent we've got to be watchful we've got to be ready watch for the signs of the times well here's another sign of the times for us this is called the new american school prayer it goes like this now i sit me down in school where praying is against the rule for this great nation under god finds mention of him very odd if scripture now the class recites it violates the bill of rights and any time my head i bow becomes a federal matter now the law is clear the law is precise prayer allowed is a crime of vice for praying in a public hall might offend someone with no faith at all in silence we must meditate the name of god banned by the state we can't cuss and swear and dress like freaks and pierce our noses tongues and cheeks they've outlawed prayer but first the bible quote the good book and you'll be liable to drugs they tell us just say no but sex be safe and then you go elect a pregnant senior queen but chastity is a distant dream they dare not teach us right from wrong they say those judgments don't belong we get our condoms birth controls study witchcraft new age and totem poles but the ten commandments are not allowed no word of god can reach this crowd it's scary here i must confess where chaos reigns the school a mess so lord this silent plea i make should i be shot my soul please take amen the sad commentary isn't it you know in the last few years before his death pope saint john paul ii gave us two specific intentions two primary intentions to pray for with all the zeal and intensity in our souls if we are going to avert the impending disaster for the church and the world today the cause of world peace and the cause of the family the cause of world peace and the cause of the family what is the link what is the connection between the two mother teresa saint teresa cuddies to say the disruption of peace in the world always begins with the disruption of peace in the family no peace in the family no peace in the world that's just how it is no peace in the family no peace in our schools no peace on the streets no peace in society and eventually it must fall when jesus christ the prince of peace is driven out the prince of this world the devil will rush in to fill that void and there will be hell to pay there's an old saying in spiritual theology that both god and the devil hate a vacuum when the true god is driven out the devil will rush in to fill that void the spirit of evil will fill that void at the time of the american revolution a great statesman edmund burke said all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing friends for far too long too many of us have been content complacent satisfied stand by and sit back idly and do nothing stand back and watch the pagan conquest of this country how many millions of christian parents have there been who have been content to stand by and watch not just the pagan conquest of our country but the pagan conquest of their own homes their own families and their own kids and i'll tell you what i get sick and tired of hearing christians say there's nothing we can do please don't ever say there's nothing i can do that statement is an insult to god that statement is a denial of god's power and god's grace there's a lot you can do you can pray you can fast you can offer spiritual sacrifices to god our father in heaven you can pray the holy rosary you can take part in eucharistic adoration you can pray the chaplain of the divine mercy you can stand up speak up rise up in charity to defend the cause of christ the cause of truth jesus said pray always and never lose heart nothing is impossible with god the saints have taught us through the ages whatever the challenge whatever the need whatever the good cause it can be done because prayer is an invincible weapon you know church history and long experience have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt then one holy soul can save a family one devout dad one prayerful mom can save a family from spiritual ruin should not surprise anyone that's the power of prayer when you study the four gospels you come to see very quickly that our lord left us the example of a life devoted to prayer he was constantly united with the father in prayer jesus began and he ended his days in prayer it was not enough for the lord jesus christ to spend long days preaching teaching healing and making miracles whenever the opportunity would arise he would draw apart from the crowds and go to a secluded place he'd go to a mountaintop or out into the desert to be alone with the father in prayer he said pray always and never lose heart you say you love god you think you love god god says prove it talk is cheap true love demands union true union with god comes only through the life of prayer you see there's absolutely no way individuals and families can make the long arduous journey to the father without the life of prayer perseverance and prayer public prayer private prayer family prayer liturgical prayer eucharistic prayer marian prayer you know if i give a parish mission or a retreat and i don't at least one time talk about the power of prayer i feel like i haven't done my job and you know in an advent mission i can stand up here all week long and present you with all kinds of beautiful sound catholic doctrine and i can give you all kinds of good moral exhortation and i can rail against all the worst kinds of sin but if i don't somehow move you and inspire you to deepen your personal relationship with god by deepening your life a daily personal prayer everything else that i say here this week could be for nothing friends prayer is the open channel between us and god god's divine power is set loose in prayer as it is in no other way it is always through prayer the holy spirit can light a fire in you and that fire can change your way of thinking and feeling and acting it can change your heart and your soul and your life and your family into what god wants it to be prayer can transform your human power your natural gifts and talents and abilities into the supernatural power of god prayer we say is life's most important activity ultimately prayer is to the soul what rain is to the soil without it spiritually everything will wither away and die what is the essence of prayer the essence of prayer we say is mental prayer mental prayer now there is nothing complicated about the concept of mental prayer the most simple child can do it and do it well because it is really nothing more than speaking to god from the heart there is that latin term core adcore lokitor heart to heart conversation conversation with christ saint teresa of avila doctor of the church the great spanish mystic master of the spiritual life used to say there is only one road that leads to god and that road is prayer and if anyone shows you another one they're deceiving you she gave us a simple classic definition of mental prayer she wrote mental prayer is nothing more than an intimate friendship a frequent heart to heart conversation with him by whom we know ourselves to be loved pope saint john paul ii said this quote every day devote some time to conversing with god this is the real proof of your love for him for love always seeks to be near the beloved this is why prayer should be put before everything else whoever does not understand this or does not put it into practice cannot excuse himself by saying he has no time he has no love end quote there you have it you see if you neglect prayer if you blow off prayer don't rationalize don't say there's no time say there's no love i need to make changes in my life i need to prioritize in my life get my priorities straight i have to say that sometimes um when i'm working with young people the teens especially it can be a little bit discouraging and even depressing because i find that so many are typically badly catechized you know so little about their faith typically and are so disengaged from the things of god and the supernatural realities of life but when i have a chance to speak to the young people i like to ask them three questions the first question will be do you love god and usually they'll answer right away yeah i love god that's great the second question will be do you make time to pray and usually the answer will be something like this no not really then the third question will be do you go to sunday mass and usually we'll get an answer something like this now well you know my family we're like really busy on the weekends my mom and dad sleep late on sunday mornings or we got sports sports now god help us my response to all that is okay how can you claim to love someone you don't want to be with how can you claim to love someone you don't want to talk to there's only one way to build a loving intimate personal relationship with someone it is that you must spend time with that person alone so it is in your relationship with god parents parents you got to teach your kids to pray pray with them and pray for them make them understand that for us prayer has got to be something more than just the mouthing of pious words prayer is something that's got to come from the heart it's a matter of life or death one of my favorite saints in the history of the church is saint augustine saint augustine was the greatest theologian of the early church his most famous saying was o lord you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you what many catholics remember about saint augustine was that he had a traumatic conversion experience a little later in his life and as a young man he had lived a very sinful worldly lustful kind of existence and he had become very attached to an unchased lifestyle so much so they put off his conversion for years and it got so bad that at one point he prayed and said lord make me chaste but not yet um now what many catholics also remember about saint augustine was that his mother saint monica prayed for more than 20 years for his conversion for many years at trials and tears and frustrations saying monica never gave up saint monica also had to pray for the conversion of her husband her husband was a man named patricius patricius was a bum he was a pagan he was a drunkard abusive when he drank but because of her example of patience and perseverance and goodness in the end both her husband and her son were converted in a big way i think that saint monica is truly a great saint for our time because in a special way she is the role model she is the exemplar of perseverance and prayer and confidence in god think of the life of saint monica what did she ever do what did she ever accomplish that would have been seen as great in the sight of the world nothing in her day from all external appearances she was a simple humble hidden unknown ordinary wife and mother but she did something she achieved something truly great in the sight of almighty god she prayed for her family her mother's love never failed that is something great in the sight of heaven whether you realize it or not one time i was invited to speak at the st louis marion conference and this conference is held every year in this huge hotel ballroom and it was on a saturday night and there were well over a thousand people there that night and i got onto this subject and i said to everybody now raise a hand if you have a family member a loved one who has left the church and abandoned the practice of the faith i'm not kidding you i'm not exaggerating i did not see a single adult who didn't raise a hand that is how bad things are everywhere we go all over the country we meet the parents the grandparents who agonize endlessly over the fact that family members loved ones sons daughters kids and grandkids have abandoned the faith and so often are living terribly terribly immoral lives they ask us what they should do my immediate response is pray pray always and never lose heart but remember prayer alone in a situation like that is not good enough in the sight of almighty god in a situation like that there's also the obligation often a grave moral obligation to make what we call fraternal correction in other words you've got to encourage them and admonish them to get back to the practice of the faith and if they won't listen to you then all that you can do is to pray for them but don't just keep your mouth shut if you don't speak up maybe nobody else will maybe they'll lose their souls i like to throw out this question if i would ask you to give me a good working definition of love in a truly christian sense could you do it would you have one one of my favorites one of the most simple um is one that was used by the great theologian saint thomas aquinas saint thomas taught that love means wanting what is truly best for your neighbor wanting what is truly best for the people that you love so what could be better than god what could be better than heaven perfect eternal happiness in god's heavenly kingdom that is why friends the greatest love of all is concern for your loved ones eternal salvation you got to understand this it is not mercy it is not charity to affirm people in their sins or just keep your mouth shut in the face what you know is wrong that is the most merciless thing that i can think of at fatima our blessed mother said souls are lost because they have no one to make sacrifices and to pray for them remember that a parent's prayers are incredibly powerful in the sight of almighty god typically because of the depth of love the intensity of love that is behind them a mother's prayers are awesome in the sight of almighty god how often is it the case it is only a mother's prayer standing between her loved ones and the laws of their souls take the example of saint moniker if there's someone you pray for if there's some conversion you're asking almighty god to grant to you no matter who it is remember this church history has proven time and time again that no one is beyond the grace of conversion is no sinner so hardened so hopeless as to be beyond the reach of the divine mercy now you may not live to see the fruits of your prayers but they will come in god's time and in god's way so long as you persevere prayer is the key to salvation jesus said if you live in me and my words stay a part of you you may ask what you will and it will be done for you the saints became saints because they understood the power of prayer they believed and they knew prayer has the power always the power to change your life and the lives of others and they proved it about 300 years ago saint alphonsus ligouri founder of the redemptorist order had a simple saying a general rule he used to say those who pray will be saved those who fail to pray will be damned he said god does not speak to those who never speak to him now pope benedict gave us a little commentary on these words of saint alfonsus and he said this quote saint alphonsus wanted us to understand that in every situation of life we need to pray especially in times of trial and difficulty he who prays is certainly saved he who does not pray is certainly lost to save one's soul without prayer is most difficult and even as we have seen impossible we often know what is good but are not capable of doing it through prayer we can the disciple of the lord knows he is always exposed to temptation and in prayer never fails to ask god for help to conquer it end quote another my favorite saints padre pio said pio of pietro china he had a famous saying he used to say pray hope and don't worry easier said than done right many catholics have heard that before but they don't know the whole quotation here's the whole quotation padre pio said pray hope and don't worry anxiety will not help at all prayer is the key that opens the heart of god trust in the infinite goodness of god the holy capuchin friar blessed father solanus casey used to say the biggest mistake we make in life is to set limits on god's power and god's goodness let me say that again for you the biggest mistake we make in life is to set limits on god's power and god's goodness when we do that we never find out what god can do with our lives the greatest saint of the 14th century was saint catherine of siena a great mystic and reformer of her day in the 14th century when saint catherine of siena spoke their church listened popes listened the saint catherine of siena wrote a classic book a classic work of mystical theology called the dialogues and in the dialogue she recorded the messages she had received from god the father and the lord jesus christ by means of interior locutions that is the voice of god speaking to the heart to saint catherine of siena god the father said this i give my protective care to all who want it i give my protective care to all who want it that is to say all who ask for it in prayer but of course um we're americans and it's so very easy for us still knowing all this to lose ourselves in a world of technology it's all too easy for us to make for ourselves an electronic dream world right we can live in a technological fantasy world to escape from reality think of all the distractions all the diversions there are in the practice of the spiritual life right uh there are the hd tvs and 460 channels um you got the computers you got the smartphones uh you got the whole social networking thing the facebook the twitter there's netflix the whole internet thing right this is why i think so many of our people are disengaged from reality too many of our people become like high-tech zombies you know how often do you see people they live as if they have got the smartphone surgically attached to one hand or the other can't be separated from it right how many of you had the experience of being in a restaurant full of people and there will always be at least one of the teens sitting there like they are in a world all their own like there is nobody else even in the room sitting there the whole time their eyes fixed on that phone texting scrolling the whole time happens all too often right we make no time for the ultimate reality god god to whom we have unlimited access 24 7 no monthly charges you know we are told that there are now 68 million catholics in the united states sad to say the vast majority of them are catholic and name only and we find that out every time there is a national election don't we we found it out again a few weeks ago didn't we hm what about this could you imagine what could be done what could be accomplished if 68 million catholics would pray pray together stand together stand in solidarity with our bishops do you think do you think the culture would have been trying to bully us all this time and shove the culture of death down our throats i don't think so friends huh and it gets worse all the time doesn't it in case you haven't been following the news in recent months about a year ago new york state and its so-called catholic governor passed one of the most horrific barbaric abortion laws ever passed in the western hemisphere and now other states are following suit one after the other and these new laws provide for unrestricted unlimited abortion up until the day of delivery with no protection whatsoever for a baby who survives an abortion a baby who survives an abortion can be killed or simply left to die outside the womb the notorious abortionist in philadelphia kermit gosnell killed literally hundreds of babies in just this way he is now sitting in jail in pennsylvania but what he did would now be legal in new york and other such states we used to call it infanticide the legal term is homicide but now they have a new euphemistic term for it all they call it post-birth abortion post-birth abortion saint john vianney the curator of our used to say without god men will revert to barbarism in three generations and i would suggest to you that we are working on a third generation right now now for whatever reason i get invited to speak at a lot of men's conferences around the country in fact i spoke at the men's conference here in boise a few years ago at boise state and i remember the great turnout we had with about 900 some guys there all fired up great conference but last year by some miracle i was invited to speak at the diocesan men's conference in albany new york albany of course is the state capital of new york now i wanted to be entirely upfront with the organizers i told them when they invited me exactly what i planned to say and i told them if they didn't feel comfortable with that get somebody else and i said i'm going to say this i don't care what the guys do in reaction they may rise up and throw me out of there i don't care i'm going to tell them the truth right but i said this about the new abortion law i said i will tell you what i think just my opinion for what it's worth get take it or leave it the moment that catholic governor put his signature on that bill the moment he signed that bill into law he should have been excommunicated on the spot and then i quoted pope francis pope francis said the people who do these things the people who carry out these inhuman procedures are white gloved nazis white gloved nazis what was the reaction one guy stood up stormed out immediately but the other men the rest of the men applauded they want to hear the truth and i would tell you in my travels having done this now for some 30 years the biggest single complaint we get from catholic lay people is that they are sick and tired of lukewarm watered down catholicism they want the real deal they want the fullness of truth but getting back on subject our best most effective weapon against the devil is the power of prayer now your prayer has this kind of power and if god uses prayer to change and guide and direct the course of events in our lives if prayer is so absolutely essential to our well-being both now and for all eternity the question is why do we pray so little how is it friends we can sit for hours at a time in front of the television set and think nothing of it we can sit for two hours at a time watch a movie and think nothing of it sit for three hours at a time and watch a ball game and think nothing of it watch the internet for hours at a time youtube for hours at a time think nothing of it but even 10 or 15 minutes a day of daily personal prayer spiritual reading and meditation can seem like too much too much of a burden god gives us so much why do we give god so little of our time and our attention in return the saints became saints because they understood the power of prayer i'll tell you what i think if we christians in this country would spend half of the time a quarter of the time a tenth of the time in prayer we spent in front of the internet and the television we could convert this country we could bring this country to christ the church needs saints you see the saints knew there is a spiritual principle involved in the dynamics of prayer and it's a very simple one it is this when a man or a woman gets on his or her knees and turns to god in a spirit of humility a spirit of total dependence upon him then something very mysterious and even miraculous begins to happen in that person's life god begins to take over the holy spirit goes to work that's when the impossible becomes possible because nothing is impossible with god the bible says the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds and it reaches the heavens and it does not return until god hears and answers now i've got a little catholic trivia question for you at this point goes like this after our blessed mother and saint joseph which saint seems to have the greatest popularity in the church let me phrase the question a different way after our lady and saint joseph which saint has the largest number of representations in sacred artwork statues paintings icons holy cards and the light do you think it would be saint peter the rock the first pope or maybe the apostle of saint paul the greatest missionary in the history of the church or one of the other apostles saint john the beloved disciple maybe or do you think it would be the holy saint francis of assisi or maybe the great saint patrick actually it is none of them in fact it is not a man it is a woman it is saint therese of liz you the little flower now think of the life of saint therese young girl entered the convent at the age of 15 never left the convent after she entered it died at the age of 24 was in religious life less than nine years outside of the members of her own family and her own religious sisters few people ever knew her in her day the world did not even know she was alive and yet she is called a patron saint of missionaries the church believes that saint therese of these you brought as many souls to christ as did some of the greatest missionaries in the history of the church like saint anthony padua or saint francis xavier she is named doctor the church the doctors are the greatest theologians in the 2000 year history of the church she is the 33rd pope saint pius the 10th called her the greatest saint of modern times how could it be how did you do it what was the key the key was this it was the perfection of her love expressed in the simplicity of her prayers it was the spirituality she called her little way the way of spiritual childhood she called it her little way because anyone who wants to live a holy life can practice it according to their own vocation in life the spirituality she called her little way means just doing little things simple things ordinary everyday things with great love and it centers around just being faithful to your daily duties like saying every little prayer carrying out every little responsibility doing every little job offering up every cross the big ones and the small ones alike in a spirit of perfect faith humility love simplicity and obedience it means doing everything for the love of god the pure love of god in the heart that is what makes us saint you see following the little way you can in a sense transform every little thing that you do during the day into an act of love a work of prayer for example dragging yourself out of bed in the morning when your body feels like a lead weight the last thing you want to do is get up or fighting rush hour traffic to get to work on time getting the kids to school on time doing the laundry doing the dishes getting a meal on the table on time mowing the lawn taking out the trash changing the diapers you can transform all of that everything into an act of love and a work of prayer following the little way of saying today it's very simple but she said this my whole strength lies in prayer prayer is an invincible weapon prayer and kindles the fires of love in the heart prayer brings joy to the soul prayer moves hearts far better than words ever can she said i know it by experience speaking of the humble god's attraction god's unfailing help for the humble prayer another great saint comes to my mind mother teresa saint teresa of calcutta one time a reporter asked mother teresa what was the secret to her great holiness of life and how she was able to accomplish so much in her lifetime how she was able to found one of the most one of the most efficacious worldwide orders of women religious in the world the missionaries of charity how she and her sisters were able to minister to tens of thousands of sick starving dying souls they took off of the streets of some of the worst slums of the most impoverished cities in the world the one's mother called christ in his most distressing disguise the poorest of the poor how she was able to touch so many millions of hearts in her lifetime how she was able to bring countless souls to christ and mother teresa answered with their typical simplicity with two words she said i pray i pray mother used to say remember god speaks most loudly in the silence of our hearts she used to say when you pray don't you try to do all the talking also make the time to listen in silence attentive to the inspirations of the holy spirit in your soul she said this the fruit of silence is prayer the fruit of prayer is faith the fruit of faith is love the fruit of love is service the fruit of service is peace she used to say if you want to have true peace of mind peace of soul here's the key you got to get your priorities straight it centers around that one little word joy the letters j o y here's your priority first jesus second others last yourself jesus others yourself that's your priority mother used to say people ask me what will convert america and save the world my answer is prayer what we need is for every parish to come before jesus in the blessed sacrament in holy hours of prayer she said the time you spend with jesus in the blessed sacrament will be the best the most profitable time you will ever spend here on earth pope saint john paul ii used to say we are living at the time of the greatest battle between good and evil that the world has ever known he said we have now entered into the final confrontation between the church and the anti-church the gospel and the anti-gospel christ and the antichrist and you know if you're going to win in battle you've got to have the right kind of weapons right i don't want to scandalize anybody here this may sound strange to you i'm a priest but i own an assault weapon that's right i've got an assault weapon you don't know it you can't see it but i have with me right here in this pulpit my assault weapon i've got right here a high capacity magazine and a 50 round clip here it is folks the weapon to assault the gates of hell the holy rosary the invincible weapon that comes to us directly from heaven through the hands of our blessed mother these are our beads for the spiritual battle of our time padre pio called the rosary his weapon the shield against satan pope saint pius x said give me an army of holy souls pray in the rosary and i'll conquer the world so friends prayer is the life of the soul without prayer we cut ourselves off in the treasures of god's grace without prayer we will drift away from god without prayer eventually we will give into temptation fall into mortal sin fall away from the faith in prayer we draw close to god and learn to know god in prayer god reveals himself to us speaks to our hearts guides our lives by the way of the holy spirit so please don't ever say there's nothing i can do pray hope don't worry trust in the infinite goodness of god amen okay and uh now um we are going to uh break and uh we will begin hearing confessions downstairs also as uh deacon daniel mentioned to you we have a reception downstairs snacks and refreshments with proper social distancing and all that stuff so don't worry about that all right and also as you go out into the lobby you'll find that we have a table set up with some books and cds some things some talks of mine that have been recorded by ewtn and saint joseph communications over the years this is one cd set recorded by ewtn it's the audio version it is called the thirst for truth and the battle for souls the series i did with father wade menezes and there's like 10 hours of uh recording on this set and uh you know these are great to try to uh hand on to people who may be away from the practice of the faith or sick people in shut-ins and uh you know to use as a private retreat or if you do a lot of driving and you listen to cds on your way check those out and i have a new book out from ewtn press it's called making a holy lent well it's advent but some of the principles are still the same and advent will be upon us before you know it so check this out hot off the presses we also have for free the examination of conscience brochure and this will take you through the ten commandments step by step now if you really want to know where you stand with the lord pick up one of these and read through it it leaves little to the imagination if you can get through this without finding something to confess you may be ready for canonization and if you are father mario you should want to know immediately who you are so i thank all of you for coming tonight and hope to see you tomorrow night god bless you

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Length: 59min 12sec (3552 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 01 2020