St. Pantaleon is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He was a physician, who practiced without payment, and who was martyred under Diocletian. His cultus is primarily connected with Bithynia, where the Emperor Justinian rebuilt his church at Nicomedia. Churches are dedicated to him in Constantinople and Rome. In the East he is known as the Great Martyr and Wonder Worker. A reputed relic of Pantaleon's blood kept at Ravello in southern Italy displays the phenomenon of liquefaction on his feast day, similar to that of Saint Januarius. According to legend, he was the emperor's ordinary physician. He is said to have strayed from the faith because of the voluptuous life at the court, but the zealous priest Hermolaus, by pointing out the example of his virtuous mother, effected such a change that Pantaleon distributed his goods among the poor and devoted his talents for healing to the most wretched and poor among the sick. Because of his Christian faith he was seized by order of the Emperor, tied to the rack and scorched with torches. But in these tortures Christ appeared, granting him further strength. Finally a stroke of the sword ended his sufferings (Martyrology). He is the patron saint of physicians. The Piarist Fathers Generalate is located at the Church of St.Pantaleon in Rome, and there is a weekly Filipino Mass in that church.
July is popularly called the month of the Precious Blood. This is because the first of July is the feast of the Most Precious Blood of the Savior, which Bl. Pius IX established in the 1800s. So, what do we understand by the worship of or devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus? St. Paul clearly attributes a power to the Blood of Christ when he wrote to the Ephesians that “You who were once far off have become near by the blood of Christ.” What is this power? After all, blood separated from a body is just a material substance, and it corrupts very quickly unless preserved under very careful conditions; it’s hard to see how it could have any real power by itself. Not only that, blood is also generally regarded with horror when shed or spilt, so that it is not uncommon for even grown men to be queasy or squeamish at the sight or even the thought of blood. On the other hand, blood even when it has dried contains an almost unlimited amount of information about the person who shed it, so much as to provide science with all kinds of useful knowledge. The root of the Church’s devotion to the Precious Blood of the Lord is very simple, but also mysterious and profound. It is essentially the mystery of the Incarnation of God taking to himself a human nature in its entirety: body, blood, and soul, along with his own eternal, divine Person. Have you ever wondered about the Body and Blood of the Lord after our Savior’s death? The fact is—and it is a very important fact for our faith—that even though as a man Christ could undergo bodily death (that is, the separation of soul and body), and even though he did in fact undergo death, it still remains true that his divine nature (that is, his divine Person), never subject to death, was never separated from the parts of his humanity that were divided in death. This means that the soul of Christ in death, his body in the tomb, and his shed blood were all united to the Person of the Son, the Word. Thus his blood was worthy of adoration, as it was poured out on the way of the cross and as it was taken up again in his resurrection. Fr. Frederick Faber, in his great work of devotion The Precious Blood, which is still in print, expounds this doctrine at length in the line of the teaching of St Thomas. But the Church in our own time has approved the direct invocation of the Blood of Christ as to the Person of the Son in the litany of the Precious Blood promulgated by Pope St. John XXIII in 1960. Also, many saints have spoken of devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus; notable among them is St. Catherine of Siena, who often wrote about the Precious Blood of Jesus in her Dialogue—a written account of her mystical visions. In more recent times, this devotion has more widely taken root in our Catholic tradition. Devotion to the Precious Blood spread greatly through the prayer, preaching, and work of Bl. Gaspar del Bufalo, a 19th century Roman priest and founder of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. Blessed Gaspar brought this beloved devotion out of the sanctuary and into the hearts of Catholics around the world. It is through his life’s work that the devotion grew widespread in the Church. The Precious Blood courses through the Church, giving life to the Body of Christ. It was the cleansing agent that allowed the holy saints and martyrs to wash their robes clean. It is the price of our redemption, the object of our salvation, and the assurance of our eternal inheritance. As we honor the Precious Blood of Jesus in union with the Church this month, may it awaken in our hearts a love and gratitude for Christ’s gift to us, for He has saved us by His blood.
St. Christopher suffered martyrdom in Asia Minor about the year 250. The devotion of our fathers, taking its due from his name (Christopher means bearer of Christ), caused them to place colossal statues of the saint bearing the infant Christ on his shoulders at the entrance to cathedrals. Thus arose the legend of the giant who carried the child Jesus over a river... and the devotion to St. Christopher as the patron of motorists and all forms of transport. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
Humanae Vitae, the controversial letter on men and women and ethics, was issued by Blessed Pope Paul VI a half-century ago on July 25, 1968, and it has much to offer our “MeToo” culture, which is inundated with so much confusion about relationships and identity and power. We are still living in the moment of Humanae Vitae and of the challenge it presents to the world. Humanae Vitae identifies the key problem of our day, which is the myth that we can be God. Pope Paul writes at the beginning of the document, "But the most remarkable development of all is to be seen in man's stupendous progress in the domination and rational organization of the forces of nature to the point that he is endeavoring to extend this control over every aspect of his own life -- over his body, over his mind and emotions, over his social life, and even over the laws that regulate the transmission of life” (n.2). In this document, the Pope paints a wider vision of the problem. We think everything belongs to us, but the reality is that we belong to God. "Humanae Vitae" means "Of human life." Human life came from God, belongs to God, and goes back to God. "You are not your own," St. Paul declares. "You have been bought, and at a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Sex and having children are aspects of a whole cluster of realities that make up our lives and activities. We suffer from the illusion that all of these activities belong to us. “This is my life, my body, my choice. This is a reality that is bigger than all of us. It is the self-giving which starts in the Trinity and is revealed in a startling way on the Cross and then challenges each of us in our daily interaction with others, with God, and with our own eternal destiny. It is so real and so big that it is scary. That's why so many people today are afraid of the full reality and meaning of sex. That's why Pope Paul VI wrote Humanae Vitae.
The readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time have something very important to tell us. Being Catholic is not just about receiving a free gift of salvation, it is also about passing it on to others. Many people people feel you need an advanced theological degree and extensive training before taking on a role in the Church In some cases that is true, but remember, God doesn’t so much call the equipped; he equips the called. In the scriptures, people moved rather quickly from disciples to apostles or from ordinary lay people to prophets, and thus share in the mission of the Church to bring the Good News to all people. Everybody likes free gifts. Advertisers know that a campaign will have much better results if there are free samples or a free gift with every purchase. But when we receive a favor, we’re wise enough to know there is usually a catch somewhere. The giver expects something of us in return. At the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul tells us that God is the most generous of all givers. In fact his generosity is immeasurable and unlimited. He does not just give us a percentage off the price of our purchase, or a trinket to induce sales. He does not just forgive a few sins and require that we work off the rest of our tab. He entirely cancels the debt, wipes the slate clean and, as a bonus, gives us supernatural insight into the cosmic plan that makes the whole universe tick, the “mystery” that underlies history. He gives us eternal life as a free gift, and as the down-payment on this inheritance, gives us the supernatural power of his own Spirit, dwelling in our hearts. But of course, there is a catch. We are filled with gifts so that we in turn can become givers. We owe love and worship and gratitude to the Giver, of course. But that’s not what He is most concerned with. After all, He is God, perfect in himself, and has no needs. Instead, His preoccupation is with our neighbors who do have needs. What we’ve received as a gift, He calls us to give as a gift. We are to “pass it on.” That’s why Amos, a simple shepherd and dresser of sycamores, is not just given God’s word, but is called to leave his home in Judah in order to bring that word to the royal sanctuary in Bethel. It’s also why simple fishermen and tax collectors were the first to be called disciples. They were the first ones who received and learned the teachings of the master who they soon realized was not just a gifted rabbi but was, in fact, the Messiah. Before they knew it, they were called “apostles,” meaning those who are “sent out” to spread that teaching. Unfortunately, when prophets and apostles bring God’s gifts, not everyone is excited. Some people do not want change, which is perhaps why the King’s chaplain told Amos to go home. Jesus warned His apostles that some people would not be interested in their message, and when that happened, they were to shake the dust of such towns from their feet and move on. The point of today’s Scripture passages, however, is that ministry is not simply restricted to the job description of bishops, professional clergy, or foreign missionaries. In Greek, the word bishop means “overseer” or “superintendent,” and while it is true that the bishops of the Catholic Church are the official successors of the apostles and ultimately bear responsibility for the Church’s mission to all nations, their role is not to do it all, but to oversee and direct it all. The Church teaches that every person who is baptized and confirmed receives directly from Christ a mandate to share in the Lord’s prophetic mission. We are all called to be prophets. A prophet literally means spokesman. While most of us will never be called to utter oracles that predict the future, we all are called to speak in behalf of God a message that sometimes challenges people and at other times brings them comfort. While most of us are not called to the sacrament of Holy Orders, we are all called to the “lay apostolate.” And according to the teaching of the Church, we’ve been amply equipped with all the gifts necessary to carry out this mission, endowed with “every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Ephesians 1:3). Of course we need to develop these gifts and hone our apostolic skills, which is why we all. need education and formation and should actively participate in many of the educational and formation programs offered by the parish and the archdiocese. This is why the internet website Formed has been made free and available to every member of St. Helena’s For neither Amos nor the apostles were perfectly polished before they were sent out. If we wait till we know it all, we’ll never share it. There comes a point where we just have to take Nike’s advice and “just do it!”
Recently the Archdiocese of New York launched an online quarterly magazine called Archways to keep you informed about the programs and services offered by the Archdiocese. You may view the magazine by going to: www.archny.org/archways. If you contribute to the Cardinal's Appeal, you will get a print version twice a year.
The Vatican has released a new document on the life of consecrated virgins. Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago is the first Vatican document to deal with the life of consecrated virgins who are not associated with religious orders. The document explains the tradition of consecrated life within the Church and offers a detailed presentation of the norms and principles governing the life of consecrated virgins. In 1970, a new ritual for the consecration of virgins allowed for the inclusion of “women who remain in their own ordinary life context” as well as members of religious orders. Since that time, the number of such consecrated virgins has steadily grown, so that today there are more than 5,000. “Consecrated virgins are present in all the continents, in many dioceses, and offer their own witness of life in every area of society and of the Church,” the Vatican document says. Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago was prepared in response to queries from many bishops around the world, who sought guidance from the Holy See in providing pastoral care for consecrated virgins. The document, “Is intended to help discover the beauty of this vocation, and to help show the beauty of the Lord Who transfigures the life of so many women who experience it every day.”