Fr. Bassols Imo Donald

5th May 2020

Fr. Imo

In today’s first reading we get an idea of one thing for which the early Christians were known: their faithfulness “to the Lord [and] steadfast devotion” (Acts 11:23). But we also know sometimes this is difficult. Like many of Jesus’ contemporaries we would like Jesus to “tell us plainly” (Jn. 10:23) where he is and what he’s doing! It’s hard to have faith in someone who so often – in the world and in our lives – feels absent.

Today, Jesus presents us with the boldest statement of all time: He and the Father are one. He reveals Himself as God and as the Son of God. Never before had any religious leader put forward such a claim. But Jesus performed “works” that only God could perform: He acts and speaks as God. His definitive “work” was His resurrection by his own power.

He really is the Son: He is Someone living who comes from another living Being (the Father), equal in nature (divine). He is pure Infinite-Affiliation: the Son is distinguished from the Father (for being the Son) and is fully identified, at the same time, with the Father (because He is infinite). He is the most perfect Image of the Father, for the Father —as a conscious Being— knows Himself and has an Image of himself. Every man also has an image of himself, but in the case of God it is an infinitely perfect Image, as it is a divine Person: the Son proceeding from the Father by an intellectual “generation”.

—Our Lord, I surrender to your infinite beauty!

3rd May 2020,
( FR. IMO)

4th Sunday in the Season of Easter is the Good Shepherd Sunday./ Vocations Sunday.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my own sheep and my own know me.” (John 10: 14).

What does it mean that Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd?

The Church is a family, a sheepfold and Jesus is the necessary gateway into the Sanctuary. God has foretold in the Scriptures that God Himself would be the Shepherd of this flock and will appoint human beings to govern His flock. (Cf CCC 754).

Today is that wonderful day when we pray for vocations all over the world.

When we hear that word, ‘vocation’, we often think of the calling that some people receive to serve the Church as ordained ministers (deacons, priests) or those who enter the religious life as consecrated brothers and sisters. This is a valid, but limited, understanding of the word ‘vocation’. After all, the Gospel (Mt. 22:14) states, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

The literal meaning of the word, ‘vocation’, is a ‘calling’. In the religious sense, a vocation is a call from God. Each person’s
vocation is unique, since each one of us is unique.

St. John Paul II said that one’s vocation answers the question that each one of us should ask: “Why am I alive?” While most people think of a vocation as what they are called to do in life, it is important to understand that the first and most important call from God is a call to be – The universal call to holiness.’ This was an emphasis of the Second Vatican Council: that we are all called to a life of holiness, or sanctity.

According to Andreas Widmer , there are three levels of vocation:

1. The Universal Vocation to Holiness
   To know, love, and serve God in this life so that you can know, love, and serve him eternally in the next life. Your objective is to cooperate with God in his work to save your soul.
2. Primary Vocation.
   Your primary vocation is the way you live out this objective. It is the way of life in which you love and serve God and others. There are four primary vocations: single life, married life, priestly life and consecrated life. Each of these vocations is a permanent and freely chosen way of life. Each also entails a gift of self. In choosing [your] primary vocation, you give priority in your life either to God and the consecrated life or to your spouse and family.

Pope Francis spoke of the definitive nature of a vocation: We are living in a “provisional” culture, a culture that shies away from definitive choices. Pope Francis told a story, related to him by a bishop, of a young man who wanted to be a priest – but only for ten years! “We have a fear of the definitive.” But choosing a vocation – whether matrimony, consecrated life, the priesthood – should be chosen with a view to the definitive. This is opposed to
the “provisional” culture that we experience every day – a culture that we must live in, but which we must also overcome.

3. Secondary Vocation.
   This third level of vocation is what you do on this path that you have chosen. It’s how you use your gifts and talents in service of God and others while living out your universal and primary vocations. For most of us, this means our work or profession. It also, however, can apply to your civic and community involvement, apostolate work, or simply bearing the various crosses and trials that come your way in life. It’s your plan of action for living.
   John Paul II realized that through our work we don’t simply make more: we become more. Work shapes us, refines us, and pushes us to discover and hone our natural gifts. It enables us to love, becoming a means by which we’re able to serve our family, customers, clients, neighbors, and communities. Through that, work becomes a means of giving our life to God.

The Importance of Prayer. On the occasion of last year’s World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis said that: Behind and before every vocation to the priesthood or to the consecrated life there is always the strong and intense prayer of someone: a grandmother, a grandfather, a mother, a father, a community…. Vocations are born in prayer and from prayer; and only through prayer can they persevere and bear fruit.

St. John Paul II once said that: Only when you’re living out your vocation can you find fulfillment in this life. Your vocation, understood, embraced, and lived, is what makes you feel truly and fully alive.

As we come before the altar of God, may we be truly open to living out our God-given vocations in true freedom. For it is when we are faithful to God’s call that we will find true peace, happiness and fulfillment in this life and in the next.

Pope Francis, World Day of Prayer for Vocations, 2020 –
“Dear friends, on this day in particular, but also in the ordinary pastoral life of our communities, I ask the Church to continue to promote vocations. May she touch the hearts of the faithful and enable each of them to discover with gratitude God’s call in their lives, to find courage to say “yes” to God, to overcome all weariness through faith in Christ, and to make of their lives a song of praise for God, for their brothers and sisters, and for the whole world. May the Virgin Mary accompany us and intercede for us.”

2nd May 2020

Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (295 – 373)

Also known as

• Athanasius of Egypt
• Athanasius the Great
• Champion of Christ’s Divinity
• Champion of Orthodoxy
• Father of Orthodoxy
• Greek Doctor of the Church
• Holy Hierarch
• Pillar of the Church

He was born in Alexandria. He assisted Bishop Alexander at the Council of Nicaea and later succeeded him as bishop. He fought hard against Arianism all his life, undergoing many sufferings and spending a total of 17 years in exile. He wrote outstanding works to explain and defend orthodoxy.

Athanasius’s passion for the truth seems tactless to many of us today, to the point where some Catholic devotional works even express embarrassment over it. This is grotesque. Before we congratulate ourselves on being more gentle and civilised than Athanasius and his contemporaries, we should look at the lack of charity that characterizes academic controversies today (from string theory to global warming) and the way that some of the participants are willing to use any weapon that comes to hand, from legal persecution to accusations of madness to actual assault.
The matters in dispute with the Arians were more important than any of these scientific questions. They were vital to the very nature of Christianity, and, as Cardinal Newman put it, the trouble was that at that time the laity tended to be champions of orthodoxy while their bishops (seduced by closeness to imperial power) tended not to be. The further trouble (adds Chadwick) is that the whole thing became tangled up with matters of power, organization and authority, and with cultural differences between East and West.

Athanasius was accused of treason and murder, embezzlement and sacrilege. In the fight against him, any weapon would do.

Arianism taught that the Son was created by the Father and in no way equal to him. This was in many ways a “purer” and more “spiritual” approach to religion, since it did not force God to undergo the undignified experience of being made of meat. Islam is essentially Arian, granting Jesus a miraculous birth, miracles, death (though not crucifixion) and a resurrection, but all as a matter of God demonstrating his power by committing more spectacular miracles than usual.

Arianism leaves an infinite gap between God and man, and ultimately destroys the Gospel, leaving it either as a fake or as a cruel parody. It leaves the door open to Manichaeism, which mixes Zoroastrian, Buddhist and Gnostic elements into Christianity, so that God is good but creation is bad (or at worst, a mistake) and the work of an evil anti-God. Only by being orthodox and insisting on the identity of the natures of the Father and the Son and the Spirit can we truly understand the goodness of creation and the love of God, and live according to them.

St. Athanasius , Pray for us.

Fr. Imo Donald

1st May 2020

Feast of St. Joseph

“Man Is Subject and Protagonist of Work”

the Bible shows how work belongs to man’s original condition. When the creator made man to his image and likeness, he invited him to work the earth (Genesis 2:5-6). It was because of the sin of our fathers that work was transformed into effort and pain (Genesis 3:6-8), but in the divine plan it keeps its value unaltered. The Son of God himself, making himself similar to us in everything, dedicated himself for many years to manual activities, so much so that he was known as the “son of the carpenter” (Matthew 13:55).

Work is of primary importance for man’s fulfillment and the development of society, and this is why it is necessary that it always be organized and developed in full respect of human dignity and at the service of the common good. At the same time, it is indispensable that man not allow himself to be subjected to work, that he not idolize it, intending to find in it the ultimate and definitive meaning of life.

the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church observes opportunely: “To man, bound to the necessity of work, rest opens the perspective of a fuller liberty, that of the eternal Sabbath (cf. Hebrew 4:9-10). Rest allows men to remember and relive God’s works, from the creation to the redemption, recognize themselves has His work (cf. Hebrew 2:10) to give thanks to him who is their author for their life and their existence” (No. 258).

Work activity must serve the true good of humanity, allowing “man, as individual and member of society, to cultivate and fulfill his full vocation” (“Gaudium et Spes,” No. 35). For this to occur, the necessary technical and professional qualification is not enough; neither is the creation of a just social order attentive to the good of all sufficient. A spirituality must be lived that will help believers to sanctify themselves through their work, imitating St. Joseph, who every day had to provide for the needs of the Holy Family with his hands, and who because of this the Church indicates as patron of workers.

His testimony shows that man is subject and protagonist of work. I would like to entrust to him the young people who have difficulty in entering the world of work, the unemployed and those who suffer the inconveniences due to the widespread occupational crisis. Together with Mary, his spouse, may St. Joseph watch over all workers and obtain serenity and peace for families and for the whole of humanity. Contemplating this great saint, may Christians learn to witness in all labor realms the love of Christ, source of true solidarity and stable peace. Amen!

Fr. Imo

Hunger and Thirst for the Eucharist

April 28, 2020
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6:35

Wouldn’t it be nice if you were never hungry or thirsty again? What’s fascinating is that Jesus uses these very natural human experiences to teach us about Himself. He uses natural hunger and thirst to teach us that we long to be satisfied spiritually. And there is only one way to satiate these spiritual longings…through Him.

It is a good spiritual practice to reflect upon your natural longings as an analogy for your spiritual longings. Naturally speaking, we regularly get hungry and thirsty. We eat and drink, but several hours later we hunger and thirst again. This is a cycle we cannot avoid. Our body continually craves food and drink.

The same is true on a spiritual level. We cannot pray once and satisfy our spiritual longings forever. We cannot simply believe in Jesus and then be satisfied forever. Why? Because prayer and unity with Jesus is something that must take place daily throughout your day.

The Eucharist offers insights into this hunger and thirst in that it provides us with our “daily” food. It is a gift that we must daily seek. Some of the Sacraments are given to us only once (Baptism and Confirmation). But the Eucharist is a gift that we must continually consume and long for. The fact that we must continually go to Mass and receive the Eucharist tells us that our Christian life is not something that can be fulfilled by one definitive decision. Rather, it’s something that needs daily nourishment and fulfillment.

What do you do to satisfy this Christian longing each and every day? Perhaps you cannot attend Mass every day, but do you seek to fulfill your Christian desire for Christ each and every day? Do you seek Him who is the Bread of Life every day? Do you seek to satiate your thirst with Christ each and every day?

Loving Jesus and following Him is a decision that must be renewed not only each day, it must also be renewed throughout your day. It must be renewed as often as you become physically hungry and thirsty.

Reflect, today, upon these natural longings you have for food and drink to continually remind yourself of your much deeper spiritual longing for Christ. Praying to Him, listening to Him and receiving Him into your soul is the food that satisfies like nothing else. Jesus is the true Bread of Life and your true Spiritual Drink. He is what you are made for. Let Him satisfy your deepest desires in life!

Lord, I do long for You. I long to be satisfied. Help me to turn to You at all times and in all things. Help me to always remember that You are what I need and You alone satisfy. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday 26th April 2020, 3rd Sunday in the Season of Easter.

The Holy Scriptures

Today, the resurrected Son of God rescues from sadness his disheartened disciples. How does He do it? He walks with them and… stays with them. He listens to them and speaks to them. He shares the Bread and explains the Word: Eucharist and Scripture. The Emmaus disciples throb when they realize that, what prophets announced regarding the Messiah, is fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth: along with His death and His resurrection.

God desired to communicate with men. The Bible is this divine revelation in writing, after centuries of oral transmission. The coming of the Messiah was announced and prepared for centuries throughout the Old Testament. The New Testament narrates Jesus’ life and that of the primitive Christian community. It reflects the messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

—Holy Spirit, I confess You are who inspires the Scriptures. Open my intelligence, Spirit Divine, so that I can understand the Sacred Scriptures. Thus, on the path of my life, I will always go forward with my Saviour.

NOTICE FROM THE HOLY SEE, THE VATICAN ( THE ETERNAL CITY)

NOTICE:

Letter on the Month of May – Full text, including prayers

Pope Francis’ Letter on the Month of May, addressed to all the faithful throughout the world.

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis
to the Faithful for the Month of May 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The month of May is approaching, a time when the People of God express with particular intensity their love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is traditional in this month to pray the Rosary at home within the family. The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this “family” aspect, also from a spiritual point of view.

For this reason, I want to encourage everyone to rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May. This can be done either as a group or individually; you can decide according to your own situations, making the most of both opportunities. The key to doing this is always simplicity, and it is easy also on the internet to find good models of prayers to follow.
I am also providing two prayers to Our Lady that you can recite at the end of the Rosary, and that I myself will pray in the month of May, in spiritual union with all of you. I include them with this letter so that they are available to everyone.
Dear brothers and sisters, contemplating the face of Christ with the heart of Mary our Mother will make us even more united as a spiritual family and will help us overcome this time of trial. I keep all of you in my prayers, especially those suffering most greatly, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. I thank you, and with great affection I send you my blessing.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 25 April 2020
Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist

FIRST PRAYER

O Mary,
You shine continuously on our journey
as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who, at the foot of the cross,
were united with Jesus’ suffering,
and persevered in your faith.
“Protectress of the Roman people”,
you know our needs,
and we know that you will provide,
so that, as at Cana in Galilee,
joy and celebration may return
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the will of the Father
and to do what Jesus tells us.
For he took upon himself our suffering,
and burdened himself with our sorrows
to bring us, through the cross,
to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen.
We fly to your protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.

SECOND PRAYER

“We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God”.
In the present tragic situation, when the whole world is prey to suffering and anxiety, we fly to you, Mother of God and our Mother, and seek refuge under your protection.
Virgin Mary, turn your merciful eyes towards us amid this coronavirus pandemic. Comfort those who are distraught and mourn their loved ones who have died, and at times are buried in a way that grieves them deeply. Be close to those who are concerned for their loved ones who are sick and who, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, cannot be close to them. Fill with hope those who are troubled by the uncertainty of the future and the consequences for the economy and employment.
Mother of God and our Mother, pray for us to God, the Father of mercies, that this great suffering may end and that hope and peace may dawn anew. Plead with your divine Son, as you did at Cana, so that the families of the sick and the victims be comforted, and their hearts be opened to confidence and trust.
Protect those doctors, nurses, health workers and volunteers who are on the frontline of this emergency, and are risking their lives to save others. Support their heroic effort and grant them strength, generosity and continued health.
Be close to those who assist the sick night and day, and to priests who, in their pastoral concern and fidelity to the Gospel, are trying to help and support everyone.
Blessed Virgin, illumine the minds of men and women engaged in scientific research, that they may find effective solutions to overcome this virus.
Support national leaders, that with wisdom, solicitude and generosity they may come to the aid of those lacking the basic necessities of life and may devise social and economic solutions inspired by farsightedness and solidarity.
Mary Most Holy, stir our consciences, so that the enormous funds invested in developing and stockpiling arms will instead be spent on promoting effective research on how to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
Beloved Mother, help us realize that we are all members of one great family and to recognize the bond that unites us, so that, in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity, we can help to alleviate countless situations of poverty and need. Make us strong in faith, persevering in service, constant in prayer.
Mary, Consolation of the afflicted, embrace all your children in distress and pray that God will stretch out his all-powerful hand and free us from this terrible pandemic, so that life can serenely resume its normal course.
To you, who shine on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope, do we entrust ourselves, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.

Being an Evangelist

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Feast of Saint Mark

“These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17–18

Did Jesus mean this literally? Yes. He certainly did. And throughout the history of the Church we have seen great miracles and mighty deeds performed by His followers in His name as God willed it in various times and places. So, yes, He meant what He said.

But there is also another level of meaning we should not miss. Though this is not literally going to be lived out by everyone who believes, it will be lived out according to a deeper and spiritual meaning.

There are four basic things Jesus promises will happen here. He promises that those who have faith will: 1) be victorious over the evil one, 2) communicate in a new way, 3) face worldly dangers and be protected, and 4) be a source of healing for others.

First, the evil one is real and is constantly trying to frighten us and overwhelm us. But, by analogy, the evil one is like a 3-pound dog who has a vicious and obnoxious bark, and little bite. The “barking” may be frightening at times, but the power of Christ is like a steel-toed boot that can easily handle this menace.

Second, we are called to “speak new languages” in that we are called to communicate the words and truth of God in a way that is beyond our natural abilities. We are called to speak and communicate in the language of God and to become His mouth for a world in need.

Third, there will be many struggles we face in this life. Not only from the evil one, but also from the world and from our own distorted struggles. Again, Jesus promises the grace to overcome the many dangers and struggles we will face in life if we but let Him.

Lastly, Jesus came to heal, especially our souls, and he wants us to be instruments of healing for those whom we encounter every day.

St. Mark, whom we honor today, was a great evangelist for Christ. Reflect, today, upon the fact that we are all called to share in the mission of evangelization. Ponder these callings in life as outlined above and if one stands out and speaks to you in a unique way, listen to it carefully. It may be God calling you to share more fully in His divine mission.

Lord, I do believe and I do choose to let You use me as an instrument of Your grace. May the faith You have given me be also a source of grace for a world in need. Jesus, I trust in You.

St. Mark, pray for us.

April 23, 2020

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

“Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life”

Today, the Gospel invites us to cease being so “worldly”, to stop being men who can only speak about mundane things, to speak and behave instead as «he who comes from above» (Jn 3:31), who is Jesus. In this text we see —once more— that in evangelic radicalism there is no happy medium. We must always strive to follow God’s thinking, endeavor to share Christ’s feelings and aim at seeing men and their circumstances with the same spirit of the Word made flesh. If we behave as “he who comes from above” we shall discover the multitude of positive things happening all the time around us, for God’s love is a continued action in favor of man. If we come from above we shall love everybody without exception, and our life will be an open invitation for others to do the same.

«He who comes from above is above all» (Jn 3:31). This is why He can be so helpful to every man and woman where they need help; furthermore «the One who comes from heaven speaks of the things he has seen and heard» (Jn 3:32). And his service costs nothing. This attitude of service without expecting anything in return, without needing a reply from the others, creates a profoundly human and respectful ambiance towards each person’s free will; this is a contagious attitude that freely impels others to respond and behave in very much the same way.

Service and testimony go always together, they identify one another. Our world needs authenticity: and what can be more authentic than God’s words? what is there more authentic than He who «gives the Spirit without measure» (Jn 3:34)? This is why «whoever does receive his testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God» (Jn 3:33).

“Believing in the Son” means to have eternal life; it also means that Judgement day is not hanging over believers because they have already been judged and received a favorable sentence; on the other hand, «he who will not believe in the Son will never know life and always faces the justice of God» (Jn 3:36)… until he believes.

April 22, 2020

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

Light has come into the world»

Today with the myriad of opinions in modern living, it may seem that truth does not exist —truth about God, truth about gender issue, truth about marriage, moral truths, and, ultimately, truth about myself.

Today’s gospel passage identifies Christ to be «the way, and the truth, and the life» (Jn 14:6). Separate from Christ, there is only desolation, falsehood and death. There is one and only one road to heaven and it is called Jesus Christ.

Christ is not just another opinion. Christ is Truth itself. To deny truth is like someone who insists in closing his eyes from the sun-light. Whether he likes it or not, the sun will always be there; but the poor fellow has freely chosen to close his eyes from the sun of truth. Likewise, many spend themselves in their career with sheer will-power, they claim to fulfill their full potential, forgetting that they could only attain the truth about themselves by walking with Christ.

On the other hand, according to Benedict XVI, «each person finds his good by adherence to God’s plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:32)» (Encyclical Letter “Caritas in Veritate”). The truth of each one is a calling to be a son or daughter of God in the heavenly home: «For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1Thess 4:3). God wants free daughters and sons, not slaves.

Truly, the perfect “I” is a joint project between God and I. When we strive for holiness, we begin to reflect the truth of God in our lives. The Pope said it beautifully: «Each saint is like a ray of light that shines forth from the Word of God» (Apostolic Exhortation “Verbum Domini”).

Lord, help me to live in the light. Help me to keep my eyes firmly focused upon the glory of Your Resurrection. May the joy of that gaze keep me from the countless distractions of evil all around me. Jesus, I trust in You.