BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings )  One of the most beautiful texts in the whole Bible reads: “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried.” People are sometimes surprised to learn that these words are not spoken between two lovers. They are the words of Ruth, to her mother-in-law, and simply mean: I will never leave you. That hardly matters. The classical musical setting by Gounod is often heard at weddings. The Weston Priory version is sung by the monks to each other as a pledge of mutual fidelity in their monastic life. The text suits any commitment of persons to each other. The response of Simon, Andrew, James, and John to the call of Jesus seems to have been wordless. They just left their family and way of life, and followed him, presumably in the spirit of that passage from the book of Ru

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings )  “What is the meaning of this?” That is, if I recall correctly, the last line of the strangest play I ever saw: Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung you in the Closet and I’m Feeling so Sad. It was definitely in the category of the Theater of the Absurd, which challenges our sense of the meaning of life. That question is open to at least two answers. 1.) Life has no meaning at all. (There are people who believe this sincerely.) Or 2. Life as most people live it has no meaning. We need to give it meaning. How? by creating something? helping people? leaving a legacy? As Christians we believe that the meaning of life comes not from ourselves alone, but also and especially from Jesus who restored to humanity what was lost by sin. In that sense the meaning of our life comes from the meaning of Christ’s life. The meaning of Isaiah’s life was that he

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings )  In 2013 I read Bernard Lonergan’s Insight. It is a philosophical analysis focused on that instant that marks the transition from not understanding to understanding. “Epiphany” sometimes denotes that kind of “enlightenment,” a sudden grasp or revelation—an “Aha!” experience. The Magi somehow grasped the significance of the star. First they had some kind of insight. But this was deeper than an intellectual insight. It was a “Light,” reminiscent of phrases in the first reading: “Your light has come... Nations shall walk by your light.” Another aspect of insight is that it is usually a satisfying experience, and not just intellectually. It is a release of tension, when something finally makes sense. It is not just “Aha!” but also “Aah!” This experience is described when we are told that the Magi were “overjoyed,” and when the prophet says to Israel, “You shall be r

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH The angel visits Joseph ( Click here for today’s readings )  In the famous balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet , Juliet asks, “What’s in a name?” It is true enough that the name is not the same as the reality. And yet some names do matter. There are many names in today’s readings: Ahaz, Isaiah, Paul, Mary, Joseph. Two others really stand out: Emmanuel, and Jesus. About the name Jesus, St. Peter says in chapter 4 of Acts: “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” Jesus means God Saves, or God is salvation. This is why the angel tells Joseph, “You are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Then, of course, there is the magnificent prophetic name Emmanuel: God with us. Another name for Jesus also appears in today’s Gospel: Christ, which means Anointed, which translates the Hebrew t

If you need a break from all the holiday cheer, take the US Religious Knowledge Quiz , sponsored by Pew. Afterwards, you can look up the results of the actual survey and see how you compare with the American public. (H/T: Perry Dane.)

This list is by no means definitive. It is impossible to give an exact number of saints. The majority are known only to God. The Virgin Mary has been omitted out of respect. The Mother of the Savior has a significant place in the divine economy of salvation. Contrary to popular imagination, the saints lived lives remarkably similar to our own. Living ordinary lives in extraordinary ways they were able to achieve heroic virtue. Such a life is possible for us today, with grace, unrelenting prayer, the sacraments and the saints as our guides. The number next to some saints is not intended as a rank. We have tried to include individuals who reflect the depth and scope of a universal Church that spans two millennia. 1. St. Peter - first pope, apostle, martyr 2. St. Paul of Tarsus -  missionary, author of scripture, martyr 3. St. John - apostle, evangelist, bishop 4. St. Thomas - apostle, missionary, martyr 5. St. Andrew - apostle, missionary, martyr 6. St. James the Greater

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings )  We are in Cycle A of the Sunday readings, in which the majority of the Gospel readings are from Matthew. In a few weeks we will be reading his account of Jesus’ Baptism. “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” That was chapter 3 of Matthew. Today’s Gospel is from chapter 11. John needs to know: “Are you the one?” Strange, isn’t it? He knew him then. How can he now have doubts? What has changed is that John is now in prison! It would appear that this was not what he expected. Jesus’ answer is in two parts: Look around you. Everything prophesied in Isaiah 35 is being fulfilled—and more besides! Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me. What we have here is a beatitude! (There are many beatitudes in the Bible besides the famous 8