From the Pastor’s desk— June 18, 2023
2 Hearts
This past weekend we have celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Jun 16 our patronal feast) and the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (July 17 our Claretian patronal feast). Perhaps just hearing of a feast dedicated to the Hearts of Mary and Jesus makes you think of romantic Hallmark channel movies, but these feasts are much more than this, these feasts show the best of our Catholic faith in the face of centuries of persecution.
Since the time of Jesus, the Church has faced opposition to His message, starting with a ban on Christianity and death penalty (crucifixions and being thrown to wild beasts) that lasted til the 4th century. While it is true that the Church saw a period of acceptance in Europe from the 4th to the 16th centuries, the Church was still viciously persecuted in North Africa, the Holy Land, and Spain with the advent of the Muslim faith. Many historians have focused on unjust Catholic campaigns against Muslims in the Crusades but fail to recall the horrors toward Catholics that preceded the Crusades.
If we fast forward to the 1500’s, the persecutions returned with the Protestant Reformation. Certainly, there was bad actors on both sides of the Reformation, but the lasting effects of the Reformation was a systematic attack against the Catholic faith that thrives to this day. Events such as Kulturkampf in Germany, the French Revolution, Spain’s expulsion of the Catholic Queen Isabella II (And St Anthony Mary Claret) and even the American Revolution solidified an anti-Catholic culture that has persisted until today. In the United States, Catholics were banned from living in several of the first colonies and violence continued to increase against Catholics culminating in formation of the Ku Klux Klan whose original targets were Catholics as well as blacks and Jews.
What has this dark history to do with the feasts of the hearts of Jesus and Mary? The celebration of these two feasts is no accident. These feasts of the love of God and Mary for us grew in response to the increasing persecutions of the Church. These feasts of love in response to hate are nothing short of the Gospel in action. What does it mean to live Jesus’ command, “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:43)? That is how these feasts began.
When I realized that these feasts were more than just than just the romantic musings of mystics in the Church, it gave me a sense of pride to see that we found the most authentic Christian response to the Reformation, love. It also gives me hope of having a path forward today, especially for our youth, in a world that still persecutes our faith and, in a town, where the Protestant radio airwaves are filled with anti-Catholic attacks, it will be the love of the Hearts of Mary and Jesus that keep us rooted in
God and our mission to love as He loved.
Parochial administrator
With a heart for Mission,
Fr. Ray