Awesome trailer for the 2024 Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis

Sacred Heart 2023

 

Sacred Heart 2023 – “Both the Old and the New”

 

There has been much written about the new evangelization that Pope St. John Paul II called for.  And so when I was contemplating starting the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart upon word last Spring from the Archdiocese that I would be receiving an associate pastor, and thus able to have Masses on the First Fridays, I prayed about it for a long time.  And a line kept coming to me from the Gospels where Jesus says “every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

And so we celebrate the culmination of these First Friday devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart today. 

This morning I was praying through the encyclical written by Pope Pius XII about the Sacred Heart Devotion, and so I would like to share a few lines with you from this encyclical:

 

“There are some who sometimes go so far as to consider this devotion ill-adapted to the more pressing spiritual needs of the Church and humanity in this present age.”

It seems to me that this is in fact what is going on in our world today, and I have sometimes fallen into the trap of thinking that, but over the last 20 years, I have been gradually realizing the power of this particular devotion.

 

Pius XII continues: “There are some who, confusing this devotion with various individual forms of piety which the Church approves and encourages but does not command, regard this as a kind of additional practice which each one may take up or not according to his own inclination.”

I have often talked about how the Catholic Church offers a buffet of spiritual devotions, and that Jesus expects NO ONE to do them all.  But this particular devotion to the Sacred Heart, Pius XII says, IS necessary for all Catholics.

 

The encyclical letter continues: “There are others who reckon this devotion burdensome and of little or no use to men who are fighting in the army of the divine King and who are inspired mainly by the thought of laboring with their own strength, their own resources and expenditures of their own time, to defend Catholic truth, to teach and spread it, to instill Christian social teachings, to promote those acts of religion and those undertakings which they consider much more necessary today.”

 

There is a tendency among Catholics in America to think that we can first of all rely on our strength and wisdom to spread the Gospel, which Pius XII explicitly rejects.

 

The encyclical continues: “there are those who see devotion to the Sacred Heart more suited to the use of women, since it seems to them something not quite suitable for educated men.”

“Those forces of evil which have now for so long a time been taking root and which so fiercely compel us to seek help from Him by Whose strength alone they can be driven away. Who can He be but Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God? 'For there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved.'  We must have recourse to Him Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

 

“Since then, alas, one can see that the number of those whose boast is that they are God's enemies is in some places increasing, that the false slogans of materialism are being spread by act and argument, and unbridled license for unlawful desires is everywhere being praised, is it remarkable that love, which is the supreme law of the Christian religion, the surest foundation of true and perfect justice and the chief source of peace and innocent pleasures, loses its warmth in the souls of many?”

Do we not see this happening throughout the western world today, in 2023, in an astonishing and exponentially increasing rate?

Let us continue to pray first, understanding that any true victory in the world comes through Jesus Christ, and His Inspiration of our own efforts begins first with each of bowing our head in prayer, and not first from relying on our strength.

 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus…Pray for Us!!!

Saint Anthony of Padua, 2023

 

Saint Anthony of Padua

Today the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Anthony of Padua, a powerful intercessor for us when we have lost something.  One common prayer seeking St. Anthony’s intercession is

“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony please come around.

Something is lost and needs to be found.”

 

I have prayed that prayer often, and it is amazing how often it works.

 

Why does Jesus grant prayers of intercession in these and lots of other situations when we seek Saint Anthony's intercession?

 

One of the reasons would seem to me to be because Jesus is searching and seeking us with all of His heart.  Jesus is praying that we, who were lost, might be found.  As the hymn “Amazing Grace” (a hymn that is not 100% theologically accurate) puts it, “I once was lost, but now am found”

 

How are we found by Jesus?  One of the surest ways is to go regularly to the Sacrament of confession, which is offered a few minutes after this Mass.  I am going to confession later tonight in Terre Haute.

 

Through the intercession of Saint Anthony of Padua, may we allow ourselves to once again be found by the loving and Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Corpus Christi 2023

 

Corpus Christi 2023

 

You may recall that last year, on Corpus Christi Sunday, there was a large Eucharistic Procession from the Cathedral in Indianapolis, down to St. John’s Catholic Church, and that Corpus Christi Procession kicked off the diocesan-level year of the National Eucharistic Revival.

 

Today, with our Corpus Christi processions, we begin the parish year for the Eucharistic Revival.

 

Often in my work as a priest I hear from those who I am speaking with some version of “Father, I don’t FEEL anything happening at Mass”.  I too struggle with that doubt when I first entered the seminary and started going to daily Mass every day.  I would sit there during the Mass and pray and receive the Eucharist, but I didn’t feel anything.  And so I am relieved to share that story with those who also struggle with wanting to see or feel something at every Mass.

 

I have learned that Jesus’ presence at each Mass, after the priest prays the words of consecration over the bread and wine, is a quiet, calming presence, and not loud nor dramatic.

 

But there have been time throughout the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church where the bread and wine, after the priest prayed the words of consecration over them, became actual human flesh, often because of the priest doubting.

 

And there is actually a young millennial who has been beatified, who created a website chronicling all of these Eucharistic miracles.  He was born in 1991, and live only until 2006 when he died of Leukemia.  His name is Blessed Carlo Acutis.  Blessed Carlo Acutis recognized that many in his generation were walking away from the Catholic Faith, and so he created a website documenting what he rightly believed was one of the best ways to draw his generation BACK to Catholicism…Eucharistic Miracles.  His website can still be viewed here: http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html

 

As we begin this parish year of trying to strengthen both our own awareness of Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist, and all of those around us in our community, I would propose that we seek the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis this year in a special way!

A talk and 2 homilies from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Trinity Sunday 2023

 

“Let us Make Man in OUR Image”

 

In the very FIRST chapter of the Bible, just 26 verses in we hear God refer to God’s self as “OUR”

 

It says “Let us make Man in our image” – so already, from the very beginning, we see that God is not just one God but some conglomeration of persons. 

 

And yet God is also one God.  God first tells Moses God’s name when God says “My name is I AM”

 

It took the Catholic Church about 400 years to figure out exactly how best to understand the Trinity.

 

But here is the point of today’s homily – one of the great figures in that hashing out of the Catholic Church’s understanding of the Trinity – God being one God but 3 persons, was St. Athanasius, and St. Athanasius wrote this: “Jesus was made man that we might be made God (On the Incarnation, Ch. LIV, Pt. III, circa 4th Cent. A.D.).

 

Also, similarly, St. Basil, (whose relic is right there on the rerdos) said this: “Through the Spirit…we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations – we become God.”

 

That is why Jesus told his disciples “It is better that I go so that the Holy Spirit can come upon you.”

 

At the very beginning of the Bible, it says that each human person is made in the image and likeness of God, but now, with the Holy Spirit coming upon each of us at our baptism and confirmation, we become God.

 

Do you believe that?  And if you do believe it, do you share that with others?  If we are meant to, even now, on this side of Heaven, begin to participate in the very life of the God, are we sharing that news with others?

 

So often, we and those around us fall NOT into the trap of asking or expecting too much of God, but rather we can fall into the trap of expecting too LITTLE of God. 

Let us boldfully claim our rightful inheritance as baptized and confirmed Catholics dwelling in the very life of God with joy and peace that will attract others to seek out what we have found in the Catholic Church!

Great video on Mass celebrated "Ad Orientem"

 

LIFE! 5th Sunday of Easter, 2023 at Saint John Cantius

 

Jesus is LIFE! – Homily at St. John Cantius for the 5^th Sunday of Easter, 2023

 

I heard a few people coming into Church this morning asking “who is that priest?” and so my name is Fr. John Hollowell, a priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.  I have been up here on a retreat this past week, and I was blessed to be given the opportunity to have this Mass today by Fr. Caswell.

 

Jesus says in our Gospel today, that He is the LIFE. 

 

I am the oldest of 15, and 4 of my siblings were lost through miscarriage, so I am the oldest of 11 who are still living.  I can remember my parents being rudely questioned by others throughout my life, but my Mom shared recently that she was also treated harshly by friends of hers from my home parish.

 

I found a letter that my Dad wrote to a Protestant friend explaining that the number one he realized the Catholic Church was true was because it was only Church that has not caved on contraception.  And so I would just like to say to all the parents here, thank you for being open to life, thank you for bringing your children to Mass, and thank you for supporting other families in their openness to human life.

 

There are also married couples who carry the cross of infertility and we pray for them…sometimes adoption is an option but we need to support those parents in a special way.

 

So I would just like us to pray about a question…how can this parish do more to support human life and human families in a culture that seems bent on destroying life whether through abortion, euthanasia, and all the other attacks on every front?

 

Ultimately, we are all called by Christ not just to our own families but to the larger family of the Catholic Church as well.  That is why we call our priests “Fathers” and our religious men “brothers” and our religious women “sisters”…we are all summoned to both contribute to and draw life from the world wide family of the Catholic Church.

 

It is great to be here today!  Jesus says He is LIFE itself…let us go invite others to experience the family of the Catholic Church as well!

Good Shepherd 2023

Good Shepherd 2023

 

Jesus as the Good Shepherd is an image and reality of God that the world desperately needs to hear at this particular moment.

Why?  Because most people have a completely negative reaction to God as Father.  And why do they have a negative reaction to God as Father…because many people have been abandoned by their father and/or emotionally abused by their father and/or sexually abused by their father…and many people have been emotionally or even sexually abused by their priest who we also call “Father”

So the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd I believe is the image that we need to be broadcasting out to the world today as Catholics.  The idea that Jesus Christ is out looking for every single person, as an individual person, and is willing to put every person on his shoulders and bring that person back to the sheep fold is a beautiful reality of the Gospel message.

 

We heard again at Mass today Psalm 23…which is most people’s favorite Psalm…why…because it talks about God being the Shepherd… “The Lord is my shepherd…there is nothing I shall want…He leads me besides restful waters…he has prepared a banquet for me!” 

 

And what is the banquet that the Good Shepherd has prepared for us?  It is most especially Himself, present under the appearances of bread and wine…the Good Shepherd feeds us with Himself, turning us into Himself over time.

 

May we go out and preach Jesus the Good Shepherd, and witness to the joy that we have experienced in letting Jesus the Good Shepherd carry us on His shoulders back to the Catholic Church!

POWERFUL video from Dove on Eating Disorders and Social Media

 

Divine Mercy 2023

 

Divine Mercy Sunday “Let us also go to die with Him!”

 

As I was reading the Gospel this year for the 5^th Sunday of Lent…I noticed something I had never notice before… that Gospel about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead had a line I would like to read today…and it is this…

“The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go BACK to Bethany???  But Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”

 

Fast forward to today’s Gospel, we see this same Thomas called Didymus who doubts the Resurrection until he can see Jesus for himself.

 

What is the main takeaway from this…The Apostle Thomas showed tremendous courage while Jesus was alive the first time…but later St. Thomas flees from Jesus in the Garden…St. Thomas doubts in today’s Gospel…and after Pentecost he goes to India and evangelizes…and is eventually martyred there.

 

To distill this down to an even finer point…some of us say we are ready to die for the Lord…abandon Him at some point in our life…doubt Him at other times…but, if we stay close to Christ and His Church then God will always welcome us home no matter how far we have strayed…and God might even call us to actually give up our life for Christ.

 

The words at the bottom of the Divine Mercy image are as critical to our life today as they ever have been…we need to be like St. Thomas who said at some point in his life and meant it for the rest of his life - “Jesus, I trust in you!”

 

 

Easter Tuesday, 2023 "Do not touch me?"

 

Homily for Easter Tuesday, 2023 - "Do not touch me?"

 

It is not the case that Jesus does not want anyone to touch him.  He tells Thomas to touch his side and believe.

 

It is also not that Jesus doesn’t want women touching Him.  In Matthew 28:9 we read that this same Mary Magdalene and some other women met the resurrected Lord and fell at his feet and EMBRACED his feet.

 

So why, in this instance, does Jesus tell Mary Magdalene to not touch Him?  Saint John Chrysostom says that this was like Jesus telling Mary Magdalene “do not think that I have a mortal life, and can associate with you as before”

 

Again, as I have said so often, we have an infinitely greater gift than getting to touch Jesus, we are able to receive him into our bodies, and as St. Augustine said 1700 years ago, our bodies digest ordinary food to turn ordinary food into our bodies.  But when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, He changes our bodies into His body.

Holy Thursday 2023

 

Holy Thursday 2023

 

I have heard it a lot from various people inside and outside the Catholic Church that the Mass should be much more like the Last Supper.  These persons say that the Catholic Church has added lots of unnecessary trappings to the Mass…incense, bells, candles, high altars…and that none of those things were present at the First Mass which was the Last Supper.  These persons say the Catholic Mass should be celebrated as close as possible to the Last Supper.

 

But you never hear people make that argument about Christmas (Which means Christ’s Mass)…no one thinks that we should celebrate Christmas in a cave nor a barn…we have added lots of things as the world has come to appreciate Christmas (Christ’s Mass) more…we have added evergreen trees, a symbol of unending life that Christ came to bring…we have added lots of lights…which remind us of Christ being the light of the world…we give gifts as a reminder of the greatest gift of all time…

 

The fact is that it took the Catholic Church about 400 years to work out the Doctrine of the Trinity…and so lots of other things…like Chirstmas and the Mass in general, have added things through the centuries.

 

When people see the Mass taking place, they need to recognize, instantly, that this is something that is not just a circle of friends…this is not just a prayer service…this is a participation in the one sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary.

 

And therefore our charity, symbolize by my washing the feet of 12 people tonight, needs to flow from and lead us back to the Catholic Mass.  It is a consistent upward spiral, if we continue to participate in Mass and then go serve the poor. 

 

May the Mass, and our charitable works that flow out of each Mass, continue to draw more and more people home to the Catholic Church…the Church that Christ has established for the salvation of every person on Earth.

Psalm 14 on Prayer and Fear

 I was praying the Liturgy of the Hours recently, and a line from Psalm 14 really struck me.

"They never pray to the Lord

See how they tremble with fear

Without cause for fear"

Latin in the Mass

 One of the 4 Pillar documents of the 2nd Vatican Council, the document governing revisions to the Mass, (Sacrosanctum Conclilium) in paragraph 54 says this: "Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them."

So here are some of the most common Latin Mass parts:

Gloria VIII

Credo III

Sanctus:

Pater Noster:

Agnus Dei

Mass "Ad Orientem"?

Mass "Ad Orientem" (The Priest Facing the East) or, as it is typically referred to falsely as "The priest celebrating Mass with his back to the people", is the way 22 of the 23 Catholic Rites celebrate Mass EXCLUSIVELY.

Some in the Latin Church advocate celebrating the Mass "versus populum" or with the priest facing the people.

And some dioceses in the United States have started REQUIRING Mass be celebrated by the priest "facing the people" sighting the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, paragraph 299.

Father Z has written over and over again about how the translation of paragraph 299 of the GIRM, and the subsequent request for clarification sent to Rome on GIRM 299, expressly forbids dioceses from banning Mass celebrated by the priest "With his back to the people"

I quote from some of his article below:

GIRM 299 actually says that what is desirable, when possible, is that the altar be separated from the wall, not that Mass be versus populum.

The GIRM 299 in Latin from the Vatican: "Altare maius exstruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit, quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit."

The main altar should be built separated from the wall, which is useful wherever it is possible, so that it can be easily walked around and a celebration toward the people can be carried out. (Emphases added)

THAT’s what the Latin really says.

On 25 September 2000 the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued a clarification (Prot. No. 2036/00/L) regarding 299 in the Latin GIRM. That clarification, Responsum, says:

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has been asked whether the expression in n. 299 of the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani constitutes a norm according to which the position of the priest versus absidem [ad orientem] is to be excluded. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, after mature reflection and in light of liturgical precedents, responds: Negatively, and in accordance with the following explanation.

The explanation includes different elements which must be taken into account. First, the word expedit does not constitute a strict obligation but a suggestion that refers to the construction of the altar a pariete sejunctum(detached from the wall).  It does not require, for example, that existing altars be pulled away from the wall. The phrase ubi possibile sit (where it is possible) refers to, for example, the topography of the place, the availability of space, the artistic value of the existing altar, the sensibility of the people participating in the celebrations in a particular church, etc.

Expedit refers to a suggestion about the construction of the altar.  It is suggested that, where possible (depending on the topography of the sanctuary, etc.) there be an altar that can be used from either side, that can be used for versus populum Masses.  It does NOT say that versus populum is preferable."

4th Sunday of Lent, 2023 - "Light and Darkness of Soul"

 

4^th Sunday of Lent – “Light and Darkness of Soul”

 

A theme that we hear throughout all of the readings for this Sunday is physical blindness, physical sight, spiritual blindness and spiritual sight.

 

I typically read the readings for the upcoming Sunday on Monday at some point and then see what happens over the week.  And so every priest and monk and nun and religious brother and sister around the world promises to pray from this book, which is called the “Liturgy of the Hours” at least 5 times each day throughout the day.  The first “Liturgy of the Hours” that most priests and monks and nuns pray is called the “Office of Readings” which consists of 3 Psalms followed by a page from Sacred Scripture and then a page from a saint.

 

All of this to say that this Wednesday, while praying the Office of Readings, I came across my homily.  The reading was from a letter written by Saint Theophilus of Antioch, and I was just like to read a few excerpts from his letter.

 

“Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth.  They get to know things that are different from each other.  They distinguish light and darkness, ugliness and beauty, elegance and inelegance, proportion and lack of proportion…God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, provided that they keep the eyes of their mind open.  All have eyes, but have some eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun.  Because the blind cannot see the sun, it does not follow that the sun does not shine.  The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes.  In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.

 

A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light.  No one who has sin within him can see God.”

Let me, Fr. Hollowell, say here that the best way to deal with spiritual blindness is by taking advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  You will literally feel a weight lifted off of you, a physical weight, particularly if you have not been for a long time.  Not only that, but when you come, the Sacrament of Reconciliation gives you new grace to move forward. 

 

Saint Theophilus of Antioch says later “If you understand this, and live in purity and holiness and justice, you may see God.”  About 99.9999% of time, it is not a physical vision, but rather when you pray and quiet yourself, you will experience a calm, quiet peace…which is what God desires for each of us at every moment of our lives.

Third Sunday of Lent, 2023

Jesus tells the woman at the well in today’s Gospel that “the hour is coming when people will worship the Father in Spirit and truth”

 

Saint John Chrysostom, a saint in the 300’s, (whose relic is on our rerdos back here, which, by the way, these relics were donated by the Hopwood’s to Saint Paul’s.  So the first one, as you are looking up here left to right is Saint Basil.  The next one is a relic from St. Philip the Apostle.  On the other side of the Tabernacle is St. Gregory of Nyssa and then the one on the end is St. John Chrysostom.  Relics are meant to hearken back to the days when the first Catholics would have Mass in the catacombs over the dead bodies of the saints.  Each Catholic altar also has a relic of a saint in it.

 

Anyway, St. John Chrysostom said about this line that Jesus speaks to the woman that the hour is coming when people will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, that Jesus is talking about the Catholic Church as being the place where this true worship takes place.

 

The Catholic Mass has been handed on through 2,000 years

 

There have been lots of changes through those 2,000 years, but the essence remains unchanged

 

There are now tens of thousands of denominations, and a lot of those denominations strive to worship more spontaneously than the Catholic Mass, but even then, there is a form to their spontaneous-ness.  No denomination would say that complete and utter chaos is worship, so various denominations might not be aware of the form their worship takes, but there is always some form or another to any worship.

 

So the Catholic Mass has a form that has been preserved for 2,000 years.  At this and every Mass we understand ourselves to be joining something that is already going on. Jesus appears on this altar when the words of consecration are prayed over bread and wine.  Heaven, Calvary and this Church are intermingled in a glorious way.

 

At this and every Mass, literally the hour has come where we are worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth.

2nd Sunday of Lent, 2023

 

2^nd Sunday of Lent, 2023 “Don’t Chase Mountaintop Experiences”

 

It is normal, on a human level, to crave mountain top experiences where we see Jesus in all His glory

 

But the vast majority of the time…when we pray we don’t feel anything, at least in the way most of us expect to “FEEL” prayer

 

 

Peter James and John in today’s Gospel see the most amazing sight.  They see Jesus Transfigured, shining and golden and speaking with Moses and Elijah and God the Father tells them “this is my Beloved Son, listen to him.”

 

And yet, 40 days later, when soldiers come to arrest Jesus in the garden, all of the Apostles, including Peter, James and John flee.  Peter, later that same night, denies 3 times that he know Jesus.

 

What this shows is that mountain experiences do not last…ever…on this side of Heaven.  If they ever lasted on this side of Heaven, Peter, James, and John would not have abandon Jesus.

 

What DOES last?…a prayer life that involves listening to the quiet whisperings and nudgeings that God is putting on your heart. 

 

There is no way around it…day in and day out setting time aside for prayer to grow in your relationship with Jesus.  Find whatever works for you to get to a place of silent prayer, listening for the quiet and calm voice of God

 

If you are moving from one mountain top experience to the next, and don’t recognize Jesus at any other time, you will, when the going gets tough, abandon Jesus.

The Litany of Humility - Homily for the First Sunday of Lent, 2023

 

The Litany of Humility – Homily for the First Sunday of Lent 2023

 

In our first reading today, we see Satan tempting our first parents in the Garden of Eden, and he is successful in his temptation.  We see Satan tempting Jesus in our Gospel today, and Jesus thwarts Satan’s pride by pride’s opposite virtue, which is humility.

And the Catholic Church has a “Litany of Humility” which was composed by Cardinal Merry del Val in the early 1900’s and it is this:

 

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Charity is patient, is kind; charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth, bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

To have Charity is to love God above all things for Himself and be ready to renounce all created things rather than offend Him by serious sin. ( Matt. 22:36-40)