Dear St. Rita Families,
I have spent some newsletter space in the past mentioning to you the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. I would like to recommend it again to you for your consideration and devotion. It is no secret that this world of ours has turned against God. Blasphemy against the King of the Universe is widespread, and even expected, and we do not begin to comprehend what an offense against God Himself actually means. The only real sins in the mind of modern man are actions that cause someone else pain. How is it, then, that God – the Infinite One – can be so offended by my sins? Why does He even care? He is in Heaven!
This unfortunate logic of the self-centered man has lost sight of how the love of God – the First Commandment – informs and directs love of neighbor, the Second Commandment. It has lost sight of man’s own destiny, which is Heaven and union with the Divine, a supernatural vocation unattainable by human effort, and yet a great gift which God in His generosity and mercy desires to bestow on us even though we have shown ourselves so unworthy. And so, in the midst of this tragic blindness of the modern world, God desires some with the courage of St. Veronica to step into the midst of those who are blaspheming His Son and to offer an act of adoration, of worship, of comfort to the Divine Love of Jesus Christ.
Enter the Holy Face Devotion. What could be more effective in combatting atheism and atheistic communism than offering to God the suffering of the Holy Face of Jesus in His agony? Christ’s suffering in His Passion was all in reparation for the sins of the world, and it seems appropriate and fitting that the sufferings of His Holy Face formed part of the atonement for sins directly against God. To look God in the eye and reject Him, to spit in His Face, to disfigure its beauty, all indicate a specific rejection of God Himself.
Our world, our country, even our city is plagued with hatred and rejection of God, a reduction of mankind to his economic side, an elevation of the State to the divine pedestal – providing all things and forcing man to submit to the State if you want to be comfortable, or even to survive. The goals of our governments are often earthly, and solely so. There is no subordination of our earthly mission to the Divine. There is no seeking our last end. There is no true justice and no desire that others be just for their own sake (as opposed to for my sake).
In response to this, rather than become accusatory mouthpieces of the devil, combatting evildoing with evildoing, we Christians ought to strike out on a different path. We ought to engage in reparation for the blasphemies committed. We ought to offer to God the adoration and worship that is owed to Him, and we ought to do it for the sake of those who have rejected Him. We can give God the adoration those others ought to have given Him. We can, by our faith and devotion, make up in some little way for the faults of our neighbor, even and especially if our neighbor’s faults do damage to me, my family, my city, my country, my world. In this way, hatred redounds to greater charity, and forgiveness on my part can become the seed-ground for repentance on theirs.
We cannot be naïve about the terrible effects of rejection of God. We have seen it in our world from the French Revolution to the Bolsheviks to the Chinese Communists to Pol Pot to Hitler, and the list goes on! Proponents of these ideologies are still prevalent in our world, and the only way forward is to turn again to the loving mercy of the Most High. He is not looking to conquer Kingdoms – because His Kingdom will have no end. He is looking to conquer hearts, so that those hearts find peace. This truth is unfathomable for many, because they themselves find no charity within them. And yet, it is true! God seeks to bring joy and peace to your heart! The path is often rocky, and it is fraught with difficulties and sufferings, but it is the path to the peace the world cannot give (cf. Jn 14:27).
Therefore, let Him conquer your heart again, and love Him in return by making reparation for the sins against His Holy Face. At St. Rita, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face meets every second Sunday of the month at 3 PM in the Church (December 14, this month!). There are many prayers in honor of the Holy Face that you can pray daily as well, some shorter, some longer. I am confident that the more we engage in these acts of reparation – which are really acts of mercy – the more God will bless us and this parish. In particular, I am entrusting our parking situation at St. Rita to God under this devotion to the Holy Face, and I ask you to do the same. We really need a larger parking lot or more property that we can utilize for parking. I have been praying daily the Chaplet of the Holy Face for this intention. The chaplet prayers themselves can be found here, and you can also buy a Holy Face Chaplet to help you to pray. There are many other prayers of reparation to the Holy Face, as well as a manual. But please remember, the most important thing is that we seek mercy for sinners and make reparation for these sins of blasphemy. God will provide the rest!
In Christ,
Fr. Christensen