Dear Friends,

In last week’s Gospel our Lord exhorts each of us with the proclamation of the Good News: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This simple, yet challenging, invitation from Jesus reminds each and every one of us that we need to repent—acknowledge and take responsibility for our sinfulness—because God already is with us … present in our midst right now … at every moment, His Kingdom is! In this week’s Gospel, Jesus introduces us to the “Constitution” of our Catholic Faith. And while in our familiarity with the words of the Beatitudes may lull us into a sense of our understanding what our Lord expects of us; we need to ask ourselves sincerely and honestly: “Do I really understand the “Blessedness of the Kingdom of God” to which the Beatitudes invite me?” This is not for the weak and wimpy or the mediocre. This invitation is extended to each of us that we embrace courageously and boldly the Catholic faith that has been handed on to us. And, shame on us, if we were to treat it as some insignificant aspect of our lives. Each and every one of us is called to greatness, not according to our own selfish and myopic definition of success, but in accord to God’s loving design for us and the whole world. In other words, each of us is called to holiness … is called to be a SAINT. And maybe, St. Mother Teresa had an inspired insight when she said: “God does not ask us to be successful; He calls us to be faithful.” Thus, it is in our faithfulness to Him and our quest for humility that we discover our greatness in His realm. On a blog called “Dominicana,” Br. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P. shares his reflection titled, “We Need Great Men,” allow me to share it with you.

The modern Church is in dire need of greatness. We don’t just need anyone in the seminary; we don’t just need anyone in the pew. We need great men. We need great men who don’t flee from danger or run into trifling dangers unheeded. We need great men who live not for themselves but for another. We need great men who believe in love and love to believe.

We, the Church, need great men. We don’t need men who are unduly humble, and we certainly don’t need men who are vain. We need great men. And each of us—both you and me—have the potential to be great, to be magnanimous.

What, then, constitutes a great man? Magnanimous men seek to do great acts, acts that would otherwise merit honor and esteem from others. Their minds, in a word, have “stretched” to the consideration of great things (ST II-II, q. 129, a. 1). They are marked by greatness of soul and seek excellence in proportion to the gifts that they have received from God. In this way, even those who seem little can be great.

• The nine-to-five businessman can be great.

• The oft-forgotten homemaker can be great.

• The lonesome college student can be great.

• The newly-minted seminarian can be great.

• And even the hidden, cloistered life of a religious can be marked by greatness.

Each of us—both you and me—have the potential to be great, to be magnanimous. You and I are capable of the greatest of things: sanctity. You can be the greatest businessman and the best of fathers; you can be the greatest homemaker and the best of mothers; you can be the greatest college student and the best of friends; you can be the greatest seminarian and the best of men; you can be the greatest religious and the best of women. And to be the greatest and to be the best is to be nothing less than a saint.

The modern Church is in dire need of this greatness. The modern Church needs magnanimous, saintly men who pursue greatness in the midst of a mediocre world, even when greatness is arduous or unsparing of life. She needs those truly great souls who know that there are certain conditions in which this life is not worth having, and that eternal life is promised to those who persevere to the end. She needs men who desire greatness, not of this world, but of the next. We don’t just need anyone in the seminary; we don’t just need anyone in the pew. We, the Church, need men who strive for greatness, who strive to be saints. [https://www.dominicanajournal.org/we-need-great-men/]

Be of good cheer and have a blessed week!

Msgr. Grous

~~~ BE OF GOOD CHEER ~~~

Msgr. Grous While never having been there, I did not know that there are more Catholic churches than casinos in Las Vegas. To add to my sharing of random trivia: did you know that some worshipers at Sunday Mass will give casino chips rather than cash when the offertory basket is passed? Inasmuch as the churches get chips from the various casinos, they have devised an efficient method to collect the offerings. The pastors send all their collected chips to a nearby Benedictine monastery for sorting. After which, the chips are taken to the casinos of origin and cashed in, and the monks then reimburse the parishes respectively. The Benedictines who provide this necessary and tedious work are known affectionately as the “chip-monks.” I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming!