On the Sunday after Ascension, St. Peter tells us that we must have “a constant mutual charity” among ourselves, and Jesus tells us in today’s gospel that “the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God.” With these two thoughts in our mind let us consider our own lives and attitudes toward one another.

How often there are disagreements among Catholics over sometimes very petty things, and the devils fan these into heated arguments and sometimes into outright hatred for one another? The command of Christ to love one another and even to love our enemies and those who persecute us seems to have fallen upon deaf ears.

Our efforts to “win” or appear “right” in the eyes of men often supersedes the ultimate command to have charity. We forget that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with our entire being and with a love of preference and the second is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We forget that charity covers a multitude of sins.

So often we hear of people who refuse to engage in discussions of religion or politics. They consider that they are doing something noble or grand in avoiding an honest look and pursuit of justice and goodness, but they are more often cowards hiding behind a false charity. On the other side of this coin we see people who only want to argue and hound everyone into seeing or believing what they perceive with their own narrow and short sided “insights.”

Virtue is always in the middle (avoiding either extreme). We must be eager to share and enlighten others to the truth. However, it must not be our own “truth” but God’s truth that we elucidate and attempt to inculcate in others. To be certain that we are truly right is a condition that too many often overlook because they are shown a very narrow picture and outside of this they will not look. Their pride is enflamed and off they go attempting to “teach” the world.

Humility dictates that we recognize that in most of these matters we are very limited in our understanding and insights and therefore we must be open to hear other’s opinions. In politics where we are to place our hope and trust in a politician who is more often than not (perhaps always) guided by worldly rather than religious motives, we must be on our guard. In religion we should always look to the authority of the Church: in scripture and tradition, trusting in the legitimate authority that God has entrusted us to.

It is always best to distrust ourselves first rather than to distrust others first. Then with time and objective observation and study, enlightened by the grace of God in all humility and truth we can form correct opinions and charitably accept or reject the opinions of others (always preferring the objective truth).

We find that the saints often held different and even opposing positions on various points but they still became saints because they held onto this principle of Charity. They never compromised on the declared doctrines and moral principles of the Church, but they strove to be open in all charity to those who opposed them (correctly or incorrectly). Many of the saints became martyrs as Our Lord foretold. They went to their deaths not with threats and violence but in all humility and charity; often praying for those who opposed them. They loved even their enemies and those who persecuted them.

Let us imitate them as we are contradicted and accosted by our fellow men. Let us yield whenever it is possible for the sake of peace and concord (never to the point of denial of the faith), but always striving to imitate Jesus who is meek and humble of heart. Let us strive to always have a heart animated with charity and in this we can cover a multitude of sins.

Let us not fear death even from those who think that they are pleasing God by seeking it, but rather let us look forward to being united with Christ in heaven. In this frame of mind our enemies actually become our greatest benefactors. They give us the opportunity to see God, or if they do not take us this far they at least give us the opportunity to practice the virtues that Christ wishes us to apply in our lives. In any event they do us a good turn and therefore have earned our gratitude and love. Thus, we are naturally brought to love them and offer them our forgiveness and pray that God will do likewise: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

This is a production of high quality, professionally put together with knowledgeable contributions from a range of learned voices. It is just over 1 hour but an hour well spent.

This Sunday's Mass introduces the theme of Petition. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are known as Rogation, or Petition Days, asking Christ's blessing upon Springtime planting, in the fields and in our souls, before He ascends into Heaven that he might become our advocate with the Father.

In the Gospel Jesus shows the necessity of prayer, how we should pray "in His Name," yet as we pray we should ask only for those things that keep us on the Christian road where Jesus points to His and our sign post, "I go to the Father." The Epistle warns us against the dangerous detour of false prayer since man's religion is vain unless he be a "doer" and not a "hearer" only. "Religion clean and undefiled" is the interior life of keeping "unspotted" and the social life of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy to all "in their tribulation."
 
The 22nd May is the Feast Day of St. Rita of Cascia, one of the holiest Saints of the Augustinian Order. In the Augustinian Missale a proper Mass of the Saint is found with Augustinian blessing of the Roses in honour of St. Rita. The roses are an important sacramental and when sick, a person might drop a rose petal into tea and consume it, with faith that the Saint can intercede.
 
It is well known that St. Rita was an Augustinian Sister for 40 years, having entered the convent at Cascia upon the death of her husband. Devoted to the sufferings of Our Lord, St. Rita asked to share in His Sufferings and received a wound, similar to the Crown of Thorns, on her head, painful and bloody for the last 15 years of her life. St. Rita is known as the Patron Saint of desperate Causes and families having problems ask for her intercession. The last 5 years of her life, St. Rita was largely bedridden and subsisted almost entirely only on the Holy Eucharist. Her monastery of St. Mary Magdalene at Cascia is a highly attended tourist attraction with waves of pilgrims daily visiting the convent and the church, where her body lies in a glass sarcophagus, immaculate and beautifully preserved. The wound on her forehead disappeared upon her death. Pray today especially to St. Rita to help our families, help our country, to find a way when there seems to be no way. Although not commemorated in the Mass on Sunday, using the 1960 rubrics, pray to the Saint to help us in our time of need.

In this Mass is set forth the theme of "justice," interior and social. Notice its frequent mention in the principal parts. For the realisation of this "justice" (Gospel), Jesus tells us it is necessary for the Divine Spirit to enter into human affairs against "the prince of this world" to "convince it of justice." Hence, the Introit bids us sing a "new" canticle for God "hath revealed His 'justice'."

The Prayer evidently referring to social justice, makes us realize that only God can "make all of one will."

The Epistle and Offertory extol the gifts of interior justice that come from the Father. One verse of the Gospel intimates how grieved was Jesus when none asked Him, "Whither goest Thou?" The world cares not, but it is essential that he go and ask the Spirit to come for the sake of "justice." Otherwise, we shall be left to the fate of our own injustice.

The 15th May is Feast of St. John Baptist de La Salle C., founder of the Christian Brothers, dedicated to education of poor children. Although not commemorated in the Mass today using the 1960 rubrics, pray for a revival of true Catholic education.

The Introit realises the cause of this joy because Jesus has completed the plan of redeeming us if we cooperate by words of praise (Offertory) and "works" of truth, before friends and "enemies" alike, for whom we pray (Prayer) as Christians bearing the very Name of Christ.
 
The Alleluia describes the joy of redemption as a plan of "cross before crown," a mystery indeed, had not Jesus lived it out for us. In the Gospel Jesus explains how an unbelieving world persecutes because it regards Him as dead and gone; yet our conquering joy which no man can take away, comes from our vision of Him through the wide-open eyes of faith; although (Communion) Jesus also predicts that our joy can never be perfect here, especially during persecution, since the cross of His apparent absence is the prelude to the glory of His eternal Presence.
 
The Epistle alludes to the first Gentile and Jewish persecutors with their usual weapons of violence and calumny, yet shows how "you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." "Going to the Father" each day (Communion) in morning and evening prayer, "desiring things" of God (Secret) in our daily actions, receiving Sacraments (Post-Communion) are the guarantee of true joy now and forever. Christianity is a religion of joy!
 
Today marks the former Feast of the Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel who appeared in 492 at Monte Gargano and asked that a church be raised at this location in his honour to the memory of both himself and all the angels. Pope St. Gregory the Great reflected that the angels rejoice in the Resurrection during the Easter Season for Heaven was open to us making up for the losses in the angelic ranks. These days, with so much evil in the world, it seems a good time to ask for the intercession of St. Michael to turn evil back into hell where it belongs!