Daily Reflections

Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to Thy Most Sacred Heart

Romans 11:33-34

How deep are the riches and Wisdom and Knowledge of God!
– How unsearchable His Judgments!

Who has known the mind of the LORD?
Who has been His counselor?
– How unsearchable His Judgments!

Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Colman, Bishop (Ireland)

The “much mistaken” Sadducees foolishly believe they can trip up Love Incarnate regarding how love will play out in Heaven. For them, it is an impossibility (St. Mark 12:18-27). The tragic Sarah feels a similar impossibility after losing seven husbands. Instead of testing God, she decides to bless Him: “You are just, O LORD, and just are all Your works.”  (Tobit 3: 1-11, 16-17)

SAINT COLMAN, BISHOP

Colman Mac Duagh (560-632 A.D.), Irish bishop and monk’s, mother Queen Rhinagh, when in an advanced state of pregnancy in late 559 A.D., became the object of jealous hatred of her husband the King. The King had heard that according to a prophecy of authority his future son (St. Colman) was destined to surpass in greatness all the others of his illustrious lineage. Fearing the worst for her child still in her womb and for herself, Rhinagh was obliged to flee her husband’s company. She was nevertheless caught by the King’s men and cast with a heavy stone tied around her neck into the deepest portion of the Kiltartin river. Miraculously, Our Blessed Lord intervened, and in an instant, the heavy stone floated like a cork to the surface, bringing Rhinagh and her future offspring (St. Colman) safely to the river’s bank.

She very soon after gave birth in the solitude at Corker, Ireland to Colman Mac Duagh, who was destined to bring to that region, “a thousand blessings which time has brought to ripeness.” The anxious mother laid her newborn babe under the friendly shelter of a spreading ash tree and waited impatiently for the arrival of one who might pour on Colman’s head the baptismal waters and in so doing grant her son Our Lord’s Sovereign protection against the devil.

Through Divine Providence, two aged clerical pilgrims then approached the anxious mother, one being blind and the other lame. Unfortunately, there was no water to baptize the infant so they earnestly begged Heaven for a solution. God seconded their requests and a fountain gushed forth from under the shelter of the ash tree. They solemnly baptized the infant Colman and after administering the sacrament, the two pilgrims washed in the waters of the fountain and were both healed. St. Colman could be likened to Our Lord when He was a child fleeing from Herod, i.e., as he (Colman) was still in grave danger. The mother with full confidence entrusted St. Colman to the two holy monks for his safety and education in the Catholic Faith.

Preserved for more than 1400 years is the miraculous stone that floated bringing Rhinagh and her future offspring (St. Colman) to safety. The imprints from the rope that was tied around this miraculous stone are still clearly visible today. The miraculous stone now is displayed on the side altar of a historic Church in Corker, Ireland, adjacent to the Kiltartin river.

From the Moral Reflections on Job by Saint Gregory the Great, Pope
(Lib. 23-24: PL 76, 265-266)

True Doctrine dispels arrogance

Listen, Job, to what I say and ponder all My words. The teaching of the arrogant has this characteristic: they do not know how to introduce their teaching humbly and they cannot convey correctly to others the things they understand correctly themselves. With their words they betray what they teach; they give the impression that they live on lofty heights from which they look down disdainfully on those whom they are teaching; they regard the latter as inferiors, to whom they do not deign to listen as they talk; indeed they scarcely deign to talk to them at all—they simply lay down the law.

To teachers of this kind the LORD through the prophet says rightly: But you will rule them with severity and with power. There is no doubt that such as are prone not to correct their subjects with quiet reasoning, but to compel them to change by rough and domineering methods, rule with severity and power.

On the contrary True Doctrine all the more effectively shuns the voice of arrogance through reflection, in which it pursues the arrogant teacher himself with the arrows of its words. It ensures that the pride which it attacks in the hearts of those listening to the Sacred words will not in fact be preached by arrogant conduct. For True Doctrine tries both to teach by words and to demonstrate by living example—humility, which is the mother and mistress of Virtues. Its goal is to express humility among the disciples of Truth more by deeds than by words.

Accordingly, when addressing the Thessalonians, Paul is oblivious of his own eminent dignity as an Apostle; he actually says: We became as little children in your midst. Similarly, the Apostle Peter enjoins: Be always prepared to satisfy everybody who asks a reason for the Hope which is in you, and by adding the words, with a good conscience, speak gently and respectfully, Peter draws attention to the manner in which Sacred Doctrine should be taught.

When he tells his disciples: These things command and teach with all power, Paul really recommends the credibility that goes hand in hand with good behaviour rather than the domineering exercise of power. When one practices first and preaches afterwards, one is really teaching with power. Doctrine loses credibility, if conscience tethers the tongue. Paul, therefore, in the saying quoted above, does not refer to the power of lofty rhetoric but to the confidence elicited by good deeds. Of the LORD, too, it is said: He taught with authority unlike the Scribes and the Pharisees. He alone in a unique and sovereign way spoke from the power of His goodness because no evil weakness led Him into sin. For He had from the power of His own Divine nature what He gave to us through the sinlessness of His human nature.

Heavenly Ties, Heavenly Love

In Heaven, we will have a personal love and consideration for each one there. We shall be deeply interested in one another, as real brothers and friends should be. And so, there will be a real family bond between us—an all-for-one and one-for-all attitude. We will possess that all-embracing love that includes everyone and excludes no one. It will be founded in God and never waver or lessen for all Eternity.

Jesus gave us a glimpse into this family bond in Heaven when He answered the question of the Sadducees, who asked Him about the woman with seven husbands. According to their all too human way of reasoning, the poor woman was going to have a problem in Heaven. Jesus looked at them sadly and answered, Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in Heaven. In Heaven, we shall be like the angels, not by nature but by our total love for God and one another. On earth we had friends, parents, and relatives who were interdependent upon one another for love and support. But in Heaven our happiness is dependent only upon God, and though we will know and love our dear ones in Heaven, our family ties will be enlarged to include everyone.

Jesus told a crowd one day that anyone who did the Will of His Father in Heaven was His brother, sister, and mother. If this is true of Jesus, it is also true of us. We will be everything to everyone, with a feeling of belonging to one another. There will be no prejudice to mar the happiness of our family life in Heaven, no social barriers to overcome, no feuds or jealousy to endure. Because we will all be one heart and one soul in God, we shall enjoy the most perfect cordial affection for everyone, and each one there will be as a brother, sister, mother, husband, and wife to everyone. The time of testing will be over, and we shall reap the fruits of virtue for all Eternity.

Mother Angelica of the Annunciation, p.c.p.a.

Mother Angelica († 2016) was a Poor Clare nun and founder of the Eternal Word Television Network. [From Mother Angelica On God, His Home, and His Angels.

1 Peter 5:5; Matthew 11:29

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another,
– for God resists the proud and gives His favour to the humble.

Learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.
– For God resists the proud and gives His favour to the humble.

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”– Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen