On her Confirmation

I am honored to be the sponsor of Miss Rose Ohmes. She has chosen Saint Genevieve as her patron on this day that she takes up the Armor of Christ of her own free will. May all the Host of Heaven pray for us, especially in these days.

Saint Genevieve
Ora Pro Nobis

This saint is doubly precious to me. She made a decision as a young girl to become a saint for God and did so, giving me hope for all of us on our journey to Christ. She is more precious still because I have a daughter in Heaven by that name. Young Miss Ohmes has that precious Genevieve praying for her, too.

Saint Genevieve Information to follow from Catholic.org

Feastday: January 3
Patron of Paris
Died: 512

St. Genevieve was born about the year 422, at Nanterre near Paris. She was seven years old when St. Germain of Auxerre came to her native village on his way to great Britain to combat the heresy of Pelagius. The child stood in the midst of a crowd gathered around the man of God, who singled her out and foretold her future sanctity. At her desire the holy Bishop led her to a church, accompanied by all the faithful, and consecrated her to God as a virgin. 

When Attila was reported to be marching on Paris, the inhabitants of the city prepared to evacuate, but St. Genevieve persuaded them to avert the scourge by fasting and prayer, assuring them of the protection of Heaven. The event verified the prediction, for the barbarian suddenly changed the course of his march.

The life of St. Genevieve was one of great austerity, constant prayer, and works of charity. She died in the year 512. Her feast day is January 3rd.

She dressed in a long flowing gown with a mantle covering her shoulders, similar to the type of garments the Blessed Mother wore. One of the symbols of this saint is a loaf of bread because she was so generous to those in need.

The Guns in Disguise

Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blessed!

I had the privilege of spending yesterday on retreat with the youth of Saint Martin's Church preparing for Confirmation. Let me tell you first of all how impressed I am with these kids. Moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents: you have every reason to be proud. I witnessed prayerful homage to Our Lord, genuine compassion for each other, and rollicking solid good humor in these kids. They are an outstanding group of young people, ready and able to take up the reigns of adult Christianity in our Church. Thanks be to God for all of them!

Sister Dolorette of the School Sisters of Notre Dame put together the retreat and did an excellent job. Her stories reminded me, once again, that nobody lives life quite like a Sister!

She shared one story of two teens in a South American country, facilitating catechises in their village. The former catechists had been abducted and found near dead, yet these teens stood and taught their catechises even while government guns had them in their sights! Sister Dolorette described a Communion Service with rifles trained on the congregation, and asked the young man and woman how they dared. The man answered her, "If I wasn't willing to die for Him, I couldn't live for Him."

In America, Sister explained, the guns are not so obvious. The dangers are hidden and seductive. We are still in mortal danger, but the weapons trained upon us are subtle, even packaged as something to be desired. In our ignorance we grab hold of the barrel and dance with our own doom here, all the while thinking we are free.

So, in some sense, our teens have a harder time recognizing the dangers to faith, the threats to their very futures as whole and healthy adults. We live in a country that pretends there is no such thing as sin, except the sin of being faithful. These children are coming of age in a land where Anti-Catholicism is the last socially acceptable prejudice. They will have to fight to hang onto their beliefs. They will have to battle the subtle pitfalls of a seductive world to hang onto their God-given right to be Catholic.

And from what I saw yesterday, these kids are ready for it.

Please pray that all of our candidates have hearts set aflame for the Truth!