Fr. Michael Gaitley - Living the Faith to the Full - 2015 Steubenville DFC

you okay because this is the the first talk for the defending the faith conference I thought to begin we'd start with some context now my cardi gave us some of the context by announcing the theme in the biblical passage that also announces the theme member that the main part of the theme the main lines are always forward sempre adelante and then it gave that passage that he mentioned from second kings with Elisha was saying fear not for those we're with us are more than those who are with them and then Elisha prayed O Lord open his eyes that he may see now to see what what again was he asked praying that he would see it was to see that God was helping them that there was a there was an army a army of chariots and fire surrounding Elisha that if the eyes of faith there's something larger that's behind us and what are the signs of discouragement often that surround us now if we find ourselves I think in some ways in a similar situation to what's described in that passage is that we sometimes become afraid or discouraged by what's around us in our culture I know there was a recent there was a recent poll I think it was a Pew poll I was talking about this is some of it one of the most dramatic declines of Christians in the United States I think ever they've ever recorded we've also seen a lot of signs that the the culture war that we've been in that it seems almost as if it's almost completely lost there's a lot of a lot of things that surround us that could tempt us to get discouraged but Pope Francis is telling us to open our eyes Pope Francis is giving us a message of hope that we should not fear Pope Francis is actually telling us we don't have to be on the defensive but we can go forward and I'd like to read something is my favorite quote of Pope Francis it's right in fact it's probably my favorite quote of any Pope I'd like to read it to you because it's a sign of hope for us in this time when we seem Herat surrounded and outnumbered this was something that he said to the priests the Diocese of Rome last year at the beginning of Lent he said listen to the voice of the Spirit that speaks to the whole church in this our time which is in fact the time of mercy I am certain of this we have been living in the time of mercy for 30 or more years up to now it is the time of mercy in the whole church it was instituted by st. John Paul the second he had the intuition that this was the time of mercy we think of the beatification and canonization of Sister Faustina then he introduced the feast of divine mercy he moves slowly slowly and went ahead with this and then he goes on to talk about the homily of canonization that st. john paul ii gave for st. Faustina talking about how now is the time of Mercy and then Pope Francis goes on it is clear that now is the time of Mercy it was explicit in the year 2000 but it was something that had been maturing in John Paul's heart for some time he had this intuition in his prayer today we forget everything too hastily also the Magisterium of the church it is inevitable in part but we cannot forget the great contents the great intuitions and the consignment left of the people of God and that of the Divine Mercy is one of these it is a consignment that John Paul gave us but which comes from on high it is up to us as ministers of the church to keep alive this message now what is it that what's the message that he's saying it's it's the ministers the job of the ministers of the church to keep alive actually anyway have the time what was it oh there we go what time is it the time of mercy some of you forgot but so and Pope Francis say today we forget everything too hastily some Cheeta because I think they've heard me quote this guy I've been quoting it all year but this is right you guys got to go to confession okay now is the time of mercy now is the time of mercy this is an insight of st. john paul ii this is something that Pope Francis is saying we need to repeat this is something that we can't forget he's saying now what does it mean that now is the time of mercy I think the key to it is Romans 5 verse 20 where sin abounded grace abounded all the more in a time of great evil God wants to give even greater grace in a time of unprecedented evil God wants to give unprecedented grace and mercy and according to st. John Paul the second one of his insights was at the time so we're living in while there's many blessings it's also a time of unprecedented evil but again for that very reason God is giving even greater Grace's in a certain sense I would say the saints that have gone before us look at us look down at us from heaven with a holy Envy why because it's in a certain sense easier than ever before to become Saints because God is pouring out so much grace and mercy and on us and this our time so that is the context that's some of the context for this conference about why we should not fear why we should go forward again this is the defending the faith conference but we don't have to be on the defensive we can be on the offensive why because now is the time of mercy now is a time of great grace all right now for this talk I want to give some greater context still than just that now being the time of Mercy that we don't have to just be on the offensive of defending our faith but going off and and and really spreading our faith and with it with power and the way I wanted to give some more of that context is of how we go forward is actually to be looking back for a moment and to look back at the great grace the great grace of the 20th century the great grace of the 20th century what was that I would say the great grace of the 20th century the Second Vatican Council some are saying really vatican ii wasn't there a lot of turmoil and confusion after the council yes there was but it doesn't mean it wasn't the great gift of the Holy Spirit and even the great grace of the 20th century it was a gift of the Holy Spirit yes there was turmoil and confusion but what you know the key question is really how to interpret the council the Holy Spirit gave a great and incredible gift in the council but there was a lot of debate and confusion about how to interpret it so the key question is how do we interpret the council and that's what I want to get into a little bit here as a context for this time of Mercy a context for our marching orders of going forward in this time of Mercy to win the world for God now if there's a if there's a dispute as to how to interpret you know if it's about a question of interpreting to the council if there's a dispute about how to interpret Sacred Scripture who do you go to all right okay it depends actually if you're Protestant I'm not sure maybe you go to your pastor or if you're Catholic yeah we go to the church we go to the Pope we go to the Magisterium right that's an offense and if we go to the Pope and we have a question like there's a dispute who's gonna win the Super Bowl the Pope settles it right no he is infallible but not with regret in matters of faith and morals right but the idea is if we do ask the Pope in a matter of faith and morals of how to interpret the council we're gonna get a clear answer so if we ask the Pope how do we interpret vatican ii one of the question you say well actually we hold on a minute father Mike which Pope right well it's not that they're contradictory to each other but I would suggest that we look at the Pope who was there at the council who helped write some of the documents and then who led the church for 26 years in the post in the tumultuous post conciliar period the same Pope who called Vatican 2 the great grace of the 20th century Who am I talking about saint john paul ii and if we take st. john paul ii as a guide for us to interpreting the council i think we got a really good guide if we were to ask him okay John Paul what was Vatican 2 all about I think you would say Vatican 2 was a unique kind of council in other words other councils in the history of the church were apologetic in character you know you take for instance the Council of Nicaea in 325 it was responding to the attacks against the church the doctrinal attacks of arias right Council of Ephesus and 431 was responding to the attacks of NIST aureus if we fast forward to the council of trent in the 16th century who is that responding to the Protestant Reformation right but Vatican 2 is a unique council it was different it wasn't responding to heresy or attacks from without in other words it wasn't responding so much to a doctrinal problem rather Vatican 2 it was unique according to john paul ii because it was responding to a pastoral problem was the first Pastoral Council and what was the pastoral problem that Vatican 2 was responding to is the pastoral problem of hypocrisy professing one thing and then living something completely different now this is an age-old problem right the prophets railed against it Jesus himself addressed it with harsh words calling the scribes and the Pharisees you hypocrites for professing one thing and then living something different if for some reason in the modern world that age-old problem of hypocrisy is worse than ever before thus for the split between faith and life among Christians is unprecedented for some reason there's something in the modern world we don't have time to get into it but there's something in the modern world where we are professing our faith but then we live something different you know so many of us Christians we profess our Christian faith but then we live no different from the pagans in fact if you take a lot of the you know the hot-button issues that are in the news or those type of things that we Christians often fare no better or no different than the pagans you know if you look at statistics like divorce contraception abortion social injustice racism the statistics are more or less the same in many of the cases and that's the scandal the split between faith and life and then we but even making matters worse we sort of justify our hypocrisy with cute phrases by saying well I'm a cafeteria Catholic right I pick and choose what I want here and there now think about this for a Mona Majan if Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mount that's a hard saying that's not an easy sermon and he's giving the Sermon on the Mount that begins in Matthew five and somebody just stopped Jesus say wait wait hold on Jesus I I liked this first part you know about trusting and and the father taking care of us but I don't like all this other part WWJD what would what would Jesus do if somebody stopped them and said well Don I like this but I don't like this and I'm gonna pick and choose what would Jesus do would he yell at us like he yelled at the scribes and the Pharisees you hypocrite is that what he would do I suggest no the reason I suggest no is because that's not the road that his church took at Vatican 2 it's not the take of the church at Vatican 2 in other words Vatican 2 decided not to condemn the likes of us modern Catholic Christians rather and decided to help us I think one of the best announcements of that of that tone of that take on the council that approach comes from st. John the 23rd 's words that inaugurated the council when he said nowadays the church prefers to make use of the medicine of Mercy rather than that of severity nowadays the church prefers to make use of the medicine of Mercy rather than that of severity thank God thank God now is the time of Mercy thank God I think I would be broken right you hypocrite if Jesus was yelling maybe the church was me only me that way I think a lot of us are broken by the culture the church knows that and so it's trying to help us it saw it sees that so many of us are confused misguided and misled by so many of the currents of our culture and so the Shepherd's of the church at Vatican 2 said we're not going to condemn the flock but rather we're gonna try to help the flock overcome that split between faith and life and we're gonna do that by helping them to better understand the ancient teachings of the church because we're gonna take the ancient teachings of the church and we're gonna put them in a language and in the context that modern people will better understand we're gonna address humanity's concerns their questions their hopes and their fears that's how we're going to address things because the council realized that if we can better grasp the faith when our minds if it's in that language that we better understand and it addresses the relevant questions that we have then the faith can go from our heads into our hearts and into our lives that was the goal of the council that was its strategy bringing it to the head to the heart to the wife because if we're living the faith then we're overcoming the split between faith and life that was their strategy there that was their solution and so the council fathers got together they huddled say this is our strategy bring help them to understand the faith better so it goes in their hearts and in their lives that's our strategy great let's go break they go home to their home diocese they implement the council and then there's just full-blown widespread renewal right I mean the seminaries were bursting at the seams with new vocations the convents were exploding with new sisters and the faithful were on fire with love for the faith and spreading it to the ends of the earth Amen or oh my well actually it depends it depends granted in most places there was that confusion and turmoil and frankly in many places maybe the majority of the places the council wasn't implemented well though I'm not to judge but I know though one thing there was at least one exception to the general rule of the turmoil and confusion and it was in that one it was in at one particular diocese in Europe it was the Diocese of Krakow Poland and it was headed up by the bishop there Carol cart a Cardinal Karol Void Tiwi later Cardinal Void Tiwi and it was in that diocese of crack of Poland that I think according to George why go papal biographer said it was the most successful implementation of Anakin 2 in the church so instead of the turmoil and confusion there was that full-blown widespread renewal and so we could ask ourselves what was void he was secret how was it that there was this full-blown widespread renewal at the council and after the council in the diocese of crack oof I think this is a secret he did two things first he wrote a book called sources of renewal on the implementation of Vatican 2 and in that book which um yeah in that book he basically would take the main teachings of the council and then he would give a running commentary to help people better understand them and then that book was distributed throughout his diocese okay so that is first he wrote that book and the second thing he did is he he called kind of a council and miniature in his diocese a sort of mini Vatican 2 it was the Synod of the Diocese of Krakow and it wasn't just for the auxilary bishops it wasn't just for the other priests it wasn't for the nuns it was for everyone the laypeople everyone was involved they were all reading his book they were taking it home they were studying it they were praying about it they were going together in these small groups discussing it and through that process the faith and the teachings of the council were going from their heads to their hearts and to their lives and it led to that renewal now I don't have time to go through that whole book cause somebody guys oh the sources renewal I saw many writing it down I don't recommend getting it unfortunately it's not an easy read the polls are particularly smart I think you know despite the Polish jokes right because it's not an easy read but they got it I mean vote IVA especially if you read things like the acting person they're not easy things but thanks be to God there's one concept that summarizes the main idea of the whole thing and really was the key to the secret of whitey was success it's the golden thread that goes through that whole book it's something that when I learned in the seminary it changed my life it was just it was a huge game-changer for me and if that happens to be that concept is the title of the first chapter of that book sources of renewal the title is the enrichment of faith the enrichment of faith now what is the enrichment of faith what is that concept that dominates that book in its main theme the enrichment of faith is basically that idea I've already mentioned that's the strategy of the council it's to bring the faith from head to heart to life but because this is such an important concept for renewal in the church at Vatican 2 and today I want to go a little deeper into this concept of the enrichment of faith that was so important for vojta he made it the title of the first chapter and he made the whole book follow that theme now to help us unpack the theme the enrichment of faith or that concept I want to look at somebody who's known as the hidden father of Vatican 2 he was one of the most important influences on vatican ii does anybody know have an idea who I'm talking about who hasn't read the one thing is three we're done the hearts of fire programs I'll give you a hint he's a famous convert Newman Blessed John Hunt is blessed now isn't he I think right ok he's not saying yet we're praying ok God help make him a saint ok so st. John Blessed John Henry Newman the Hidden father of a de Caen - now Newman had wrote this book the the grammar of ascent which he talks about sort of his strategy in all of his pastoral strategy and he distinguishes I'm paraphrasing here more or less two ideas one is sort of notional knowledge or notional ascent now there's real knowledge or real ascent notional knowledge or ascent is of the mind real is when it gets into the heart then for Newman his whole strategy was to help people bring the faith from their heads to their hearts his his Episcopal motto was core ad core loquitor heart speaks to heart that was his strategy now to fully appreciate Newman on this and this is his theological I'm gonna get so don't worry but bear with me alright well put Newman on the shelf for a second and bring another great theologian perhaps the greatest theologian in the church according to many who would that maybe be huh why am i doing to my ear in that microphone alright who is it Wow okay many would say Aquinas I heard somebody say Aquinas at least in the seminary that's what we were taught but a lot of us didn't like st. Thomas so much and the reason being is one of the books that we had to read a lot of was the Summa theologia and I remember many a seminary and taking that to his room going I'm going Summa wrestling yeah alright because it wasn't it wasn't easy and the reason it was it's amazing but the reason st. Thomas wasn't easy he's a perfect example of the master of notional knowledge the Summa the summary of theology gives us notional knowledge incredibly and when you read the Summa theologia it's just pure argument pure so logistic reason there's no autobiography in there there's not only scintillating details of his life or anything that is like autobiographical that we modern people like so much it's just pure theology pure arguments the only I statements he makes or I answer that you know it's everything is just he stays out of it and that's why it's hard for a lot of people to read but it's beautiful because it's notional but sometimes for so many people it's hard for it to get into heart now some Thomas Aquinas is a master of notional knowledge Newman served the truth in a different way he wrote nearly as much as st. Thomas but his genre of writing was a bit different it wasn't all these theological dissertations and discourses these massive tomes of theology what were most of lumines writings sermons that's right most of his writings were sermons and Newman had a very particular strat jee-in giving his sermons that goes back to his strategy in the grammar of his cent he said a homily or a sermon should have one single point one point and basically it should take the notional ideas that we've all memorized in our catechism classes that we know in our minds but the homily or the sermon should take that put that little notional idea and help people to experience it so it becomes real for the listeners and Newman did that Newman arguably one of the greatest the rate may be the greatest prose writer in the English language right I mean if you read a Newman sermon out loud it literally sings as a cadence and a tempo it's like that you know you know it's like a musical he had a musical ear it's he had an amazing ability to express things with it with examples and clarity and when you read a Newman sermon Newman would take one poor notional idea that we've all memorized and he would take all of his he would marshal all of his amazing abilities for communication he would hammer that poor notional idea until it would bleed the real until people the listeners would experience the notional ideas that he would be talking about so as a notional to the to the real the head to the heart that was his strategy in all of his sermons now I myself have experienced some of the power of that process of head to heart and some of my own pastoral ministry as a priest I've do a fair amount of work with people who are dying and one of the things that I've noticed people who are dying you see where this tension or this process of the notional to the real is alive and a lot of us Catholics especially in our hypocrisy because a lot of times people we know the promises of Christ we know the promises of eternal life we know the promise of the Resurrection but when people are facing terminal illness often all of those ideas go out of their minds and all that's left is fear and terror in some cases terror at the mortality but thanks me to God through prayer through pastoral accompanying the promises of Christ begin to go from head into heart and I've seen that miracle of grace where people approach their mortality with peace and even joy as they embrace the promise of eternal life as they embrace the promise of the Resurrection and idea becomes real for them and the truth of the gospel and the promises of the gospel are reflected in their attitudes and in their emotions the peace and the joy and that's really the essence of the Christian life that's really the essence of the Christian project in a certain sense that to preach the gospel to make the gospel go from the NZ air but where people don't just hear it don't just have it in their minds but bring it in their hearts because there's an amazing thing about the human being where we can take the truth that is Christ and it can become incarnate in us so to speak that as the gospel goes from our heads to our hearts to our lives we become living Gospels that people see and experience Christ and experience the gospel not just hear it but experience it in their hearts and that leads to conversions that is in a certain sense the essence of the Christian life not just being baptized but knowing our Catholic faith and not just knowing it but experiencing it and living it that's where the enrichment of faith takes place that's where true evangelization takes place in fact void T WA this was Newman's whole strategy his whole pastoral strategy but this was also voice he was pastoral strategy and sources of renewal there's an amazing quote where he says the enrichment of faith is the direction that should be followed by all pastoral action the lay apostolate and the whole of the church's activity in other words everything everything should be directed towards the enrichment of faith helping Catholics helping Christians bring the truths of Jesus Christ from head and not just to the head but to the heart and to life and that was part of voytovitch strategy in forming those small groups in the Diocese of Krakow because the way the truth is brought from head to heart to life is through what's concrete what's personal through prayer through discussion all of that was at work in the Senate Senate of Krakov all that was at work when they took that book sources renewal discussed it prayed over and had had their study that's how the renewal of that of the church takes place that's how the enrichment of faith takes place all right so what you thought that the enrichment of faith is the most important work for the church and it was the secret to his success in the diocese of crack oof the secret to the success of his implementation of the council now is a mystery if that was the secret to avoid tea was success in crack oof and when he became Pope he said that his top priority is to implement the council why did he wait until his third encyclical letter in 1982 to write in enrichment a fee day on the enrichment of faith if you read that encyclical raise your left toe I'd do that because I'm not gonna put anything spot nobody read it he didn't write that and I don't even know if enrichment a free day is accurate I'm not a latinus he never wrote an encyclical in the Richmond of faith why not that was the secret to success in crack oof well it's because he gave it he talked about the enrichment of faith and all of his homilies and so many of his homilies right no I remember I did my life Sencha thesis on our might my what was it my master's thesis on this and I looked everywhere no where can you find that I find John Paul talking about the enrichment of faith so isn't that a mystery here's his secret weapon that was the key to his success in the diocese of Krakow and yet when he becomes Pope he doesn't even talk about it do you see oh I had the problem there so why is that why why didn't he talk about the enrichment of faith why didn't he write it as an encyclical letter I suggest to you because it was his secret weapon and a secret weapon you don't Telegraph you don't broadcast you just do it you just implement it you don't tell everybody you send out people on a secret mission and you unleash that secret weapon and that's what he did I would suggest to you that everything that John Paul did was the enrichment of faith that that was the secret to the key to understanding all of his actions his whole pastoral program unless you think I'm crazy with that I want to give you some example some facts ok so you still with me see where we're going let's look at some facts that show that the enrichment of faith was the key to john paul ii whole pastoral program has the key to the new evangelization the key to our way forward in defending the faith not just defending the faith but going out and spreading the faith with power first point first fact from the pontificate of john paul ii john paul ii was the most seen human being in the history of humanity more people saw him with their own two eyes in the flesh than any other human being who's ever lived why was that was because John Paul lived behind the Iron Curtain and Poland and then when he found out it became Pope he got behind Iron Curtain he said hotdog I'm gonna see the world and he jet jet set it all over the place right not exactly I mean yes it was his travels but why did he go to the ends of the earth why did he travel so much it certainly wasn't easy he did it because the enrichment of faith he didn't want people to think of the Pope as just some guy living in Rome but like of the success of the apostles who will bear solemn witness by their presence to the faith of to the faith that were given in Jesus Christ so that was where when people went to those events where he spoke which happened to be in the largest crowds in human history were the largest crowds in human history and even more dramatic was it was actually these crowds they were of most of the biggest crowds were the World Youth days so is it makeup made up of young people and they weren't going to see some rock star but to see an old man talk about Jesus Christ but it was the way he spoke about him people who are at those events say it was like he was speaking directly to me my heart was burning within me as he was as he spoke it was heart speaks to heart that's how John Paul did it and he didn't just stay up at the pulpit he went in his popemobile slapped hands kissed babies got to be right there with the people to make the faith real and after he left he left a train a trail of an explosion of grace and renewal in the church why because of the enrichment of faith because the enrichment of faith takes place through its concrete through what's real through its personal that's the New Evangelization and that's why John Paul went throughout the world now second thing John Paul the second he canonized and bianna fide more saints and blessed's than any other then I think all of their Pope's combined now why did he do that I think he did it to make real concrete and real one of the most important teachings of vatican ii the universal call to holiness that were all called to become saints but it's not enough just to hear that to know it in our minds we have to see whole and so John Paul the second one had Saints and blessed's from every continent from every culture from every language from every way of life from every period in history so you could see Saints not just in a plaster statue but photographs people that your grandparents would have known so that the faith so holiness the universal call to holiness becoming a saint would be concrete and real so it would move our hearts so it wouldn't just be an idea and John posted it would be something that would really inspire our hearts to to holiness because John Paul knew if you raise up one st. other Saints fall in their trail that's why I think so many saints and blessed's it was because of the enrichment of faith making the faith concrete personal and real take something else the rosary and Marian devotion John Paul the second emphasized the Rosary calling it his favorite prayer he even gave us you know the Luminous Mysteries why did he emphasize the Rosary so much I think it's because of the enrichment of faith because what is our faith to be enriched about above all the heart of Sacred Scripture which is what the Gospels and what is the rosary but a prolonged meditation and prayer on the mysteries of the life of Christ revealed in the Gospels and that we're praying with the with she who had the most enriched faith of all its to contemplate the face of Christ in the mysteries of his Galvez of the gospel with the eyes of Mary as an aid to helping us make the faith concrete and real you see why he emphasized that so much the Rosary is an amazing tool for the new evangelization for the enrichment of faith because it's not just about studying the word it's praying the word it's meditating on the word it's contemplating Christ so he comes into our hearts and then into our lives so that we can become other Christ which is the heart of new evangelization which is how we truly defend the faith by holiness by becoming transformed in Christ by having made his word real in our hearts and in our lives this is also why he emphasized Marian consecration remember as papal motto totus to us which is an echo of saint-lo to man for it's prayer Marian devotion why did he emphasize Marian Kant's tration how many you guys have done Mearing consecration ok good if you haven't done it do it because that's one of the most concrete ways of not just knowing about Mary but experiencing her oftentimes people say I've got this issue with Mary this problem I see do the consecration I can't explain it to you we have to experience this mother that Mary is our mother and when we experience her tender love that's when we get it it's more than just explaining it's more than just defending the faith about Mary it is that but it's bearing witness to the truth she's my mom and she helps me and I love her and that's what moves hearts to better understand Mary that they understand she's her mother and the way we do that above all the height the crowning of Marian devotion is the consecration that's why I emphasize that you still with me okay this is also why I emphasize the Eucharist because you can't get more concrete real and personal than the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist it makes the faith concrete and real in Eucharistic Adoration Jesus waits for us in the sacrament of love st. john paul ii said but now i want to look at ok we've looked at several of the things of how john paul everything in his pontificate a lot of his actions i gave some examples are about the enrichment of faith but now we've come to what i think is the most the greatest and most important theme for his whole pontificate and it has to do with the enrichment of faith what is the great theme of the pontificate of st. john paul ii i would suggest to you then it's divine mercy then it's in is based on his own words and based on the words of Pope Benedict he said this got to the heart and the center affirmed the whole image of his pontificate you know what John Paul's last words to humanity were people say let me go home to the Father no a Polish priest was there he's dying he said his last words were amen no his last words he actually gave the day after he died what it's cuz he was prepared he wrote his homily for the next day What did he say how much the world needs to understand and accept understand and accept divine mercy Jesus we believe in you and we repeat to you today Jesus I trust in you have mercy on us and on the whole world according to st. john paul ii there's nothing the world needs more right now than divine mercy and the most important truth is and there's all kinds of truth truths that need to go from our heads to our hearts to our lives but what is the most important truth of all the truths because that's how he wrote sources of renewal he took all these different truths that were presented in the council so we could bring him from head to heart to life but what was the most important truth that needs to go from head to heart to life or john paul ii it's the truth that God is mercy that God is love that God is merciful love that's what he saw as the most important truth that needs to go from our heads to our hearts to our lives why well one reason is because things are so bad right now the culture of death is so pervasive we've gotten chewed up spit out and damaged by the culture of death our hearts have become hardened we become broken and we need the message of mercy so that we don't get discouraged but also it goes back even further than our present context it goes back to the fall of Adam and Eve what was the original wound in their hearts after they disobeyed God and they heard God walking in the garden what did they do they ran up to God and they said merciful Father forgive us because we trust in your mercy right no they went and hid and what do we do when our sins weigh heavily on us we go and hide we avoid the Lord as mother Teresa say that's it says that's a danger for all of us to avoid Jesus especially when our sins are weighing on us and because they're surrounded by so much sin because we're so broken because of that original wound the most important truth that no needs to go from our heads to our hearts our lives is divine mercy we may know that God is mercy but we have to experience that in our hearts and then live it in our lives and until we experience it in our hearts we're not going to be effective Apostles we're not going to be effective evangelizers and we're not going to defend the faith about anyone because they're not going to see the incarnation of the word in us especially in his mercy and the fruits of that which are the peace and joy like when Jesus appeared to the hostels in the upper room and breathed on them and what did it say in the image of divine mercy when he appeared to them and he breathed on them the disciples rejoiced we rejoiced Pope Francis says the joy of the gospel comes from what from an encounter with the mercy of Jesus he's constantly talking about that gaze of love which was his own conversion after he went to confession when he was a teenager we all have to experience that gaze of love what is the people the the bull of indiction for the year the Jubilee year of Mercy right it's the face of Mercy the fate and he talks about the face of the Father it's that gaze of merciful love that we see in the image of divine mercy that's when it becomes concrete and real for us that's when we have the joy of the gospel that's when we become effective evangelizers when the truth of God's mercy is not just a concept for us but we've embraced it fully in our hearts we understand that we don't give in to discouragement and we have an unshakable trust in his merciful love which is the source of our peace and our joy that is the heart of the New Evangelization divine mercy that's what we're called to discover more deeply in this great Jubilee year that's coming up that's what Mary's whole role is in our lives is to help us to accept that the new eve just as the old eve caused that wound so to speak in our hearts where we have a distorted image of God as one jealous of his prerogatives and we avoid him it's the new eve who helps heal that wound by bringing us to the new Tree of Life which is the cross from which the pure side of Jesus there was the fountain of mercy Mary's the one who helps us to receive God's mercy and we all struggle with it according to mother Teresa okay so again now john paul ii knew though that because our hearts are a tough nut not to crack so to speak because hardness of heart has come in so deeply he knew that for us to really receive divine mercy into our hearts we need a multi-pronged attack on our hardened hearts to break them down and let divine mercy in because a lot of us are wounded from sin our own sins or the sins of others and we've all closed our hearts to one degree or another all of us have hardness of heart and it's hard for that mercy to get in so what is the multi-pronged attack that john paul ii used st. faustina he's her secret weapon in a way what st. faustina we don't like to talk about that we just want to talk about divine mercy in Scripture let's leave these mystics that make us uncomfortable aside why did John Paul emphasize Faustina and Divine Mercy Sunday and the image to divine mercy and all of that because of the enrichment of faith it's a most ironic thing people say think they think Vatican 2 throughout the devotions and then you tell them john paul emphasized divine mercy because of vatican ii he's emphasizing st. Faustina because of vatican 2 why because vatican 2 emphasized the enrichment of faith that the way we overcome the split between faith and life as the enrichment of faith to bring in the faith of our heads to our hearts to our lives but how do we do that through what's concrete and personal and you can't get more concrete personal than a saint of our time who's announced a specific message for our time that now is the time of Mercy which the Pope's had picked up and are emphasizing and who gives us concrete devotions so that we can enter more deeply into the center of the gospel Faustina didn't come to give us some new gospel but to bring us back to the heart of the gospel which is the message of God's love specifically that Jesus came not for the righteous but for sinners that he has the heart of the Good Shepherd who will even leave behind the 99 to go and search for the lost sheep it's that central scandalous message that the love of God is like water that goes to the lowest place it's that amazing message that you see repeated in the diary of Faustina the greater the sinner the greater his right to my mercy that is the center of the gospel that God doesn't love us because we're so good but because he's so good and the more weak broken and sinful we are the more his merciful love like water goes out to us to the lowest place that's the good news of the gospel that we're called to announce that there's no reason to be discouraged when it seems it all is lost divine mercy is a love that's more powerful than evil more powerful than sin and even if it's a scandal to the older brother and the parable of the broad son even if it's a scandal to the the self-righteous who think I don't need mercy because I'm already perfect the heart of the gospel is that God loves us in the more weak broken and sinful we are the more his love goes out to us it flips the way human love is on its head the and that is the source of our rejoicing God loves us not because what I do but because who he is and he has Divine Mercy itself that's the gospel that's when we talk about defending the faith that's our faith that's the center of the gospel message the Catechism in the Catholic Church says the gospel is the good news of God's love Jesus the good news of Jesus Christ of his of his mercy for sinners that's the center of it the Holy Spirit and this time in the church is bringing us back to the center of everything the center of the Evangelic 'message mercy for sinners now again I was saying that Faustina is an amazing saint and an amazing weapon for john paul ii and the enrichment of faith because she makes these things these truths of the central message of the gospel not a new gospel but she helps make it more concrete and personal how I'm gonna race through this so that I keep the time but the way to remember what what's up but what's going on with Faustina and the message of divine mercy and this time of mercy that's coming up we're in the time of mercy but then the year of mercy is beginning on December 8th so it's like we're got a time of mercy in the time of Mercy coming up better know about st. Faustina right all you have to remember is a little word it's actually a little bird it's finch fi n CH there's a priest in my community came up with this Finch fi n CH F what is the F stand for the feast of Mercy Divine Mercy Sunday my favorite day of the year why because it's on that day that jesus promised that on that day all the flood gates to which grace is flow are wide open I've seen incredible miracles and graces on that day the second Sunday of Easter but the greatest grace is what I call the clean slate grace and people say oh yeah because you can get a plenary indulgence no it's a little different from that in order to get a plenary indulgence what do you have to do the indulgence AK prayers for the Holy Father confession like I think 21 days or whatever and some other things but one of them is you have to have total detachment from sin now if you're to totally detach from sin raise your left toe st. Philip Neri was giving a parish mission for which people could get a plenary indulgence and the Holy Spirit told them only two people were getting the plenary indulgence Philip Neri and a six-year-old boy presumably because everybody else was attached to sin no that's not to discourage us to shoot for plenary indulgence because the nice thing is if you miss you still get a partial indulgence but to get the grace of Mercy Sunday which the theologian that Carol vojta assigned to investigate what's the nature of this grace he said it's like a second baptism it's not a baptism but so thoroughly does it cleanse the soul he likened to it a second baptism in order to receive it on Divine Mercy Sunday you receive Holy Communion in the state of grace with a with simply with a desire to receive that grace and you get it that's why it's my favorite Graham the year I get that mercy shower that super shower every mercy Sunday every year why does God do that in a liturgical communal celebration where we focus on the message of God's mercy where he gives these extraordinary promises he's helping us as a church come together to appreciate and bring this truth of mercy from our heads to our hearts to our lives because when we hear that promise that's offered on Mercy Sunday it helps us to remember that this mercy is so overflowing so abundant and that it's there for us if we turn away from sin and ask for it and receive it F what's next I I is the image of divine mercy and that's Jesus ask Faustina to have an image painted the image of divine mercy the original one that was painted on the direction of st. Faustina is in your packets or something like that I gave you all one it's the original Vilnius image if you want a nice canvas one for 19.95 go to divine mercy art top-quality religious art at merciful prices divine mercy art calm you know but it really is we set it up as a ministry because Jesus said let every soul have access to this image and it's an image of amazing Grace's and it's an image that reminds us his love does not change those Ray's that go out from his heart they're not a faucet that turns on on and off his love for us never changes he's always the same in that image of divine mercy we may change we may turn our backs on him but when we turn away from sin at least try to turn away from sin and with a contrite heart his mercy is always there and he wants us to say Jesus I trust in you Jesus I trust in you Jesus I trust in you and he gave that image to remind us this is the image of the time of Mercy that we're in and in that image why did he give it because of the enrichment of faith because art has a way of getting to the heart in the way that words alone can't and the image of the Divine Mercy can do that when we gaze upon it that is when we meet his gaze of merciful love looking at us with love and those rays of mercy coming to us and embracing us you know the context for it right it's when Jesus appears in the upper room to the disciples where the doors are locked this is after Jesus has been crucified and they're terrified they're shamed because they left him and abandoned him and then they're in the upper room thinking the same thing is gonna happen to them imagine the fear the shame the discouragement the despair in that room the darkness but then Jesus appears in their midst he doesn't even bother to open the door he just appears in their myths and he says to them Shalom peace be with you and it says he breathed on them received the Holy Spirit and then it said the disciples rejoiced that's the image of divine mercy that Jesus comes walking through the doors of our hardened hearts and he says peace be with you and he wants to embrace us with his mercy but we have to say Jesus I trust in you and accept that mercy and when we accept into our hearts the enrichment of faith is taking place I'm almost out of time so I want to quickly go through the other ones F feast of mercy I the image of divine mercy what's next and the novena to divine mercy would you start on Good Friday and it ends the day before mercy Sunday is a way for preparing for mercy Sunday that's a personal form of prayer Fi and see see the chaplet of divine mercy which is the most powerful prayer there is right right well the mass is the most powerful prayer what part of the mass the consecration people say a communion it's that moment of the mass through him with him in him O God Almighty father and you knew the Holy Spirit all glory and honor is yours for ever and ever amen why is that moment so powerful because we're holding before the Father the face of the father is part of the perfect sacrifice of love of his and we can ask for anything in view of that sacrifice those infinite merits and in the chaplet of divine mercy it's echoing that supercharged moment of the mass because we're holding up before the Father the perfect sacrifice of love of his son and we're saying Eternal Father I offer you the body and blood soul and divinity of your dearly beloved son our Lord Jesus Christ for what an atonement for our sins and those of my whole family those that my city know of the whole world when I was in the seminar used to be afraid of asking for too much because I thought oh my gosh what's God gonna want in return my crucifixion right or right souls are only one of the price of suffering according the dire Faustina so I'm not gonna ask for anything too big like the whole world but Who am I kidding the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary the merits are infinite and that's why the heart of the devotion is Jesus I trust in you to appeal to the father with bold confidence lifting up the perfect sacrifice of love of the son and calling out for what worth this world needs more than anything merci merci merci for the sake of his sorrowful passion father have mercy on us and on the whole world pray the chaplet it can change the world Jesus told Faustina for your sake I would hold the hand that punishes for your sake I the eighth it wasn't because he's a super Saint which she is it's because she relied on the infinite merits of Christ and called for mercy and she said it's chosen souls that are crying out for mercy that keep the world in existence so when it looks like when we look around and we could or tempted to discouragement know that that all Jesus needs is a few calling out for mercy and it brings down mercy in the whole world in this time of Mercy fi NC what was the last one H the hour of great mercy from 3:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon every day is like a mini Mercy Sunday it's a commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary for us the sacrifice of his love and what are we supposed to do at 3 o'clock everybody says pray the chaplet sure you can do that but this reveals his heart he says above all what he wants you know if you could do the Stations that'd be great if you can visit me in the chapel great he wants us to have mercy on him I don't have time to get into all of that I wish I could you can get the book the consoling the heart of Jesus you learn more but the idea is it's a mother Teresa when Jesus said I thirst it's the idea that we can console Jesus and he wants how do we consult Jesus by remembering him at the three o'clock hour and saying Jesus I trust in you Jesus I trust in you Jesus I trust in you Jesus I thank you for dying on the cross for me Jesus I thank you for your sacrifice of love Jesus I thank you for your mercy that is what consoles the heart of Jesus that's what we can do every day from 3 to 4 to remind us of the heart of the message of the gospel God's mercy for sinners this heart of the gospel which is the source of our enrichment of faith that if we bring it from head to heart to life we overcome the split between faith and life which is the great pastoral skin the great scandal in the modern church but if we do that we'll be true apostles will not just defend the faith we'll go out and bring the faith to the ends of the earth amen so make use of this time of Mercy that's coming up have a great conference please pray for me and one book plug if you want to learn more there's a book the second greatest story ever told now is the time of Mercy which will give you a bigger picture of all this and if you like the enrichment of faith stuff and you want to learn more there's another book called the one thing is three how the Most Holy Trinity explains everything and it goes into this more deeply god bless you let me give you a blessing the Lord be with you through the intercession of Mary Immaculate and all the angels and saints may Almighty God pour out a super abundance of His mercy for you during this conference that your hearts may be set afire you may be more authentic witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all those around you all those you serve in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen god bless you

Channel: Steubenville Conferences

Views: 18,663

Rating: 4.858407 out of 5

Keywords: Steubenville Conferences, Catholic, Franciscan University, Catholic Ministry, New Evangelization, Youth

Id: 4pHOp03xum8

Length: 50min 55sec (3055 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 01 2016