Agnes’s father was an Albanian politician but he died when she was eight. As a teenager she felt an attraction to missionary work and at 18 left home to join the Sisters of Loreto who ran schools in India. She never saw her mother again. She was sent to Ireland for a year to learn English and then directly to India to begin her formation in the religious life and train as a teacher. She was given the religious name “Teresa” in honor of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, patron saint of missionaries. By the time she took her solemn vows in 1937 she was working at the Loreto convent school in Calcutta and although she enjoyed teaching and did it happily for more than ten years, she was very aware of the poverty of many in the city. As she traveled to her annual retreat on September 10 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as “the call within the call”. She wrote: “I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith”. She got permission to begin her missionary work with the poor in 1948, becoming an Indian citizen and replacing her traditional Loreto habit with a simple white cotton sari decorated with a blue border. The first two years were very hard: she had to live as a beggar and she was often tempted to return to the security and comfort of the convent, but gradually a few others joined her and in October 1950 the Vatican gave her permission to start her own religious order, the Missionaries of Charity. She told the first group of 13 that their purpose was caring for “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone”. Now they have more than 4,000 nuns serving the poorest of the poor throughout the world.

For over 45 years Mother Teresa ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity’s expansion. At first her work was almost hidden but in 1969 the English journalist Malcolm Muggeridge made a documentary about her, followed by a book called Something Beautiful for God in 1971, which drew international attention to what she was doing. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. At her death an investigation of her sanctity started immediately; it revealed that she had often struggled with loss of faith, but she had never abandoned her times of prayer or her work for the poor, which she declared was not done as a social worker but “for Christ”. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19 2003, and today was declared to be her feast day. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.

Fr. Augustine

The Syrian-Lebanese Christians spoke Aramaic, the everyday language which Jesus used, and they always remained faithful to the beliefs laid down by the first Councils of the Church. They have been called Maronites from the time of Saint Maron, the hermit-priest who preserved orthodox belief and communion with the Pope when other groups fell into heresy. Things became more difficult when Muslims took over most of the Middle East and the Maronites were cut off from Catholics in the West; but in the Middle Ages the Crusaders, passing through Lebanon on their way to liberate Jerusalem, discovered these ancient Eastern Catholic Christians and ties with the Holy See were consolidated. In 1584 the Pope established a Maronite College in Rome to make sure that their priests could be trained in a safe place and it still exists – with many of the priests now serving Lebanese communities in exile. Emigration to the United States followed persecution of Middle Eastern Christians by the Islamic majority in the nineteenth century and there was another wave of people leaving when civil war broke out in Lebanon in the twentieth century.

The Maronites are fully in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, so many of them in America choose to go to their local Catholic parish. We are grateful for the enrichment they bring to St. Charles (sometimes in the form of delicious Lebanese food which ends up in the Rectory). This year we rejoice with them: it is the sixteen-hundredth anniversary of the death of Saint Maron in 410 and their head, the Patriarch of Antioch who is also a Cardinal, has declared a Jubilee Year. More recently the Bishop of the Eparchy (Diocese) of Saint Maron, Brooklyn, NY, the shepherd of Maronites throughout the eastern side of the United States, has named six pilgrimage churches where all Catholics can obtain an indulgence up to March 2, 2011. The Maronite church in Orlando, Saint Jude on Dr. Phillips Boulevard, is one of them. They have a special Jubilee Mass at 4 p.m. today (Sunday August 29th) and will welcome visitors between 9-5 every Monday to Thursday (with Mass at noon) and 9-7 every Friday (with Mass at 6 p.m.). The Mass is partly in Aramaic and partly in English, so this could be an opportunity to explore the diversity of culture within the unity of the Catholic Church.

Fr. Augustine

Thanks be to God, many of you did respond to the campaign appeal, even though it was a very difficult time to launch it. We had pledges of nearly $900,000 – less than our goal of 1.3 million but more than we had dared to hope for at a time of almost unprecedented economic recession. What is more, you have honored your pledges so that your gifts are a sign of faith as well as love. Gradually the payments on the pledges have been coming in, and earlier this year the Diocesan authorities began to distribute the money: 35% to the Diocesan projects which Bishop Wenski outlined and 65% to our own parish projects. The latest statement from the parish’s Alive in Christ account showed that we now have $119,000 and I feel it is time to begin meeting some of the needs of parish and school that we identified at the beginning of the campaign.

My first step will be to form a small committee to decide on priorities, to invite bids and to see the work to completion. The campaign concentrated on three major areas: school facility improvements, updating of Bishop Grady Hall and an educational endowment fund. We want to make sure that each of those concerns is honored so the committee members will be drawn from both parish and school communities, although at Saint Charles there is a great deal of overlap. Fortunately we have many people with expertise in the different aspects of construction projects so the committee will be able to get their advice and we will also be able to consult with the diocesan building department. Building costs have fallen in the last two years so we will be looking to get real value for our money. This is an exciting moment for the parish. Many thanks to all of you who have made it possible, and as things develop I will keep you informed.

Fr. Augustine

In the ancient, Greek-speaking Church this day was called the koimesis or “falling asleep” of Mary. Translated into Latin it was called the dormitio (again with the idea of sleeping, in order to emphasize that the passing of Mary through death was like a brief nap before she entered into heaven). It has been celebrated in both East and West from the 5th century onwards, perhaps even earlier, and although a tomb of Mary is venerated in Jerusalem it is, like that of Jesus, an empty tomb, and no city has claimed to have the relics of Mary. The meaning of the Assumption is that she was taken up to heaven at the end of her life, just as Jesus rose after his death and then ascended into heaven.

In spite of the long history of devotion it was only in 1950 that the Pope declared the Assumption to be a Catholic dogma – that is, something to be believed by all Catholics for all time as an article of faith. First, in 1946 Pope Pius XII sent an encyclical letter to all the Bishops of the world asking whether they felt the time had come to define the dogma of the Assumption. Almost unanimously they gave their support, so in1950, which was a Holy Year in Rome, on the Feast of All Saints the Holy Father promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (Latin for “The most bountiful God”) which included these infallible words of solemn teaching:

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

Unlike me, some of you will remember that pronouncement, which was warmly welcomed by Catholics all over the world (your Pastor, of course, is too young…unfortunately only just!). However I do remember a homily which Pope John Paul II gave at Lourdes on this day in 2004, just two weeks before I came to settle in America. He quoted John 14:3 as one of the scriptural bases for understanding the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.” The Assumption is the fulfillment of Christ’s promise in his Blessed Mother; and she has become a sign for us, a loving Mother who encourages us to press on so that Christ’s promise can be fulfilled in our lives as well.

Fr. Augustine

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

The song was largely unknown outside of Shaker communities until it was used by Aaron Copland in his score for Martha Graham’s ballet “Appalachian Spring” in 1944. Then Copland used “Simple Gifts” a second time in 1950 in his first set of Old American Songs for voice and piano, which was later orchestrated. Since then “Simple Gifts” has been adapted many times, perhaps most famously by the English songwriter Sydney Carter, who made an arrangement of the Shaker tune for “Lord of the Dance” in 1963.

Formal dancing was part of Shaker worship, which is why there is reference to bowing, bending and turning in the song. The turning is also an expression of our need for conversion, turning back to God. The words speak of simplicity, freedom and coming down “where we ought to be” – presumably that means seeing ourselves in the light of God, recognizing our smallness and placing our trust in Him rather than in ourselves. Then, “when we find ourselves in the place just right” – in God’s hands – we discover that we are in a good place – “the valley of love and delight”. This week’s Gospel, too, encourages us not to be downhearted when we become aware of our weaknesses and limitations. Jesus says “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock” and he tells us to live with expectation of the Lords’ coming. That’s not just about being prepared for the final judgment; it’s about expecting the surprising intervention of God’s grace and blessing every day.

Fr. Augustine

Each convert to the Catholic faith has their own story. Sometimes they are married to a Catholic and have been attending Catholic Masses for several years; perhaps they’ve delayed taking the final step because of fears of hurting Protestant family members but the time comes – for example, when a parent dies – when they know that God is calling them into full communion. Other people may have had no kind of religious upbringing and are not even baptized; they have simply felt the need for God in their lives and the Catholic Church seems the obvious place to encounter God’s love and mercy. Others may have felt dissatisfaction with their own churches and been attracted to the unchanging faith of Catholicism. For others the desire to convert may follow some personal crisis because they have found a welcome in the Catholic community with its emphasis on forgiveness and hope.

In recent years the Catholic Church has reintroduced the process called The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Its purpose is to prepare candidates for adult baptism, confirmation and first communion and also those who were baptized in other churches but now want to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church (a valid Christian baptism is never repeated). At Saint Charles we will begin the process in September and continue until Easter 2011. We will aim to give a complete explanation of the Catholic faith through weekly classes and discussion sessions (taking breaks for holidays). We also provide classes for children of seven and upwards who missed out on baptism as infants.

If you are reading this and are not a Catholic, could this be the moment to consider entry into the great family of the Catholic Church? If you are one of our regular congregation, ask yourself if there are people you know that you could invite to become a Catholic. There will be a meeting for all enquirers to learn more about the process on Thursday August 26th at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room. It’s an opportunity for us to learn a little about your story and for you to ask any questions about the RCIA process. Come with a friend or family member if you like. I’m giving people a month’s notice so that they have time to think about taking this first step. Saint Charles has been blessed with many wonderful people who have come into the parish as converts in the past. Pray that God will bless us with more people who will find both a safe haven and a fulfilling life in the Catholic Church.

Fr. Augustine

“BEFORE all things the Teacher of peace and Master of unity is unwilling for prayer to be made singly and individually, teaching that he who prays is not to pray for himself alone. For we do not say, My Father who art in heaven, nor Give us this day my daily bread, nor does each one ask that his own debt only be remitted, nor does he request for himself alone that he may not be led into temptation and may be delivered from the evil one. Prayer with us is public and common; and when we pray we do not pray for one but for the whole people, because we the whole people are one.

The God of peace and Master of concord who taught unity thus wished one to pray for all, as He Himself bore all in One. This rule of prayer the Three Children observed when shut up in the furnace of fire, for they were in unison in prayer and concordant in unanimity of spirit. Which fact the truth of the sacred Scriptures declares; and when it teaches how such persons prayed, it gives us an example which we ought to imitate in our prayers, that we may be like them. Then those three, it says, as if from one mouth sang a hymn and blessed the Lord (see Daniel 3: 51). They spoke as if from one mouth, although Christ had not yet taught them to pray. And therefore, as they prayed, their words were availing and efficacious, because a quiet, simple, and spiritual prayer pleased the Lord.

Thus too we find that the Apostles and disciples prayed after the Lord’s Ascension: They all continued with one accord in prayer, with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren (see Acts 1:14). They continued with one accord in prayer, clearly showing at once by the constancy of their prayer and by its unanimity that God, Who makes men to be of one mind in a house only admits into the divine and eternal house those among whom prayer is unanimous”.

When you need to pray for something important, invite others to pray with you. When we pray with one heart and one mind, as the one People of God, our prayers will be heard.

On this weekend I will be celebrating Mass in the parish which contains the first free-standing Catholic church to be built in England after the Reformation. Again it’s in a rural area where Catholics could get away with quiet Masses without too much government interference: in the county of Dorset, in the middle of the south coast of England. The local landowners, the Weld family, had steadily resisted government pressure to renounce their Catholic faith and become Protestants. They had lost most of their wealth because families who refused to give up the old faith were fined. However, Thomas Weld was a friend of King George III who liked to come to the coast for sea bathing. In 1786 Thomas Weld engaged the architect John Tasker to build a Chapel on his estate in the village of East Lulworth – at a time when the laws of England still forbade the building of Catholic churches and the celebration of Catholic sacraments. Weld family tradition tells that King George gave his permission to “build a mausoleum and you may furnish it inside as you wish”; in other words, as long as the church did not obviously look like a church on the outside, the King would not object. In 1789 the king and queen Charlotte visited the Chapel and gave their approval of the finished product, and it still looks like an elegant garden pavilion from the outside.

The Weld Chapel at East Lulworth has a very important American connection. After the Revolution Catholics in the United States realized that they would need to organize themselves and find a Bishop to lead them. In 1790 John Carroll came from Baltimore to England by ship and was consecrated at East Lulworth as the first Bishop of the United States. The whole hierarchy of the American Church, now so vast, can trace its roots back to that obscure corner of England where a few Catholics were brave enough to maintain the faith.

Sadly I won’t get the chance to say Mass in that chapel, although I have done in the past. The priest of the area, whom I had come to know over the years, died in January, and he has still not been replaced. The parish has three churches in three different villages and for the time being there is only one Mass per weekend, in a larger and more modern church which is the most central one for people to get to. Please pray for the Catholic population there: may those who preserved the faith through the times of persecution not be deprived of the sacraments now through lack of vocations.

Fr. Augustine

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”. Instead the celebration was attached to July 4, the day the Congress gave final approval to the Declaration of Independence, but it is a happy coincidence that this year the 4th falls on a Sunday so that there will be the “solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God” which Adams hoped for.

I hope I will not return from vacation to find that you and Father Al (who is an American citizen, unlike me) have signed a declaration of independence, especially as I will be staying in rebel territory of another kind. For more than 200 years after Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated in 1570, Catholics in Britain were considered to be outlaws and they were often falsely accused of plotting the downfall of the government. Priests found celebrating the sacraments were exiled or executed – and there were many martyrs. I suspect that British Catholics, oppressed by unjust authorities, were understanding of America’s desire to be independent.

My sister’s home is in Monmouthshire, on the border between England and Wales, and Catholics could get away with quiet Masses celebrated by visiting priests because the area was rural and far from London. Even so, Saint John Kemble, a priest who had operated in the area for fifty years, was arrested in 1679, accused of treason, and executed in the public square. Although he was 80 at the time he was considered to be a rebel; but as he said in his last words “I die only for profession of the Catholic religion, which was the religion that first made this Kingdom Christian”. Catholics only came to be more accepted after the French Revolution (1789) when many priests and religious fled to Britain from France. The death of a martyr priest in their area had not discouraged the Catholics; rather they had held firm; and so in 1793 permission was given for a Catholic church to be built in Monmouth, the county town. Up to that time there had been a few private chapels hidden away in the houses of Catholic lords, but Saint Mary’s, Monmouth was the first free-standing Catholic church to be built in Wales since the Reformation. It was built behind a row of cottages, deliberately hidden to protect it from anti-Catholic riots which were likely to break out at any time in the next hundred years, but it has survived. It is not a big parish – just 140 families – but it will be a privilege to celebrate Mass there and to pray at the same time for my own “revolutionary” flock back in America.

Fr. Augustine

Then from Monday to Friday this week Bishop Grady Hall has seen another kind of life as a great crew of volunteers has run our Totally Catholic Summer Camp each evening between 6:30 and 8:30. This year the theme was nautical and more than thirty children have been entertained by crafts, drama, storytelling, art and music while deepening the knowledge and understanding of their faith. Carrie Busbee has been planning it for months and has gradually put the team together. Thank you to her, in particular, for her marvelous organizing skills, to her husband Chris and their children who have supported her, and to all the volunteers for the gift of their time and talents. It was great fun and made these long summer days special for the children involved.

This Sunday afternoon I will start my summer vacation, secure in the knowledge that after three weeks Father Alvaro knows his way around and that you will be ready to help him if needed. Of course I had to explain to him that an Englishman needs to be out of the country on July 4th because otherwise a revolution might break out and I’d get thrown into the nearest harbor like the tea in Boston! I’ll fly from Orlando to Newark and then overnight to Bristol, in the West of England, and spend the first ten days with my sister in South Wales, and eventually I’ll get to see both my brothers as well. For me the most important part of a vacation is to reconnect with family, but I’ll also spend some time at my former monastery, see some old friends and make a short pilgrimage. I’ll report on my progress as I go along. I’ll be away for three Sundays, so you will have a chance to get to know Father Alvaro better; and on the middle Sunday (July 11th) we will have a visit from a missionary priest. I am due to be back in Orlando on the evening of July 22nd. Please pray that I travel safely, and know that wherever I may be I will keep the people of Saint Charles in my prayers.

Fr. Augustine