Bulletin 105

SAINT AGNES CATHEDRAL 533 South Jefferson Springfield, MO 65806

EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS (LATIN)

CELEBRANT Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

June 3rd, 2012 Trinity Sunday

Epistle: Rom. 11:33-36; Gospel: Mt. 28:18-20

Mass Schedule June 4th through June 8th

Monday –Saint Francis Caracciolo, Confessor-NO LATIN MASS

Tuesday-Saint Boniface, Bishop & Martyr

Wednesday-Saint Norbert, Bishop & Confessor

Thursday-Corpus Christi

Friday-Feria of the 1st Sunday after Pentecost

JUNE 10, 2012 IS THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI. MASS WILL BEGIN AT 2:00 PM. A PROCESSION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT WILL IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW MASS BEGINNING AT 4:00PM. JOIN HIS EXCELLENCY, BISHOP JAMES V. JOHNSTON FOR THIS DIOCESAN EVENT.

THERE WILL BE NO CONFESSIONS ON SUNDAY, JUNE 10 BEFORE THE 2:00PM MASS.

Jesus Christ tells His Apostles: “All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Omnipotence is an attribute belonging to God alone. Jesus gives His disciples authority to carry out their mission. The authority of the Church, therefore, comes directly from Jesus Christ. With respect to faith and morals this authority is higher than any on earth.

The Apostles and their successors receive the command to teach all nations exactly what Jesus taught. We have the responsibility to proclaim the truth until the end of time. The teachings of the Pope and the Bishops should therefore always be accepted with humble obedience.

The mission of the Church is to continue the work of Christ. Christ promises to stay with the Church to the end of time and never leave it. This means that the Church will never fail to fulfill its mission until the end of time!
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Sincerely in Christ,

Father Jeffery A. Fasching

Visible Bonds of Unity

Vatican II's Constitution on the Church (#146) mentions some of the more important visible bonds by which the faithful are united to the Church:

They are fully incorporated into the society of the Church who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept her entire system and all the means of salvation given to her, and through union with her visible structure are joined to Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. This joining is effected by the bonds of professed faith, of the sacraments, of ecclesiastical government, and of communion.

Note the visible bonds mentiond here:

-professed faith,

-sacraments,

-ecclesiastical govermnent,

-cummunion (sharing) of love and support (Acts 2.42).

These visible bonds permit a certain pluralism in their expression according to the particular traditions and practices of different cultures.

There must be unity in essentials, but beyond that, following the principles of Saint Augustine, freedom and love should prevail: "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity" ("In essentialibus unitas, in contingentibus libertas, in omnibus caritas").

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Winning the Crown

The discipline it takes to be a successful athlete spills over into the spiritual life. Unless we strive to develop and maintain a well-ordered, disciplined and regular life of prayer to God we cannot advance in the spiritual realm. “Brethren: Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one!”

We should approach the spiritual life with a competitive spirit. We should beg God that nobody is getting ahead of us. We should ask God for the grace to pray our rosaries more attentively than the next person. We should ask God each day that we are counted among His favorites. We must be ready and willing to sacrifice. We must not let anything get in our way of our relationship with God. There will always be obstacles, failures and personal limitations, but we can never grow discouraged.

Saint Paul says: “…but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” Even our most serious sins should not discourage us because we have God in the Sacrament of Penance to grow holier through forgiveness. How many times in scripture do we see Jesus Christ our Lord moved by a sinner’s repentance?

Furthermore, we must never take our efforts for granted. Saint Paul says: “Let no one feel assured of this gift with an absolute certainty, although all ought to have most secure hope in the help of God. For unless we are unfaithful to His grace, God will bring the good work to perfection, just as He began it, working both the will and the performance (Phil 2:13).” Saint Paul reminds us of the necessity of physical mortification and self-control. When we make the effort, God will always help us with His grace. This we must do to earn our “crown of righteousness.”

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

We Must Love God Above all Else

From the treatise On Spiritual Perfection by Diadochus of Photice, bishop:

No one who is in love with himself is capable of loving God. The man who loves God is the one who mortifies his self-love for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of divine love. Such a man never seeks his own glory but only the glory of God...

I know a man who, though lamenting his failure to love God as much as he desires, yet loves him so much that his soul burns with ceaseless longing for God to be glorified, and for his own complete effacement. This man has no feeling of self-importance even when he receives praise. So deep is his desire to humble himself that he never even thinks of his own dignity. He fulfills his priestly duty by celebrating the Liturgy, but his intense love for God is an abyss that swallows up all consciousness of his high office. His humility makes him oblivious of any honor it might bring him, so that in his own estimation he is never anything but a useless servant. Because of his desire for self-abasement, he regards himself as though degraded from his office. His example is one that we ourselves should follow by fleeing from all honor and glory for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of God's love, for He has loved us so much..!

Such a man lives in this life and at the same time does not live in it, for although he still inhabits his body, he is constantly leaving it in spirit because of the love that draws him toward God...

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching.

God's Kingdom

From a notebook On prayer by Origin, Priest:

...The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin. Therefore, if we wish God to reign in us, in no way should sin reign in our mortal body; rather we should mortify our members which are upon the earth and bear fruit in the Spirit. There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with His Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And He will sit there until all His enemies who are within us become His footstool...

Saint Leo the great writes the following:

...For the man who loves God it is sufficient to please the one he loves; and there is no greater recompense to be sought than the loving itself; for love is from God by the very fact that God Himself is love. The good and chaste soul is so happy to be filled with Him that it desires to take delight in nothing else. For what the Lord says is very true: Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be...every man's treasure is that which he desires.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Thy Kingdom Come

From a notebook on Prayer by Origen, priest:

The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Savior, does not come for all to see; nor shall they say: Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is; but the kingdom of God is within us, for the word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God's kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it may grow and bear fruit and become perfect. For God reigns in each of His holy ones. Anyone who is holy obeys the spiritual laws of God, who dwells in him as in a well-ordered city. The Father is present in the perfect soul, and with him Christ reigns, according to the words: We shall come to him and make our home with him...

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Holiness II

We may often here others or even ourselves refer to certain people as being "holy." What does it mean to be holy? We know that the Church invites us all to embrace holiness. In fact there is a universal "call" to holiness for every single member. Do we think of ourselves as holy? Do we strive for holiness?

Holiness begins with our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As we begin a new year it is a perfect time to renew our dedication and fideltiy to our Lord. We do this initially by deepening our prayer life. We must continue to beg our Lord for the grace of prayer. Christ longs for our attention. He wants us to place ourselves at His feet and simply remain in His presence. Christ will communicate with us intimately when we make it a regular habit to calm our minds and clear our heads in order to listen to Him speak to us.

We must develop a disciplined, well-ordered, daily life of prayer as a creature of God. After we have established a well-ordered spirituality with Christ, we must in turn use this foundation to serve one another. Without a spirit of charity we cannot expect to be holy. How do you plan to serve Christ today? What have you done for God and His Church lately? What have you done for your brothers?

We pray for the strength to answer God's call to prayer. We pray that we will respond to the needs of others by our good works. If we pray and love, we fulfull our twofold duty toward our Creator.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

The Hidden Life

We must learn to appreciate the great value of silence. In a world that wants to pull us in so many ways away from heavenly realities, we must embrace a state of mind focused on meditation, peace and quiet. We must constantly reflect on that which is spiritual. We must properly dispose ourselves to be open to the Word of God Who speaks to us in our hearts. In short, it is our duty to develop and nourish a disciplined, well-ordered spiritual life. We must embrace silent prayer that is known to God alone.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching