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Fr. Paul Wattson, the founder with Mother Lurana White, of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement,
gave hundreds of sermons, conducted numerous retreats, delivered many radio addresses and wrote extensively in four magazines: The Pulpit of the Cross, The Lamp, The Candle and The Antidote.

From time to time we will be putting on our website some of his words.

The selections from the words of Father Paul for the month of February 2010 are:

World Day for Consecrated Life (February 7)
Our Lady of Lourdes Feast
(February 11)
Valentine's Day: Love
(February 14)
World Marriage Day (February 14)
Ash Wednesday (February 17)
Chair of St. Peter Feast (February 22)

One & Two Liners of Fr. Paul




Other Words ...

November

December

January

 





 

 

 

WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE (FEBRUARY 7)

There is no other explanation of the wonderful spectacle of the thousands of women all over the world, wherever the Catholic Church is, living their life in community, in the service and worship of God, in their convents, hospitals and schools, and all kinds of charities, enduring all kinds of hardships and suffering and even death, and persevering in this state of life. And there is no explanation of the secret of it, except this wonderful love which burns in their hearts for the heavenly bridegroom.

Now that which fosters this love and causes it to burn up and kindle within us, is the gift of our Lord himself to us in the Blessed Sacrament. That is the very heart and center of the religious life. It is our exceedingly great privilege to have come out of the world and assemble ourselves in the religious houses, where we practically live under the same roof with our heavenly bridegroom.
In a most intimate manner we receive Him every morning in Holy Communion. When we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, we receive God’s body, blood, soul and divinity, the whole Christ, entering our lips and penetrating the inmost recesses of our heart even as he said, "He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him." [Jn. 6:56] Consequently our life is a life of most intimate union. Our divine Saviour would not only have us live under the same roof with him and dwell in our chapels, which are for the time being a part of the court of Heaven, but he enters into our interior and penetrates our whole being and lives in us in this wonderful union. And all this is the fruit and the result of the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, we should have a most wonderful devotion to the Holy Eucharist. (Fr. Paul Retreat Conference Aug. 19, 1926)

For a printable version of this article click here.


OUR LADY OF LOURDES FEAST (FEBRUARY 11)

The Blessed Virgin appeared in the Pyrenees Mountains in a place called Lourdes, to the daughter of poor parents, and when the child, beholding the beautiful Lady, asked her who she was, she answered, “ I am the Immaculate Conception.” And she not only so declared herself, but told the child that she would confirm and prove it by performing miracles of healing in that place, and suddenly there gushed forth from the rock, a new fountain of waters.

During the past seventy-five years thousands of miracles have taken place at Lourdes and their authenticity cannot be denied.

Mary, whom our Lord gave to us to be our mother, after he died for us on the cross, is the Queen of Angels and Saints, crowned by Almighty God with unlimited power. Knowing her motherly heart and her ability to save and help us, through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, we should, with confidence, have recourse to her.(Fr. Paul Radio Talk of Ave Maria Hour, Aug. 11, 1935)

For a printable version of this article click here.


VALENTINE'S DAY: LOVE (FEBRUARY 14)

To pray and work for Church Unity is a very special part of the vocation of the Society of the Atonement. There are two Commandments common to the religion of the Jew, the Protestant and the Catholic, and if all Jews, all Protestants, all Catholics obeyed these two Commandments fully and perfectly, neither Paganism or Communism would long continue to threaten the destruction of Christian civilization, and the war clouds which hang heavily with mumbling thunder of destruction over Europe and America would disappear very quickly and the sun of justice, with its warm beams of love, prosperity and peace, would flood the earth.

Those two Commandments are: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [Mk.12:30]

The division of Christendom into East and West a thousand years ago was not produced by doctrinal differences, for the Orthodox East was in Creedal agreement with the West, save in some minor details. The cleavage came about through the failure of both the Latins and the Greeks to fulfill the new Commandment, which Christ gave to his disciples “that you love one another as I have loved you.” [Jn.13:34] It sprang out of the racial hatred of the Greek and the Roman.

The religious wars of Germany, France, Spain and England with their terrible toll of life were the first fruits of that spirit of hatred toward their Christian brethren.

It was the preaching of the love of God and of our neighbor by St. Francis of Assisi, which healed the divisions of Christendom in his day.

The prayer, which Jesus Christ addressed to His Father in Heaven in the upper room of Jerusalem on the night of his betrayal to be crucified because of the hatred of the high priests against him was “That they all may be one, as you, Father, in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us.” [Jn. 17:21]

The Friars of the Atonement call upon their listeners, whether they be Catholics, Protestants or Jews, to fulfill the great Commandment of the Law: You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, mind and strength. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. In the fulfillment of those two Commandments you will answer the prayer of Christ to his Father: “That they all may be one as you, Father, in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us.” (Fr. Paul Radio Talk of St. Anthony House, Mar. 6, 1938)

For a printable version of this article click here.


WORLD MARRIAGE DAY (FEBRUARY 14)

The principal agency by which the laity do their part in the propagation of the Faith and the increase and multiplication of the regenerate children of God is through marriage, and when a Catholic man and woman unite and join themselves together and become one flesh at the altar rail, they ought to understand that the chief purpose of their coming together is that they might jointly fulfill the divine command to increase and multiply the seed of the Atonement, the children of God, the heirs of the kingdom of Heaven. Even as God sent the children of Israel into the promised land that they might increase and multiply to fill it with the seed of Abraham, so will he fulfill the covenant he made with the faithful that he would multiply their seed until they would become in numbers as the stars in Heaven or the sands of the seashore. And the spiritual “Israel,” the redeemed and elect of Christ, should recognize it as their duty to contribute their share towards hastening the day when the proclamation of the Angel will be fulfilled and declared before the throne of God, “The Kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of Christ, the Lord’s anointed.” (Apoc.11:15]

One of the arguments for small, restricted families, which prevails even among Catholics in our day, is that the cost of feeding, clothing and educating children is so great, that they are justified in restricting the number to two or three at the most. But Catholic parents, if they have the spirit of Christ and his desire to lay down his life that the redeemed may live, will willingly make the sacrifice which the production of a large family must impose upon them.

But, whereas marriage is the principal agency through which the layfolk fulfill the divine command to increase and multiply the seed of the Atonement until the regenerate fill the land, they have not discharged their full duty by begetting sons and daughters unto God and having large families. They still must have some share in the evangelization of the world in carrying out Christ’s command: “Go into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature, and make disciples of all nations.” [Mk.16:15]

It is the special office of the priests and the religious men and women to become missionaries in all lands, but, when some of our American young men enroll themselves in a missionary society like that of Maryknoll, and the young women enroll in the Maryknoll Sisterhood, there is still the problem how they are going to be supported. When they go to China, Japan or Korea they will need money to build houses, churches, and hospitals, and they look back to the faithful at home and the faithful have their opportunity to share in the work of propagating the Faith by making a sacrifice of the money which they have earned.

That is the divinely ordained economic way by which those that stay at home can still do their part in obedience to the divine command, “Go into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature.” (Fr. Paul Sermon in Our Lady of the Angels Chapel, Graymoor, Oct. 24, 1937)

For a printable version of this article click here.


ASH WEDNESDAY (FEBRUARY 17)

Brothers and sisters, we are once more in the midst of the holy season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Our Holy Mother, the Church, sets before her children as an example, all things of our Savior. And inasmuch as he, led by the Holy Spirit, went into the wilderness and fasted forty days and forty nights, so the Church has instituted for us this holy season of Lent in order that in some degree at least, we may imitate our Savior in this regard. It is a time when we ought to seek our greater sanctification and enter into the spirit of these forty days, in order that, as spiritual athletes, we may run more diligently and more effectively in the race that is set before us, which has as its final goal the attainment of the Beatific Vision.

The principle of self-denial is fundamental to our holy religion. Jesus said, “Except a man take up his cross and deny himself daily, he cannot be my disciple.” [Lk.9:23] There are multitudes of people who have rejected Christ just on account of this self-denial and this taking up of the cross. They do not want to deny themselves in anything. They want to walk after the sight of their eyes and after the desires of the carnal man to the limit, but any religion that invites them to a crucifixion of self or carrying of a cross, they reject.

Dives feasted sumptuously every day. He did not restrain himself in the least, but the time came, when there was a funeral and Mr. Dives’ fine body, that was clothed in linen and gorgeous purple every day, was put under the ground and a whole army of worms came and made a feast on him. And Mr. Dives found himself in a place of torment where he could not even have a drop of water to satisfy the thirst which he had indulged so freely during his life. “He that sows to the field of self-indulgence will get a harvest of corruption out of it.”[Gal.6:8] That is the divine law and there is no escape from it.

Now, we are to understand the wisdom and the purpose of God behind the life of imitating Christ. Our Lord was led by the Holy Spirit that “does all things well.” [See Acts. 10:38] When he went into the wilderness to fast and to pray for forty days, he had a purpose in it. He was preparing for a spiritual combat with the devil. He went through the combat and came out triumphant, and then, when the devil left him, the angels came and ministered to him.

The devil playing upon the great exhaustion and hunger which Christ had after fasting so long, invited him to exercise his power independent of the will of the Father, by converting stones into bread. The answer was, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” [Lk.4:4; Dt. 8:3]and when the devil was finished and our Lord won the victory over him, then was the time to take nourishment. He did not have to turn the stones into bread, but these angels brought him food, delicious food, and he was refreshed after his long fast.

He wishes us for a little while through this desert of sin, to exercise discipline and a certain degree of fasting, nothing extraordinary, just enough to make things wholesome for us, and then he invites us to the banquet of the saints through eternity. But in the midst of this pilgrimage of the world, he is not unmindful of our needs, and so he gives to us a wonderful refreshment.

If we are faithful and practice our religion, he gives us a bread that “comes down from Heaven.” [Jn.6:50] And as he himself said, “The bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world,” [Jn.6:52] and he gives us that in the Holy Eucharist.

The banquet is spread every day. Every day this new manna comes down from Heaven at the words of the priest in the consecration of the host. Under the hands and at the words of the priest, though the outer appearance remains the same, the substance of the host is changed into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, and this is offered by the loving Savior for the nourishment of his people. And that bread ought to be our delight, our viaticum, our nourishment as we travel along the journey of life, sustained and refreshed by it. And if we use it rightly and with the proper dispositions and follow the directions of the divine physician about conducting our life according to his holy Commandments, we shall be immensely refreshed and immensely consoled by that heavenly banquet, the sweetness of which does not pall upon the taste as we receive it more frequently, but rather increases by the frequentation with which it is received. (Fr. Paul Sermon First Sunday of Lent , Feb. 21, 1926)

For a printable version of this article click here.


CHAIR OF ST. PETER FEAST (FEBRUARY 22)

I told you how The Lamp was lighted yesterday morning. The next development in the Church unity vocation of the Society of the Atonement was the origin of the Octave itself. It came about in this wise: Just about the time we were preparing copy for the first issue of The Lamp, there appeared a notable book in England entitled England and the Holy See, the author of which was the Rev. Spencer Jones, M.A., the rector of an Anglican parish, and the preface was written by a no less distinguished layman than Lord Halifax, president of the English Church Union. In this book was set forth very lucidly the position of the Holy See as the center of Catholic unity, and it was an essay to inquire whether some of the obstacles which stood in the way of the return of the Anglican body to its pre-Reformation relationship to the same Apostolic See, could be overcome.

Reading the book we put ourselves into communication with Rev. Spencer Jones and he responded with alacrity and became one of the regular contributors towards the pages of The Lamp. In the course of time, or about four years after The Lamp was lighted, Mr. Jones, who had formed the Society of St. Thomas in England, suggested in a letter that it would be an excellent thing to arrange to have each year on S t. Peter’s feast sermons preached in the various churches bearing upon the Papal claims. This was the seed thought which suggested to the mind of the editor of The Lamp the Church Unity Octave, because it occurred to me that there were two feasts very happily in juxtaposition in the mind of our Lord in his prayer, “That the world may believe that you, Father, have me.” {Jn. 17:21]

These two feasts come in the month of January, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome and the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The witness of The Lamp was to the Chair of Peter as the center of a reunited Christendom and, therefore, it desired to exalt that particular feast and call the attention of the world to it and to make it the beginning of a time of prayer when the faithful everywhere might unite at that time in echoing the prayer of our great high priest that we might all be one. It seemed the best of all times for such united prayer because it culminated with the feast of the conversion of the great Apostle to the Gentiles. First of all we must have unity, and as a result of unity then the world will be conquered, the cross will everywhere triumph and Christ will be recognized universally as the Savior of all people. (Fr. Paul Sermon Jan. 21, 1929)

For a printable version of this article click here.

ONE & TWO LINERS OF FR. PAUL

Don’t be fooled!

Where we expect the least, we sometimes find the most. (Fr. Paul to to Bro. Anthony Wallerstein, s.a., July 22,1907)

Happy in old age:

I note that you have been through some pretty severe operations; but it is quite wonderful to live to be 84 years of age and at the same time to be cheerful and happy, owing to the never-failing presence of God the Holy Sprit, exercising you in the Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity. (Fr. Paul to M. McG. of New York City, May 24, 1935)

Humor in working for Christian unity:

I note that you belong to the High Church of England. In other words, you are one of our neighbors. I hope, however, you will cross the street some day and enter the Fold of Peter. ( Fr. Paul to McC. of Beacon, N.Y., Jan. 9, 1933)

                                         For a printable version of this article click here.


Contact The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement with your questions or comments at:

 

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement
P.O. Box 300
Garrison, NY 10524-0301

(800) 338-2620
info@atonementfriars.org

 

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, P.O. Box 300, Garrison, NY 10524-0301, Tel. 800/338-2620

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