09/03/2021 – Pope St Gregory the Great

Dia dhuit,

There are only three Popes who have the title of “great,” although many think St John Paul II will make it four. One of those three is St Gregory the Great (died 604 AD) and we honour him today. He was born into an aristocratic family in Rome, and he became the Prefect of the City. He loved the faith however and founded monasteries in Rome and also Sicily (a few there). He eventually became a monk himself, and became the first monk to become Pope.He referred to himself as “servant of the servants of God. “How beautiful! That tells you a lot about him. St Paul speaks to us in our First Reading today and he says that: “Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God.” This is wonderful to think about.If we therefore want to know what God is like we can think about Jesus, and what He has revealed about Himself. For instance, remember when Jesus refers to Himself as “gentle and humble of heart,” we can apply that to God.Our God is gentle and humble of heart. Wow! Do people realise that? Isn’t this why Jesus asked St Faustina to reveal to the world His great love and unfathomable mercy. This too is our mission dear friends, as Mother Teresa used to say, to show the world the love of God.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

Today’s readings are available at: https://www.catholicireland.net/readings/

09/02/2021 – Bl. Andre Grasset

Dia dhuit,

Blessed Andre Grasset is honoured today. He was born in Montreal, Canada, but moved with his family to France. He became a priest and then a canon, at a very turbulent time – the French Revolution was beginning. He was executed in the massacre of the Hotel Des Carmes on 2nd Sept., 1792, along with c.200 other religious and lay people.St Paul tells the Colossians today that he has never failed to pray for them so that they should reach the fullest knowledge of God’s will. This he explains will help them to be able to lead the kind of life which the LORD expects of them. This is a lovely prayer we can make for others and ourselves too.God’s will is all that really matters dear friends – it is the way of peace, and joy in this life, and the way that leads to Heaven. Jesus asks St Peter to put out into the deep in our Gospel today. The Holy Spirit often asks us this, each day, but our own will and desires are very strong indeed.Sometimes what God is asking of us is not on our agenda at all, and the thought frightens and displeases us. But…He knows what’s best for us. Through the intercession of Blessed Andre Grasset, I pray that I and you can trust in His will, put out into the deep, in our daily lives…… and reap the benefits.

God bless you,

Fr Marius

P.S. Our Lady promises us that if we make the communal First Saturdays there will be peace and many souls will be saved. It’s something we really need to get going in Ireland! Remember, that if you make the FIVE first Saturdays Our Lady promises to assist you at the hour of your death. What a great deal! Why not join us on Saturday as we begin the 5 First Saturdays on Zoom? “Rosary on the Coast” and “The Fellowship of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary” have come together to organise this and it will begin at 8pm Irish time. We will finish on January 1st. Here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83228285884…If you are more of a morning person then you can join Fr Gerry McCluskey on Saturday who will celebrate the First Saturday from 9.15am. Here is the link: https://www.churchservices.tv/ardglass

09/01/2021 – St. Joseph

There is something profound about the image of St Joseph at Knock. He stands tall, strong, still, absorbed in the contemplation of the Eucharistic Lamb. Yet his head inclines towards Mary in both humble deference to his Queen and love and support and for his Spouse. When praying the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary, this image of St Joseph can be very helpful. Joseph, accompanying Mary to the home of Elizabeth, Joseph keeping watch over the Madonna and Child, Joseph supporting Mary in both the joy of offering Jesus to His Father in Heaven and in the sorrow of Simeon’s prophecy. Joseph listening to the exchange between Mother and Son twelve years later.When we pray the rosary today on the First Wednesday of St Joseph, in his special year, we can ask St Joseph to bring us more deeply into the mysteries of Christ’s early years for he was there.Courtesy of 1 in 10 Rosary Mission Don’t forget – 9pm is Rosary for Ireland on Radio Maria

08/31/2021 – St Aidan

Dia dhuit,

Today’s saint (St Aidan) like so many in the 600s left these shores to spread the Gospel.He went to the island of Iona, which is off the Western Coast of Scotland.When the Christian king Oswald returned to his kingdom from his exile on Iona, he invited monks to come with him.Aidan left with some monks and he was consecrated a bishop. He established a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, which became the centre of a major missionary effort in the North of England.According to St Bede, St Aidan was a man of great gentleness and moderation, outstanding for his energetic missionary work. His influence on the North of England was enormous, and his wise promotion of Christian education among the native English laid the solid foundation for the spread of the Gospel in the centuries which followed his death.One of the reasons St Aidan, and countless other missionaries gave their lives to spread the Gospel, was to remind people to be ready when the LORD calls them.St Paul, himself an incredible missionary, reminds the Thessalonians today that “the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. It is when people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to evade it.”

God bless you,

Fr Marius

P.S. Our Lady’s Birthday is coming up soon – on Sept 8th. Let’s do something special for her. We have some birthday present ideas for you.

1. Start a Children’s Rosary Group. Wouldn’t that please Our Lady so much. See childrensrosary.org for details and send them an email to register your group

2. Peter from Westmeath is asking people all over Ireland to pray a Rosary to Our Lady at 6pm on her birthday. The intention is for IRELAND. He suggests going to a grotto, church, or praying in front of a picture of Our Lady.

3. Perhaps you would think about displaying a statue or picture of Our Lady outside your house, or on a window etc.

8/30/2021 – Three mighty English Women

Dia dhuit,

We honour three mighty English women today whose love for the Mass and the priesthood was so great that it cost them their lives. Margaret Clitherow was martyred in 1586. She converted to Catholicism. Her husband, although he remained a protestant, allowed her to hide priests in the house. She was eventually caught, and laid on sharp stones and crushed to death. St Anne Line died in 1601. She also converted to Catholicism in her teens and was disinherited by her family. She kept a house for priests. One day a large crowd was seen coming to her house for Mass and she was arrested and hanged in Tyburn.St Margaret Ward died in 1588. She was arrested after helping a priest escape from prison. She was tortured savagely but she never gave up the priest’s hiding place, nor did she renounce her Catholic Faith. She was executed on 30th August, 1588.These great women believed Jesus was the one the Prophet Isaiah spoke about, as highlighted in our Gospel today: the one who came to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to set the downtrodden free, and to give the blind new sight.They were not afraid to die because as St Paul says in our First Reading today: “we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him.”Be not afraid dear friends, no sorrow or pain in this life can compare to the glory that awaits us. May Ss Margaret, Anne, and Margaret intercede for us and help us to have faith and courage like them.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

Today’s readings are available at: https://www.catholicireland.net/readings/

08/29/2021 – Be faithful in the little things God rewards the good that you do in secret

Dia dhuit,

I remember some years ago I read a book called “People of the Lie” by M. Scott Peck. It was a very interesting read. The book explained well how some people who are living a lie, do all they can to appear good before others. They can go to Mass, be on Parish Councils, be on the board of charities, set up charities, etc., and people perceive them as being good. God sees the true person. He sees the heart. People are easy to deceive but we will never deceive God. It reminded me of what someone once said, that when we die we will be surprised by who is in Heaven, and who is not there. As our psalm today says: “The just will live in the presence of the Lord,” not those who appear just. In our First Reading today, from the Book of Deuteronomy, the people are about to finally enter the Promised Land, after 430 years of slavery, and then 40 years of purification in the desert. Moses asks them to keep God’s laws and customs, and to not add anything or take away anything from them. He assures them that if they do this things will go well, they will prosper, and other nations will observe their wisdom and understanding. In our Gospel today however we see that the Pharisees have indeed done what Moses warned not to do. They have created their own laws and customs.The Pharisees were one of the four major Jewish sects at the time of Jesus. They were the largest and most influential one. Others you may recall were the Saduccees, Essiens, and the Zealots. The Pharisees took some of the Temple customs, like purification rituals before you entered the Temple, and they applied them to everyday life. They had turned the law inside out making it a matter of observing certain external actions. They tackle Jesus in the Gospel today about His disciples not washing their hands before they ate. Their obsessions with outer observances blinded them to the incredible good that was taking place in front of their eyes. As St James in our Second Reading today says: “Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.” This is why Jesus refers to them as hypocrites. He explains that mere external observance does not make them clean, it’s what happens inside of us that is important, and that evil and sin originates inside of the person. Jesus adds: “This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. “Today presents a good opportunity for us to examine ourselves and see how we are really doing. Are we humbly living out our faith? Does it penetrate the inner core of my being, or is it simply an external matter? Am I just paying lip service like the Pharisees?

God bless you,

Fr Marius

P.S.

We have now Less than 2 weeks to wait for the mighty MEN FOR CHRIST Conference, which will be live on Radio Maria on Saturday, September 11th, from 2pm. We have great speakers lined up including Devin Schadt (Founder of the Fathers of St Joseph), Dr Patrick Kenny (Dublin Institute of Technology), Msgr Steve Rosetti (Exorcist), and Luke McCann (The Narrow Path Man). Did you know that Radio Maria is also available on your Television Set (Channel 210 if you have Saorview)? Please spread the word.

8/28/2021 – St Augustine

Dia dhuit,

Isn’t it beautiful that today we celebrate the son (St Augustine) of yesterday’s saint (St Monica). St Augustine was brought up as a Christian but he left the Church early on and spent a great deal of time searching for the truth. Firstly he was involved with the Manichean Heresy, and then later with Neoplatonism. Then through the prayers (and tears) of his mother, and the inspiring teaching of St Ambrose, he converted back to Christianity shortly before his dear mother died.He became a priest, bishop, saint, and Doctor of the Church. The Story of St Augustine fills us with hope – hope for ourselves and our own on-going conversion, and also for those we love, who may currently be on the wrong path. St Augustine was restless until his heart rested in the LORD.We are reminded that our own hearts are made for God, and only in Him will we find true rest and peace, as Jesus promises us. As our psalm today says: “Sing a new song to the LORD, for He has worked wonders.”

God bless you,
Fr Marius

8/27/2021 – St. Monica

Dia dhuit,

St Paul today urges the Thessalonians to make “more and more progress in the kind of life you are meant to live, the life that God wants. “He adds: “What God wants is for you to be holy” i.e. to be more like God, full of love and mercy. Someone who certainly heeded this call to holiness, and also heeded Our LORD’s call in the Gospel to stand ready because we do not know the day nor the hour, was St Monica, who feast day we celebrate today. She was of course the mother of St Augustine (who we celebrate tomorrow) and she unceasingly prayed for his conversion and she also shed many many tears. St Ambrose told her that her prayers and tears would be heard, and indeed they were, with her son becoming a towering figure in the Church. When she was dying she told her two sons not to worry about where she was to be buried. She said: “lay this body wherever it may be. Let no care of it disturb you: this I only ask of you that you should remember me at the altar of the LORD wherever you may be. “All she was concerned about was that St Augustine would remember her at Mass.St Monica, a great saint, knew dear friends, the importance of the Mass for the dead. Let us not forget, following her saintly example, to pray always for the dead and to have Masses offered.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

8/25/2021 – St. Louis King of France

Dia dhuit,

In the Church we celebrate saints from all different walks of life, shapes and sizes, different times, countries etc. Today the Church holds up the holy life of King Louis IX as a model of sanctity. St Louis became King of France at the age of 12. He later married and had 11 children. He was noted for his great love for the poor, his fervent prayer life, and for living a life of penance. Like a good father, he wanted what was best for his people, so he tried to give his people peace, economic stability, and to look after their spiritual wellbeing. His fellow rulers in Europe saw him as a good and honest man, and often called on him to act as arbitrator in a dispute. He undertook two unsuccessful crusades to liberate Christ’s burial place, and he died on the way back from the second one in Carthage (Tunisia). St Paul in our First Reading today reminds us of St Louis. He, also a good father, is writing to his spiritual children in Thessalonica. He reminds them that he treated every one of them “as a father treats his children, teaching you what was right, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who is calling you to share the glory of his kingdom. “May the holy life of St Louis inspire in us a love for the poor, more fervent prayer and penance.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

8/24/2021 – St Nathaniel

Dia dhuit,

We honour an Apostle today – one of the chosen 12 – St Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel. We know he was born at Cana, where the famous wedding took place. The Gospel also tells us that it was the Apostle Philip who brought Bartholomew to the LORD. We are not sure if he was martyred in India, as some think, or perhaps, as more seem to think, in Armenia, where the Perisan custom says he was skinned alive, after he converted the King to Christianity. There’s no doubt that God did and continues to do extraordinary things through this great saint. Isn’t it interesting that someone else introduced him to Jesus. Perhaps we can all focus on introducing one person to Jesus, and do so gently and patiently. God will do the rest, and only He knows what that person might become in time. Could Philip ever have imagined what God would do through Bartholomew?

God bless you,
Fr Marius