FRIDAY EVENING MASS HOMILY – FATHER ANGELUS

The beatitudes – the attitudes of being. The poor in spirit says it all - the humble people who know where they stand before God. We are the creatures; He is the Creator. We are the contingent being, because we do not exist without God. 

 The saints had a beautiful sense of the Sacred. They had a great love for the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Mother of God. To be holy is to be full of love; this is the vocation of everyone. There is one sadness in eternity, and that is not to be in the presence of God. The highest achievement is the perfection of the human will and the human heart. A great saint all of us could be if  we would only will it. We could be a saint with a strong purpose of the will fortified with God's grace. 

SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER JOSEPH (All Saints Day) 

We are not alone in our spiritual journey towards Heaven. We have brothers and sisters for support. No man is an island. We have a bond of charity with those in Heaven and the souls in Purgatory. We have their support and encouragement in our own struggles today. Our life is filled with hope because of what God prepared for us. We who believe in Jesus Christ have a hope in this life; our sufferings are not meaningless. We have that hope in the midst of our sufferings. 

Today we can think of the unknown saints, those who are not recognized, those hidden souls who are in Heaven and enjoying eternal reward. The closer we grow to our Lord and are united to Him, the greater impact and influence we will have to those around us. We do not go to Heaven or hell alone; we will bring others with us. 

If the saints lived in our shoes, our circumstances in life, how would he or she live? Would they live differently or the same? A saint does live in my shoes if we live a life with God. We can do it because God's grace is enough for us to be a saint on earth or a saint in Heaven. Jesus is the source of the sanctity of the saints in Heaven and also for us. The Eucharist was the food of the saints. How they grew in holiness was a great part of how they lived. The Eucharist gives us the grace to be saints in the journey to Heaven where they wait for us and where they assist us. 

SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – FATHER FRANCIS 
 
Today is All Saints Day as we look particularly to the saints in Heaven. We have to be attuned to our enemies and the environment here on earth in which we live. We have to do what we have to do on earth. Our glory in Heaven comes from God Himself.

Here on earth, we are the Church Militant. A primary duty of the faithful is that we willfully embrace our duties, the ordinary things, here on earth each day. Our calling or vocation is that we have to be perfect here on earth as our Father is perfect in Heaven. Two temptations we have to watch for: 1) the temptation that we embrace what we believe to be prayerful and good, those religious things, but we neglect and fail to become engaged in the social, cultural and professional responsibilities. We want to withdraw from the world. It does not mean that you become a workaholic or climb the ladder. Christian lay faithful need to be in the world, but not of the world; 2) A second temptation is the faith we profess on Sunday is apart or disconnected from the other six days. Duplicity of life – are we leading this life? Do we profess one thing and live another life? Do we step out of those Catholic shoes? There is no real integrity in the way we live. Do we have the courage or fortitude to engage the family, the work place, the culture with our Catholicism of who we are? We are born, live, die, and go to Heaven. This is an unorthodox teaching. We cannot have duplicity of life. We cannot cast away the cultural, political, business, etc., in life. 

HEALING SERVICE – FATHER JOSEPH 

When we are looking for the Lord and His healing, we are looking for the greatest possible healing – the one that there is no more death. This is the eternal healing where they enjoy forever that eternal happiness looking at Him face to face. We are grateful for the healings here on earth, but the healing of the spirit is much greater. 

Would a saint like St. Therese ever sin? Mother Theresa of Calcutta? She said to give yourself wholly to God, because He will do great things provided you believe more in His love than in your weakness. The best thing we can do is draw near to Jesus. Blessed Mother Theresa and her sisters were making a weekly holy hour together before the Eucharistic presence of our Lord. Then later they began making a daily holy hour and their community started growing. No where on earth are you more welcome. No where on earth are you more loved. Make your soul everlastingly more glorious in Heaven. The saints rejoice at the time you spend with our Eucharistic Lord.    
 
SUNDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY - FATHER JOSEPH  (All Souls Day) 

Where in the Bible is Purgatory? 1st Corinthians speaks of a cleansing fire. 1 Peter also speaks of fire, tested by fire. Our Purgatory, we think, can begin on earth. In Chapter 12 of Matthew a purifying fire is mentioned. All these passages point to that reality of Purgatory. 

We call them holy souls. They are not lost; they are getting ready for Heaven. They are assured of their salvation. After death they are going through purification entirely different from hell. During this month we should remember our blessed deceased. We all live in the same love of God united in this bond of charity. Attend Mass, receive Holy Communion, offer prayers at their graves when visiting cemeteries, praying the Psalms, especially penitent Psalm 51, Psalm 130, or a holy hour in the presence of the Lord praying for the Holy Souls are some of the things we can do for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  Jesus loves them and wants us to pray for them.

How can we avoid going to Purgatory? The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us ways to avoid purification in Purgatory. Do works of mercy and charity, prayer and various penances. We should offer sufferings and trials in this life and offer them for reparation of our sins, our abandonment to God, forgiving any one who has hurt us, asking the Lord for the grace of mercy to undergo our purification before our death. This could be a great grace. Purgatory is really a doctrine of God's mercy.