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All because of a mother’s love, I am here today
September 10, 2011 A.D.Homily from Medjugorje
Fr. Dominic from Canada – August 29, 2011
How many of you want to be martyrs? Raise your hands. It is too late. You are already dead. You live for Christ. As soon as you are baptized, you are a martyr. Martyr comes from the Greek word meaning witness. That is one of the reason I spent the best years of my life in seminary, so I could impress you with these kinds of things. We can look at this Gospel, every priest, and say I was seduced by the beauty of someone dancing in front of me too. The Father, not King Herod, sent His own daughter, the sun danced, the miracle of the Eucharist, the miracle of the hands of the priest, the power to give God and forgive. That is what drew me in.
satan did all he could to try to destroy me, and all the priests that I know that became holy priests close to Mary. Not that I am holy, but I am on the way there. I’m like Swiss cheese, I’m full of holes. Every good priest you know is close to Mary. It is not the head of the prophet we are going to serve on a platter, it the head of satan that we will give to our Mother. Every priest that is close to Mary is the heel of Mary. The heel is the strongest bone in the body. It is invisible; it is close to the earth, down to earth, strong and crushes the serpent. That is how Mary wants us, hidden and discreet, ready to strike at Her command. And, our weapon is humility.
Every time there is a talk, and there is always a question and answer period, every parent asks, “How can I get my little ones to Church? How can I get the non-practicing members to Church?” You are the witness, that is always the answer. And, ding….dong, you always forget. How do you bring the Church to them? You bring the Holy Mass to them. Why should they feel like going to Mass? Are you radiating Christ? The opening greeting of the Mass is your smile when you go and knock on that locked bedroom door and that teenager does not want to go to Mass. Mass begins there in your heart. You bring the altar to their door. You are reaching out to them and yes, they will bite the hand that feeds them. It is a package deal. When you are baptized and confirmed and you come here, you have accepted to become a martyr and a witness. The words will be given to you when it is time to bear witness. Isn’t that what Jesus promised us? Our only duty is to love the Word and the Mother of Love will be given to us. We don’t have to prepare any speeches to nag over and over again. We believe this, but do we trust.
This reminds me of a very simple story. It is true about the difference between believing and trusting. There was a man who walked across a steel cable, with a wheelbarrow full of bricks over Niagara Falls – back and forth. So, a journalist watched him and said, “How can you do this? You must have faith!” He said, “Yes, I do.” “Do you believe in God?” “Yes, I do, but even more than that, I trust in Him.” He said, “What do you mean?” “Well, do you believe I can go back and forth with a wheelbarrow full of bricks?” He answered, “Yes, I do.” “Why do you believe?” “Because I saw you do it.” “Very good – now this is trust.” He emptied the wheelbarrow and said, “You get in.”
Everyone believes that Mary is the Mother of God, even the devil. Everything She is doing, he is trying to undo. We won’t get in the wheelbarrow; we stay on the other side. Once you say yes, She will get you through to the other side if you accept to be a witness. So, how can we bring the Church to them, and bring them to Church? It is by being a martyr of love through personal testimony. I am happy that today is the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist because all the messages we hear in the Gospel and through Mother Church and Mother Mary lead to martyrdom. She first appeared on the Feast day of St. John the Baptist. I was first ordained a deacon on that day and later a priest. I am always amazed that at the wave of my hand, I can open or close the Gates of Heaven for you. I can do something that the Angels and the Mother of God can’t do, not in the same way at least, – forgive your sins. Yet, that gate would shut in front of my very nose if I am not faithful. I have something in common with Mary; God made Her, God made me and we make God. The first time throughout history God obeys the words of a man when He comes to the altar, but only because He gave me the Words. God will never deprive you of Himself, yet it will do me no good unless I am holy myself. That is awesome! That is awesome!
I am here today because of people witnessing and personal testimonies. So I thought of one about a priest and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I told his story. He was like, what you hear about in Ireland and the United States, a victim of abuse: physical, emotional, spiritual. But the worst part was spiritual, because it warps your image of God. It attacks the trust in Divine Mercy. Yet, this young man became a priest, and he works with the priests who are abusers and the victims. And, through Our Lady, is able to have no hatred or grudges. It has all been converted into passion and compassion like a father for a prodigal son. What have you done with these hands that touch the Body of God with purity? How can they touch the body of the children of God with impurity? There is no greater harm than to be harmed by the hands of a priest. There is no greater act of Divine Mercy, no greater victory or triumph for the Hearts of Jesus and Mary than to forgive that priest and bring him back to life. so that God will have the last word, not the devil.
So, what did this priest do before he became a priest who survived? He was full of shame, anger, and humiliation and though he believed and trusted in God, he had a hard time finding healing. He tried different ways through activity, through works, through sports and athletics. I have seen him jump in the air, twirl around and kick a cigarette out of someone’s mouth and say this is how you kick the habit. He would do that for youth retreats and conferences. He became a real “super star.” None of that satisfied him. He would gobble up books; memorize the Catechism and the Bible. Without knowing it, he wanted to be strong and powerful and independent so no one would ever touch him and hurt him again. If no one can touch you and hurt you, then no one can touch you and heal you. Finally Mary came to him like the gentle breeze. She was not in an earthquake or fire or hurricane. He began to find reconciliation and to do something beautiful with his pain by writing love songs for Jesus and Mary, poetry and prayers. There he started to find rest, not in a variety of works, but in little things done with great love, not great things done with little love. He would run races, climb mountains and compete in martial arts tournaments. All of this to show how strong he was. But Mary wanted him small, helpless and weak, like the Baby Jesus.
The day before he entered the Seminary, he wanted to speak to his mother. He never told his mother what happened to him, not all of it anyways, but she had expected it. He only told the full story three months before her death. She said, “I always knew son, because a mother knows the pain in a son’s heart.” His father had already passed away, leaving him very vulnerable, looking for a father figure and that is when he got into trouble. The hardest part to accept is not what was done to him, but that God allowed it, so He would draw greater good out of it, victory!! So he said, “Mother, I’m afraid that I am going to do something to the people under my care. I’m afraid that I’m going to goof it all up.”She said, “Son, remember that you have been chosen and your own father had wanted to become a priest, but he could not. He had gone through a terrible experience as well, because circumstances would not allow it. He consecrated you to the Blessed Virgin Mary. When he was overseas, during the Second World War, he went to Lourdes and consecrated his future children to Mary. He said if I cannot become a priest, then one of my sons will become a priest.” The young man said, “That is great, but I do not want to become a priest to fulfill another’s dream.” She said, “There is more, much more. Your father and I decided not to tell you this until the day you decided to become a priest, because we knew we could see it in you. You had been consecrated Son. The doctors wanted me to abort you because they said I had a tumor or a cyst and not a child within me, so they wanted to do an operation that would have killed you. The doctors and nurses put pressure on me and your father until the very end. They said to get rid of the child because it will be a burden. There is nothing worse than an unwanted child, another one for you and society. Besides, you already have eight other children, that is enough.” We would say, “No! If it is my time to go, I will die giving life, not taking it, so be it. God’s will be done.” They said, “Oh, you French Canadians are stubborn.” The parents said, “If you think we are bad, wait until you meet Jesus.” The mother had to receive a C-section. She heard the doctor and nurses say that when they sedated her, they could perform a therapeutic abortion. Because of this, she refused any anesthesia. She would spit pills into the garbage so she would not go to sleep. During the delivery, she could see little feet coming out of her tummy. Three times the doctor said, “Let me terminate this pregnancy.” The mother said “NO!! Save the child before me, but if we go, we go together.” Finally, the doctor said it is a breech birth and the umbilical cord is wrapped around the child’s throat and it will choke and be deprived of oxygen to the brain. The child will be retarded, useless, a vegetable. “Please let me take this child away from you.” The mother persisted and said “NO!!” When she heard the first cry of the little child, she knew he was safe and she passed out. When she awoke, the child was brought to her and the father. The only defect the child had was underdeveloped lungs. So, for the first five years of the child’s life, he had to sleep in an oxygen tent. They said what name should we give to this child that belongs to God, a child of the Lord. They looked in their baby name book. If you know Latin, you already know what the name is – Dominus – Dominic…and here I am today…All because of a mother’s love, I am here today. - Fr. Dominic
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The Priest Who Was Almost Aborted:
