Reflections with Father Burt Boudoin

November 8, 2020

November 1, 2020 Reflection

October 9, 2020 Reflection

OCTOBER IS THE MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY  

            In the summer of 1993, Director Steven Spielberg released one of his all-time best films, Jurassic Park— this movie became a blockbuster, recognized for its awesome story and musical score, engaging script and dialogue, superb editing, beautiful cinematography, great actors, and the finest CGI to that date (“Spared no expense,” said Prof. Hammond). An adaptation from a novel by Michael Crichton, the king of sci-fi authors, the tale of dinosaurs brought-back-to-life conveyed a powerful lesson— that humanity’s science is not without consequences and everything that can be done ought not necessarily be done. This theme and the factors listed above came together to create a truly artistic and emotional experience for motion picture fans— a skilled director made it happen.

            A good movie, like great music, creates entertainment that takes the mind out of itself and into an indefinable and timeless plane of consciousness. You realize when a film or piece of music is monumental when it flows as a seamless roll of fabric or a refreshing stream through a lovely forest! (If only our national politics could produce such a result once in awhile.) At any rate, there is one instrument of prayer, which brings abundant effects along the same lines— in the life of Faith, that monumental prayer is the Holy Rosary! Yes, take every element of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary: the physicality of fingers moving along its beads, the use of our best and most significant prayers (the Apostles Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be), the demand for consideration and meditation upon the Holy Mysteries of the life of Our dear Lord in their joyful, sorrowful, and glorious dimensions. (Luminous as well if one utilizes those as added by Pope St. John Paul II.) All of these elements unite to achieve a masterpiece of communication between creature and Creator.

            You are the director of your own recitation of the Rosary— when prayed well and often, with devotion and concentration, it will lift your mind and heart to the timelessness of Heaven and the blessedness of God Himself! Is it easy to recite and pray the Rosary? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Everyone is at different stages of the spiritual life. But is it worthwhile? Yes! And, be most assured, your aspirations for holiness and your various petitions will find an answer from the Heart of Christ and the favor of the Holy Mother via the graces of its truths and lessons! As Pope St. John Paul II wrote, “The Rosary is my favorite prayer!” Mine too!

 By Fr. Burt J. Boudoin

August 30, 2020 Reflection

St Peter never gives up! After his exaltation and reception of the Keys of the Kingdom, he receives a reprimand— from the lips of Jesus whom Simon has affirmed as the Christ, the Son of the living God! The divine correction seems as forceful as the promise of authority imparted to him. Human thinking gets in the way of understanding the mystery of God’s work and initiative. Our Sunday Gospel emphasizes the necessity to discover the true identity of the Messiah and ultimately to accept the full dimension of the ‘how’ of salvation and redemption. That includes not only the Resurrection, but as much His suffering and death upon the Holy Cross!

Out of His merciful Heart flowed the love and blood by which the perfect Sacrifice of Our Savior invited the world to embrace the Kingdom of God and to obtain in turn the promise of eternal life! No cross, no crown. A difficult lesson for St Peter, a difficult lesson for all of us, even in this period of stress, anxiety, and apprehension. Never give up! “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up His Cross and follow me’…”

August 23, 2020 Reflection

August 9, 2020 Gospel Reflection

A Catholic bishop welcomes a homeless person into his home— the down-and-out fellow is unable to obtain lodging in town because he is a felon, just out of prison. When he leaves the bishop’s house, he steals as much of the fine silverware he can conceal on his person; a policeman detains the man and discovers the stolen silver, recognizing the bishop’s insignia on each piece. He returns the vagrant to the bishop and asks His Excellency to press charges against the thief. Instead of doing so, the bishop proclaims his happiness that his former guest has returned, since the good shepherd declares, he forgot to take a pair of matching candlesticks! The homeless man is Jean Valjean— a fictional character in the classic novel Les Miserables by the French writer Victor Hugo. Hugo conceived the encounter as the first moment of Valjean’s reclamation and rehabilitation, for the unexpected and extraordinary act of compassion by Bishop Myriel of Digne provided the impetus for a narrative of redemption in the midst of a world of poverty, injustice, and misery.

            Like the English writer Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo saw the weakness of society in the 19^th Century— its neglect of the poor and needy, its excessive criminal punishments, its failure to attempt humane reforms, and utter indifference to the wretchedness of the lower classes. Of course, much more is needed to change society and the world than a well-written story. Ultimately, for these writers, the virtues of Christian morality represent the hope of betterment for humanity though neither author was so bold as to make that message explicit in their novels. Voices in our time need the inspiration of Our Lord’s teachings to truly and clearly articulate their concerns, since the Sacred Scriptures represent the best ethical compass of moral navigation. Without God, there is no authority given to make the world a better place.

            In Sunday’s Gospel, St Peter struggles to walk upon the Sea of Galilee to find the path to Christ— he is reminded that to successfully trodden over the crashing waves and tumultuous waters, he needs the gift and miracle of Faith. Extraordinary compassion and abundant charity are essential qualities for each of us in the commotion of the present age and rumblings within our nation and world to find the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Un obispo católico le da la bienvenida a una persona sin hogar en su hogar; el tipo pobre no podía conseguir alojamiento en la ciudad porque es un delincuente que acaba de salir de la cárcel. Cuando se va de la casa del obispo, roba la mayor cantidad de plata fina que puede ocultar a su persona; un policía detiene al hombre y descubre la plata robada, reconociendo la insignia del obispo en cada pieza. Devuelve al vagabundo al obispo y le pide a Su Excelencia que presente cargos contra el ladrón. En lugar de hacerlo, el obispo proclama su alegría de que su antiguo invitado haya regresado, ya que el buen pastor declara, ¡se olvidó de llevarse un par de candelabros del juego! El vagabundo es Jean Valjean, un personaje de ficción de la novela clásica Los Miserables del escritor francés Víctor Hugo. Hugo concibió el encuentro como el primer momento de recuperación y rehabilitación de Valjean, porque el inesperado y extraordinario acto de compasión del obispo Myriel de Digne proporcionó el impulso para una narrativa de redención en medio de un mundo de pobreza, injusticia y miseria.

Al igual que el escritor inglés Charles Dickens, Víctor Hugo vio la debilidad de la sociedad en el siglo XIX: su negligencia hacia los pobres y necesitados, sus castigos criminales excesivos, su incapacidad para intentar reformas humanitarias y la absoluta indiferencia hacia la miseria de las clases bajas. Por supuesto, se necesita mucho más para cambiar a la sociedad y al mundo que una historia bien escrita. En última instancia, para estos escritores, las virtudes de la moral cristiana representan la esperanza de mejora para la humanidad, aunque ninguno de los autores fue tan audaz como para hacer explícito ese mensaje en sus novelas. Las voces de nuestro tiempo necesitan la inspiración de las enseñanzas de Nuestro Señor para articular sus preocupaciones de manera verdadera y clara, ya que las Sagradas Escrituras representan la mejor brújula ética de la navegación moral. Sin Dios, no hay autoridad dada para hacer del mundo un lugar mejor.

En el Evangelio del domingo, San Pedro lucha por caminar sobre el mar de Galilea para encontrar el camino a Cristo; se le recuerda que, para pisar con éxito las olas y las aguas tumultuosas, necesita el don y el milagro de la fe. La compasión extraordinaria y la caridad abundante son cualidades esenciales para cada uno de nosotros en la conmoción de la era actual y los rumores dentro de nuestra nación y mundo para encontrar el Camino, la Verdad y la Vida.

THE ‘MARY’ MONTH OF MAY

May 1, 2020

Several beautiful images and statues of Our Blessed Mother are found within the interior of St Charles parish church: above the sanctuary, as part of a scene from the Crucifixion, we see the Sorrowful Mother at the foot of the Cross; at a side chapel, we find a copy of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the beloved image of Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Varga; a wooden sculpture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is prominent in the former Bl. Sacrament Chapel, and near the front of the church a small statue of Our Lady of Fatima can be found. Each of these reflects the devotion of our parishioners and their love for the holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, beloved daughter of Zion, and compassionate patroness of the Church Universal. Worthy of our affection and sincere aspirations! Worthy of imitation as the model and exemplar of discipleship! Worthy of our veneration and thoughtful reflection!

During ordinary times, the month of May is the occasion for our parish school and religious education students to present flowers before the image of the Blessed Mother; the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, the Legion of Mary, other parish organizations, and individuals also pitch in to honor the Seat of Wisdom with special novenas and extra Rosaries during ‘Our Lady’s Month.’ Yes, our minds and hearts should turn to the Mother of Our Savior as we consider a most salient question: why do we honor Mary of Nazareth at all? To answer simply: God honored her first! Out of the possible choices among the young ladies of Galilee and Judea, he selected her as the best one to receive the flesh of the Son of God, as the one to welcome him into the world and to shepherd Him as mother and teacher and guide from infancy to manhood. What a vocation and mission! In reality, God selected Mary from the moment of her own conception and the beginning of her own biological life, bestowing upon her soul the immaculate grace, which preserved her from the sin of Adam and Eve-- that is, a preemptive move to crush the power of Original Sin before her dear soul might be infected by the ancient serpent's spirit of pride and disobedience.

This mystery finds its summary in the Annunciation to the holy Virgin as recorded by St Luke: “And the Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, ‘Hail! Filled with grace! The Lord is with you…” To overflow with that spiritual essence known as ‘grace’ (charis in Greek), that giftedness of the Divine initiative, represents the ultimate union with the Almighty. As the archangel Gabriel declared, the mother of Christ possessed that wondrous virtue called ‘grace’ to the highest degree, and thus her glorious soul stood fully united to the heart of God in perfect friendship and servanthood at the very start of her astounding call to motherhood.

Actually, before the day of Pentecost, i.e., before the advent of the Holy Spirit as the invisible agent of God’s power would descend upon the Apostles, the Virgin Mary welcomed the presence of the Holy Spirit into her life and received and conceived the Son of God in the miracle of the Incarnation-- “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This essential moment in human history is the fruit of obedience to the Word of God, for the Blessed Virgin thereby became the “New Eve” in her absolute YES to the incredible invitation by which she embraced the mantle of motherhood despite her humble origins and virginal status. (In the writings of Justin Martyr and other Church Fathers, we find the title of ‘New Eve’ attached to Mary: if Christ is the new Adam bringing Reconciliation by obedience to God the Father, then His Holy Mother by her cooperation and consent to the Divine Will assists in the opening work to establish our Redemption through the ultimate act of Divine Mercy, His death on the Cross. At the crucial turn of events, Adam and Eve said NO to God, but Jesus and Mary said FIAT-- ‘Thy Will be done!’)

From the ‘Magnificat’, the sublime hymn flowing from the lips of Mary at the Visitation of her cousin, St Elizabeth, Our Lady says, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!” Interesting to a fault. What defines Mary as a person and woman of faith, the very heart of her character, is intimately and firmly intertwined to the Creator of heaven and earth-- her existence and being are totally rooted in the substance and reality of God. Nothing absent from, nothing lacking in, nothing blocking her utter communion with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Excluding of course the joy of the Beatific Vision, the Blessed Virgin experienced within her mind and heart the very riches of the mystery of our salvation. Twice in his Gospel, St Luke tells us that Mary “treasured and kept” all these things in her heart-- first, at the adoration of the shepherds of Bethlehem and second, after the finding of the youthful Christ within the temple precincts of Jerusalem among the doctors of the Hebraic Law, who marveled at His wisdom and understanding. She too found herself overwhelmed in wonder and awe, holding onto these sacred memories until the day she might share her account to the future Apostles and disciples of the New Law and Covenant of Christ.

Naturally, in this life, unity with the Divine does not exclude trial and distress. At the presentation of the Christ-child in the Temple of Jerusalem, a terrible prediction sears the ears of Mary and Joseph when aged Simeon recognizes the hope of ages in the boy and predicts that the heart of the holy Virgin will be pierced for love of her only son. A reference perhaps to her seven sorrows, but especially to her presence at the foot of the Cross, wherein the deepest grief engulfed her emotions, for beyond most she knew the pure innocence of Jesus, a stark contrast to the wicked guilt of His accusers. When the sword struck her heart, Our Lady’s lack of anger and bitterness bespeaks of her complete trust in God’s Will, even as a witness to the torments of crucifixion-- in the midst of the Agony and Passion of Our Lord, she never failed to believe and to love and to put everything into the hands of the Almighty, an echo of the beatitude spoken to her by St Elizabeth, “Blessed are you who believed what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled!” (Gabriel declared that Her Son would be king in the line of David, king of an eternal dynasty-- did she not remember those words at the foot of the Cross?)

So, why do we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in May and throughout the year? Obviously, Jesus honored His mother, since He lived in constant obedience to the Law of God, of which one reads emphatically, “Honor thy Father and thy Mother.” A first-born son who dishonored his mother would be dishonored and rejected by Jewish society even to this day. In the sense of the command, honor (kabbed in Hebrew) means to love, to respect, to have gratitude, and to obey! Our Lord Himself chastised the Pharisees for allowing a practice called “qorban”, in which an adult declared himself free of the obligation to care for his parents by dedicating his income as a gift to God. He refused to allow this law of God to be watered down. Affection for His Mother could never exhaust the otherwise infinite and perfect love of Christ; neither could He be ‘jealous’ of love extended to her, since God cannot be guilty of such an iniquity. (The arrival of His mother and cousins or step-siblings when Jesus is teaching the people provides an occasion for Him to remind all that the virtue of obedience to God’s Will is the most important precept by which we are to embrace His teachings-- at the Annunciation, did not Mary do so in anticipation of that same doctrine of faith?)

To show esteem for the Virgin Mary and to seek her heavenly help and intercession is not only logical but virtuous. In this time of pandemic, to ask her to raise her voice in prayer before the throne of God, to ask her to beseech her beloved Son in majesty to deliver our nation, our world, and the Church from the present contagion represents our confidence that she is in heaven and has authentic concern for us who are “mother and brothers and sisters” of Her Son! For this beatitude of Jesus, I assert, applies especially to Our Lady: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God!” Now, she enjoys the Beatific Vision of God in body and soul because of her Assumption into heaven-- the crowning happiness and final chapter of a life of love and obedience to the Almighty.

Of course, what is written here is a mere scratch on the surface of a canvas dedicated to the beauty of our Blessed Mother. Many other reasons may be afforded to venerate and manifest love for the Virgin ‘Genetrix’ of Our Redeemer, to explicate an answer to a question for which we need no further justification than the prediction and prophecy of Holy Mary herself, also found in the ‘Magnificat’: “Henceforth all generations shall call me BLESSED, for the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is His name!” As St Louis Marie de Montfort wrote in his masterpiece, True Devotion to Mary: "We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."

By Fr Burt B.

THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN REAL TIME

April 17, 2020

Easter Sunday arrived at St Charles like a gentle Spring breeze; not in the usual manner of a whirlwind of our dedicated parishioners at every Mass, alongside welcomed visitors and unknown participants, which fill our church pews and leave standing room only. What a difference from years before! Nonetheless, your priests offered the sacred liturgies of Holy Week and the beautiful solemnity of the Resurrection even with the slightest number of attendees, a strange experience for shepherds in the absence of the flock they love. A disconcerting experience for the People of God who always thirst to drink of the Chalice of Salvation and who ever long to eat of the Bread of Life. For now, the pandemic suppresses the full life of the Church in her most essential aspects of sanctification and adoration.

Clergy and laity do well to brush up on a little history for precedence. During the Communist persecution of Catholics in Hungary, Cardinal Mindszenty was arrested in 1948, and deprived of the privilege of offering Holy Mass as the thugs of the party tried to break his spirit and force him to confess to crimes against the State, false accusations of which he was totally innocent. In prison, his interrogators harassed him without mercy, for hours and hours on end while they chained smoked and guzzled wine. He relates in his autobiography that, at one point, his tormentors departed the room and left behind a glass containing a small amount of red wine-- the unconquerable cardinal took hold of the glass and recited the words of Christ from the Last Supper, “This is the Chalice of my blood…,” and swiftly consumed its contents, now the Medicine of the Elect. Questions of validity aside, he was strengthened by this singular Act of Faith and did not break before the ruthless forces of hate.

In 1865, Catholics in Nagasaki, Japan, underground believers for centuries due to unrelenting and cruel persecution from the Imperial throne, approached a Catholic priest who served foreigners in that port city. They wished to find out if the rumors were true-- that he represented the Faith they had preserved for generations in secret without a formal connection to either hierarchy, parish life, or the holy sacraments beyond lay baptism. Father Petitjean reported their criteria to see if he was the real deal: devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the vow of celibacy, and his acknowledgement of the great Father in Rome! These valiant laymen had maintained the Faith by prayer, devotion, and stubborn loyalty to the religion of the martyrs of the late 16th century. When Blessed Pope Pius IX heard of this discovery, he exclaimed, “What a miracle!”

In the grand opera, Dialogues of the Carmelites, composer Francois Poulenc tells the true story of a community of discalced Carmelite nuns who were arrested and imprisoned for their refusal to renounce their religious vows in the wake of the French Revolution. In 1794, evicted from their convent in the Compiegne of northern France, mandated to exchange their religious habit for ordinary clothing, and deprived of daily Mass, divine office, and former duties, these strong women would not renounce the Faith or religious life in favor of the counterfeit ideology of the Revolution nor transfer their allegiance to the new government and its ruthless politics. In Paris, they went to the scaffold as a group and died as martyrs, one by one, with the Salve Regina upon their lips-- the holy veil replaced by the crown of Victory! A month later, the Reign of Terror came to an end as Robespierre met his fate at the guillotine, and the example of such holy women brought the nouvelle Republic to realize that liberty, equality, and fraternity cannot be established by butchery, tyranny, and enmity.

In contrast to plagues, disease, and infection, persecution falls upon the Church from the hands of men as wicked as those who falsely condemned Christ, the innocent Lamb, to crucifixion-- deadly contagions as we face in the present moment have the effect of unleashing a biological fury upon all, not simply the Body of the Faithful, upon all of humanity! Is nature’s justice at work? Punishing the human race for its environmental sins? Has nature replaced Christ as Judge of the living and the dead? Too controversial a subject to address? In reality, there is no scientific or theological possibility that nature has a persona  or consciousness which allows it to lash out at human beings to strike down the innocent along with the guilty. To say as much falls into the category of poetry and nothing more. No pandemic stretching back to the Black Plague of the 15th century has succeeded in wiping out humanity or destroying the human will to survive, and our age is probably no more in need of castigation than any other for its obvious sins and mistreatment of the natural order!

To the point, like the empty tomb at Jerusalem on the first Easter Sunday, St. Charles parish church stands mostly unoccupied these days even as Springtime arrives in Southern California to bring its life and vigour back into our lives. Lovely birds sing sweet songs, colorful flowers bloom in fragrant petals, energetic rabbits nibble at green grass as they watch over their newly born, bees buzz and humming birds hum in pursuit of life-sustaining nectar, and the air has a freshness it lacked before! Nature ignores its own contagion while humans fret over how to pass the extra hours at hand. Divine mercy prevails! Keep strong in the Faith! This too shall pass! A powerful gust of wind will kick up and God’s breath will fill the pews of our church with new life and renewed appreciation and love! At the door of the holy sepulchre, we do not search for Him in vain-- He has arisen, exactly as He said!

By Fr B. Boudoin

Click here for Jessye Norman as Madame Lidoine in the Act II “Ave Maria” from Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites