Mother’s Day Honor

Mom Forever In A Song

Eclipse of God’s Truth

THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN TODAY IN 15 STATES OF THE USA.

In Connecticut we will experience a 90% eclipse of the sun as seen in the photo below.

It is rather miraculous shall we say that as vast as the universe is that events such as this are possible to be seen here.

The sun is 400 times the distance from the earth than the moon is. And the sun is 400 times the size of the moon, which allows the moon to totally block out the sun in this instance given their independent movements. What are the odds that in distance, size and speed of movement of the objects here in play should result in an eclipse? Since this is an astronomical event, the odds I assume must be astronomical.

Oh well, I guess GOD only knows.

“I Have Chosen You”

THE PASSION OF CHRIST:

“Mel Gibson warned Jim Caviezel that the character was going to be very difficult and that if he accepted, he could be marginalized in Hollywood. Caviezel asked for a day to think about it and his response was: “I think we have to do it, even if it is difficult. And one more thing my initials are J.C. and I’m 33 years old. I didn’t realize that until now.”

Mel responded with a candid, “You’re scaring me.”

During filming, Jim Caviezel (who plays Jesus) lost 45 pounds, was struck by lightning, accidentally whipped twice, leaving a 14-inch scar, dislocated his shoulder and suffered pneumonia and hypothermia from standing almost naked on a cross for several hours outdoors.

His body was so stressed and exhausted from playing the role that he had to undergo 2 open heart surgeries after the production. Just the crucifixion scene took 5 weeks out of 2 months of shooting.

“I don’t want people to see me. I just want them to see Jesus. Conversions will happen through that.”

Pedro Sarubbi, who played Barrabas, felt it wasn’t Caviezel who was looking at him, but Jesus Christ Himself. “His eyes had no hatred or resentment toward me, only mercy and love.”

Luca Lionello, the artist who played Judas, was a declared atheist before filming began. Eventually he converted, confessed and baptized his children.

One of the main technicians who was Muslim also converted to Christianity.

Some producers said they saw people in white giving advice, but when they finished filming they never returned.

The Passion of the Christ is an R-rated US film and U.S. highest box office of all time, with $370.8 million! Globally, it raised $611 million. More importantly, it has reached many souls from all over the world. Mel Gibson paid $30 million out of his own pocket for the production because no studio would accept the project.

Jim Caviezel proudly proclaims his faith in Christ in the midst of Hollywood evil. Although Caviezel is a devout Catholic, his role in the Passion of the Christ has enabled him to minister in churches from many denominations.

Ben-Hur is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. A remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title, it was adapted from Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ben Hur won 11 Academy Awards, in all the major categories, out of 13 nominations.

“The Passion of the Christ” received no Academy Award nominations let alone one of the awards. Nor was it promoted by Hollywood.

In the span of the 45 years between the productions of both of these movies Jesus Christ has gone from being revered to reviled. Is this how far we have come as a culture or how far we have fallen?

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. ’If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” – John 15:18-25

Christ’s words ring as true and clear today as in the past. Such persecutions simply don’t make the headlines.

The Empty Tomb

“Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can.” So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard. – Matthew 27: 65-66

“The king lay in state with the guard about Him. And the most astounding fact about this spectacle of vigilance over the dead is that the enemies of Christ expected the Resurrection, but His friends did not. It was the believers who were the skeptics. It was the unbelievers who were credulous.

None of the apostles expected a Resurrection. They had to be convinced. They had to be convinced the hard way, as Thomas had to be convinced. Believe me, the skeptics of today cannot compare with the skeptics of those days, namely the apostles. They were the doubters, and when they were convinced they proved that they believed by having their throats cut for the cause of Christ.” – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” He is not here but has been raised.” – Luke 24:5-6

And as the risen Christ had overcome death, so too, the apostles would rise above their fear. Having again seen and eaten with their master, a presumed illusion had become reality; restoring their faith. The cowards would become heroes. They were now prepared to let go of the lives they knew and give them over to and for Christ; completely. All that was Christ was conferred upon them by Him. They would do what He had done. And through the apostles the gospels would be proclaimed throughout the world resulting in a growing, vibrant, Holy and living church.

As a result of the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday all that was is changed forever. Suffering once seen as a dreaded error of life now has a valued purpose and meaning; for it is the precursor of a greater good; and in the case of Christ, the greatest good. His success is our success. The entrance to heaven that had been denied to all humanity by the disobedience of one man, has been reopened, and access reinstated to all humanity by the obedience of the One man.

From the apostles and succeeding disciples to the present day priests, the consecration of the Holy Eucharist continues in the presence of the ever vigilant Paraclete. The Paraclete is the love of God that binds the Father to the Son and the Son to us all. The Paraclete guides, protects, inspires, consoles and sustains. And through that continual Eucharistic consecration, Jesus keeps the promise He made that comforted and encouraged his apostles then; and comforts and encourages all today, who take up their cross and follow Him. “And remember that I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” – Matthew 28:20

The stone that sealed the tomb of the Savior was found fallen away. And the place where His body had been laid was empty and free of darkness. For that which harbors not life, but death, had not the power to contain “The Light Of The World.”

The Vigil

“The king lay in state with the guard about Him. And the most astounding fact about this spectacle of vigilance over the dead is that the enemies of Christ expected the Resurrection, but His friends did not. It was the believers who were the skeptics. It was the unbelievers who were credulous. – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“I went down into the countries, underneath the earth, to the peoples of the past… but You lifted my life from the pit. O LORD, my GOD. – Jonah 2:6

Sacrifice: The Condition of Love

“For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” – John 18:37

All things have a purpose. Suffering is no different. Its purpose and value are that suffering opens the way to a greater good.

On this celebration of GOOD FRIDAY, we observe the” greatest good” that can come from suffering.

Palm Sunday Ushers in “The Week That Changed The World”

As we enter Holy Week we remember that two years ago we and the world entered a most unprecedented period of duress rooted in a pandemic from which many trials and challenges have sprung forth. Yet the lessons of Holy Week provides a hopeful model that there is light at the end of the tunnel. For the lamentation of Good Friday gives way to the Joy of Easter Sunday.

Palm Sunday–

“Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried: Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel.”- John 12:13

Holy Thursday–

“And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake: and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me.”-Luke 22:19

“For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many.”-Matthew 26:28

Good Friday–

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”- Luke 23:34

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani?” That is, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”-Matthew 27:46

“And Jesus crying out with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”- Luke 23:46

Holy Saturday–

” Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest perhaps his disciples steal him away, and say to the people: He is risen from the dead: and the last error shall be worse than the first…Pilate saith to them: You have a guard: go, guard it as you know.”- Matthew 27:64-65

Easter Sunday–

“Who saith to them: Be not affrighted: you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place they laid him.”- Mark 16:6

“For this was I born, and for this came I into the world: that I should give testimony to the  truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.”

“The Promise”– by, Alan Malizia

Upon a cross a debt was paid,

and promise made,

for tortured souls enslaved.

From an empty tomb,

as if a womb,

emerged the promise kept.

And by it we are saved.

A Blessed Holy Week to all. Know that the agony of Good Friday is but the requisite for the ecstasy of Easter Sunday.
-Alan

A Reprise of The Carpenter’s Son for St. Joseph Day

“And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know, that I must be about my father’s business?” – Luke 2: 48-49

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Jesus, at the age of twelve, during the Passover, was missing for three days. When His frantic parents, who thought he was with relatives or acquaintances, had returned to Jerusalem, they found Him in the Temple discoursing with the elders. As He said, He was in His Father’s house tending to His Father’s business. All, save for His earthly parents, did not understand His meaning. For often it was said among those who knew the family: “Is this not Jesus, the son of the carpenter, Joseph?”

When God, the Father, sent His Word into the world in Christ, He sent Him by way of the womb of a sinless women. But, why to a surrogate Father who was a carpenter? Why not to a man of some other vocation?

My cousin, Ralph, is a carpenter. He once constructed a new deck overlooking the back yard of our house. He first tore down the old existing deck and replaced it with a new and improved deck that served better than the first. After he had finished the deck, and as we stood upon it and admired his work, I paid him and shook his hand in gratitude for the wonderful job completed. Have you ever shaken the hand of carpenter? It is a strong firm hand of rough texture. It is a hand of one who knows hard work. But also a hand that validates the skilled craftsman. A hand that attests to a keen creative mind of one who is disciplined to the laws governing his trade. A hand that demonstrates the characteristic of one who possesses an eye for the aesthetic. A hand that transforms an idea into a reality.

Christ spent the first thirty years of His life obeying. In that He was obedient to the nurturing and direction of His earthly parents. During that period of time he learned and practiced the art of carpentry; as was the profession of Joseph. He knew the purpose and proper use of the tools of carpentry of His time; including the predecessors of the hammer and nail.

Christ’s hands were also strong and rough. Made so by His apprenticeship. Yet, His hands healed, as well. Not solely in the repair of worn furniture, leaking roofs and broken plows, but, of most importance, the restoration of a malfunctioning mankind. Broken bodies, empty hearts and tortured hopeless souls were made anew. His were not the soft hands of one who handles money or fine cloth. His work in the practice of carpentry was hard and demanding, requiring much physical strength. God sent Him not to be raised by a money changer nor a trader in goods. He was sent to one who would train Him in hard labor. For the true mission that lay before Him would be hard and laborious, as well. Joseph was a skilled craftsman in the use of the instruments of his trade. He cut and shaped the wood according to the image that he had in mind for a particular item that he was commissioned to make or repair. The parts were then firmly joined by hammer driven nails resulting in the desired product of that image.

The Son of God, too, was a craftsman. Except one of a divine nature. The knowledge, skill and discipline of His earthly trade would be implemented in the mission for which God had commissioned Him to accomplish. Christ was God’s idea and reality. As in carpentry His mission required some tearing down and rebuilding. The then unmerited altered and tainted truths being taught by the learned, which were once truths revealed in perfect purity by God to His creatures as the guiding principles of life, had to be torn asunder. And by the power of divine sacrificial love, God’s reinstated truth would be secured in the longing hearts of the contrite, as the carpenter’s hammer drives nails in fastening. By this action the son of the carpenter set the stage for the Son Of God.

In an absurd divine irony, the son of the carpenter, who often tore down to build anew, would, Himself, be torn down by the very tools of His trade. Hammer and nail that joined two pieces of wood now has fixed the hands and feet of the Son of God to the tabernacle of His own making, formed from the successful execution of His very mission.  And on that tabernacle of pain and suffering  the Son of God would achieve for mankind what no son of a carpenter ever could; redemption. The hands that once pierced to restore broken woodwork have now, themselves, been pierced to restore a broken world.

By that redemptive act, Christ would forgive the sins that have since, The Fall, separated man from a complete and loving relationship with God. And in three days hence, He would renew a never-ending relationship between God and mankind.

The work done by a good carpenter can last a lifetime. But the work of the Divine Carpenter lasts forever.

Lest We Forget

A reprise of a post during the pandemic. Much has been illuminated and opinions altered since the truths were revealed from the pandemic follow-up studies. But suffering, loss and sacrifice are as much a part of Lent than any trial brought by man or nature. And the lessons taught whether learned or not from Lent still hold their weight.

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Alan A. Malizia: Contagious Optimism! Co-Author

Unlike we, Christ came into the world not to live, but to die.  For 30 years He obeyed in being raised, nurtured and educated through His parents; Mary and foster father, Joseph.  For 3 years He taught. And for 3 hours He suffered. The last 3 hours are for which God had commissioned Him. He didn’t come for a political revolution, but a spiritual one. Not to free one from another’s oppression but to free one from original sin. He came to turn the world right-side up by turning it upside down. And for that reason He was nailed to the cross. For in not bringing peace, but instead turmoil, those in places of honor were challenged for their incompetence and out right self aggrandizement. The powerful, whether political or religious leaders, were threatened because the trust of the people was now with the perveyer of Divine absolute truth rather than the random reality of their present world circumstance.

This is the season of Lent. Which for many Chriatians is a time of reflection, soul searching, sacrifice, charitable efforts and amending one’s ways. It is like a mini purgatory. A purging of self from that which distances us from Christ. A strain on our relationship. For as Dante says: “In His will is our peace.” And true peace is known only through Him, with Him and in Him. Lent is often observed in practice by not all Christians. Not because of any denominational differences but by individual seriousness and dedication or lack thereof. However, this Lent has been forced upon us. Not by God or man, but by an act of God which arose out of the nature of His creation. Semi-isolation, distancing, disciplined self care, cleanliness out of a compelled concern, hopefully, for the most vulnerable. In a simple term; sacrifice. Not as some would give up a favorite treat, spend time with the needy or alms give. But, rather, a change from life as we know it for an indefinite period of time due to the Coronavirus which originated in China and has reeked havoc throughout the world both physically and economically.

The things that men seek are not found on the cross. Men and women seek 4 things in life; pleasure, wealth, power and honor. Let’s examine Christ on the cross as regards these 4 things. We can see that they are absent. Pleasure? NO, He was bruised and bleeding by scourging and all sorts of physical abuse.  Wealth? No, He but possessed the limited clothing left on Him. And His tunic and robe were taken from Him and gambled upon. Power? No, He was pinned to the cross. Honor? No, He was ridiculed, spat upon, humiliated and betrayed. Yet He embraced the cross. Why? Because for this reason he came into the world. To testify to the truth and to die for it. And in so doing would heal the wound of sin for all mankind and remove the sting of death. By enduring the cross He needed but a loaned tomb. For such a place could not forever harbor the light of the world. Lent leads to the cross. The requisite for eternal life is the cross. There is no Easter without Good Friday. All pain and suffering has value in that is the requisite for a greater good. Christ tells His followers: ” You will do what I have done.” The grave has no more power over a believer in Christ than Christ Himself.

So we find ourselves this Lent in a forced participation. We can curse and grind our teeth and exploit the situation for selfish endeavors and desires or we can take up our cross and follow Him in sacrifice, patience, perseverance, and caregiving to others who may be suffering for the loss of loved ones by this virus or confined to their homes to avoid spreading it or due to frailty. We can choose to be selfish or selfless. We can disregard the advice of the professionals and do as we wish or heed their direction and give aid to others and protect the vulnerable by prudent actions. How one spends one’s Lent determines their reaction to the eventual confrontation with the cross. Will we be like one thief who wanted to be taken down from the cross or the other who wanted to be taken up. Will we embrace the cross or be repulsed by it. What one chooses determines the strength or weakness of character. The good thief remained a thief to the end. For in willing to hang there with Christ he became one with Him. And in so doing, he stole heaven.

As regards the Cross: “It is human to come down. It is Divine to hang there.” – Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

Valentine’s Day

A Saint Valentine’s Day Story

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Alan A. Malizia: Contagious Optimism! Co-Author

“The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” – G.K. Chesterton

The Cardinal is one of the most popular birds. It is the official bird of as many as seven eastern states. It has extended northward for decades from its primary habitat in the southeast. The Cardinal brightens winter days with its distinctive red color. As well its whistled song can be heard as far north as southeastern Canada. Bird feeders stocked with sunflower seeds may have aided its northward spread. – referenced, “Audubon Society”

When I was a young boy undergoing physical therapy as a result of polio, I would attend school on a half day basis until the therapy had best prepared me for full days. I was scheduled for therapy three days per week at the local Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center, since being released from the convalescent hospital, where I had spent nine months in recovery since the onset of the disease.

On those half days my mom would pick me up from school and take me to one of a number of parks in our area. There we would enjoy a homemade lunch that she had prepared or stop by a local food establishment for a slice of pizza or a chili-dog. We would spend about an hour or so talking. Most of the conversation encompassed how my day went, as I adjusted to my school and classmates. Otherwise we simply enjoyed the lunch, small talk (as I was but a first grader) and the outdoors. Then off we would be, on to my P.T. session. As the therapist ran me through my paces, mom patiently waited for me, often bringing a good book to read.

On one of those outings, while we were enjoying our lunch, something caught my attention. As I looked off in the distance, I had noticed a peculiar thing. Well, it seemed peculiar to me at the time. I saw what I thought was an apple fall from a tree. Not that that is peculiar, because apples often fall from trees. But, on this particular occasion, the apple went back up into the tree. My mother quickly solved the anti-gravity mystery. I found that, what was peculiar for an apple was not peculiar for a Cardinal. That was the first time that I had ever seen one. My mom told me that the Cardinal was her favorite bird. It was her favorite not solely because of its vibrant red color and sweet song, but that it stayed here the year round; adding color to the drab winter until spring returned. That day, the Cardinal became my favorite bird as well; something that we would always share.

Decades later, during my mom’s last days, the burdens of that winter were particularly difficult. However, less burdensome than the cross she carried and the concern that was shared by we who did all we could, limited by our understanding, to care for and comfort her. My mom’s bed was by her window. From time to time her suffering was eased by the pleasant distraction of a visitor just outside her window. The pleasant distracting visitor was a beautiful crimson Cardinal. Its bright red feathers stood out prominently against the white background of snow. I’m sure it brought the thought of spring to her and that golf season, which she loved so much, was not far off.

It has been some fourteen years since my mom’s passing. As I write this piece, in front of me, is a window overlooking a wooded area outside my house. Often, when most unexpected, I am pleasantly distracted by a visitor; a Cardinal hopping though the snow or perched on a bare tree limb. It is at a time like this that I am reminded of a shared commonality; an everlasting bond. A time when apples became Cardinals, and affirmed in me, that my mom was the apple of my eye. It is in these rare precious moments that one simple and comforting thought comes to mind; after which I whisper, Hi Mom.