Transcript

It's so good to be back up here again with all of you.

It's so good to be here together for Defending the Faith.

It really is a joy for me to be able to share from my new book, Angels and Saints, which is really drawing from the theme of this weekend's conference, holy and heroic, because what I would like to focus on is how much help we can get from those holy and heroic souls that are in glory right now, and how their friendship with us is so important to our everyday life.

Let's begin our time together in a word of prayer.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Almighty God, our Father in Heaven, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ.

We thank you for the whole Christ, not just the physical body which is in glory, but for the mystical body which is in glory, with the angels and saints united as members of his body.

We also thank you for the privilege of being part of your family as the church militant, united as we are to those who are making up the church suffering.

But not three churches, Lord, but one family in three states.

Help us as pilgrims to understand your purpose and plan for us, and for our loved ones, and for the mission of your family here on earth as the church militant extends the new evangelization.

Help us and hear us once again as we pray.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saint Francis of Assisi, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The title of the talk is something that we have heard many times, Angels and Saints.

But sometimes you're too close to a peculiar and special grace to recognize how peculiar it is.

In this case, for two thousand years we have been blessed to be part of a divine family that is composed of angels and saints.

But when you really go back and study the family lore, and look at the roots, and consider the change that takes place from the Old Testament to the New, I think you begin to grow in your understanding and also an appreciation for something that happened with the death and resurrection of Jesus that we have simply come to take for granted.

Matthew seems to refer to something along these lines in his gospel, chapter 27, where we read about what happened when Jesus died.

Beginning in verse 51, Behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

And then he alone of the four evangelists goes on to add, the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

And then he goes on to describe how the centurion at the foot of the cross said, truly this was the Son of God.

But that one verse, Matthew 27, verse 52, stands out for us biblical scholars as one of the most perplexing verses in the New Testament.

Because he doesn't go on to say another thing about, wait a minute, who were they?

When did they come out?

Well, after the resurrection.

How long did they stick around?

Doesn't say.

We could speculate.

Where did they go from there?

We're just simply left to wonder.

Because there's so much about the future life that is sort of reserved.

Theologians can speculate, but so much of it is obscure.

Fortunately, we do have other passages in the New Testament that illuminate this mystery somewhat, but not really answering the question.

One of my favorite passages is taken from the book of Hebrews.

If you have a Bible, look on with me here.

What I want to do in the first half of the presentation this evening is to sort of lay a theological foundation for who we are as this familia dei, and how we are composed of angels and saints, but what a humongous difference it makes as we move from the old to the new.

Because in the Old Testament, up in heaven, there were angels, period, and there were no saints.

At least there is no record of that.

In the New Testament, suddenly we see no longer a division between the worship of the angels and the presence of God, and that holy glory cloud, and then the cloud of incense and burning carcasses on the altars of the Jerusalem Temple, where the priests are leading in worship in a way that just simply involves ritual slaughter.

In the Old Testament, angels were in the presence of God, period.

In the New Testament, there are angels and saints.

This was brought to my attention by Rabbi Joshua Berman in his study of the temple, where he just makes this observation in passing, that in the Hebrew Bible, nobody is ever referred to as a saint.

I'm like, wait a minute, Noah.

In Genesis 6, 9, he points out, no, he's described as a righteous man.

Zadik is not the same as Kodesh.

Well, what about Moses in Deuteronomy 33, verse 1? Well, he's referred to as a man of God, but not Kodesh.

Well, what about David in 1 Samuel 13, 14? I mean, a man after God's own heart.

What more could you ask?

But Berman's right.

No individual is ever referred to as a saint.

And so we can understand where we got this from when we hear the Gloria, right?

To salus sanctus.

You alone are holy.

That is the inheritance we have from our Jewish roots in the Old Testament.

Because in the Old Testament, the tabernacle erected there at Mount Sinai was Kodesh, holy.

The temple that Solomon constructed in Jerusalem was Kodesh.

It was set apart.

It was consecrated.

It was singularly devoted and belonging to God.

The Ark of the Covenant, the priestly vestments, the stone tablets, these things are all described as holy, but even the priest is never referred to as being a saint.

Curious, isn't it?

How we don't even notice what we don't even notice.

I didn't notice that until a rabbi just simply made that comment in passing, and then I began to scour the pages of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.

And sure enough, I discovered he was right.

And yet there were people who were being formed in virtue, in righteousness, not just Noah, Moses, and David, but there were many others as well.

And this is exactly what we find described in the book of Hebrews.

In Hebrews chapter 11, we have the famous faith chapter.

We begin with a definition of faith in verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the proof of things not seen.

For by it the men of old received divine approval.

And it goes on to enumerate these men of faith, beginning with Abel, who offered an acceptable sacrifice that was pleasing to the Lord before he becomes a first kind of martyr, the proto-martyr.

And then likewise, Enoch, who walked with God and who was taken up so that he didn't see death.

Noah also is described as righteous by faith.

Abraham and Sarah.

And it goes on to identify even more.

What do they all have in common?

They all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Interesting.

They had not received what was promised.

Even after Israel entered the promised land and inherited Canaan as their own, even after it became the Eretz Israel, the land of Israel, still those who were living and walking by faith didn't consider themselves of having become the recipients of the promise.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

They desire a better country that is a heavenly one.

And it goes on, therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared for them a city.

What city?

We know what city.

Jerusalem.

But which Jerusalem?

Because a lot of these Old Testament heroes went to Jerusalem as pilgrims, served in Jerusalem as priests, reigned in Jerusalem as kings.

And yet, even after ticking off the list from Isaac to Jacob to Moses to Joshua, all the way down through Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel, we come to the conclusion and the climax of this long list.

And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised.

Whether they lived in the land or outside the land.

Whether they were in the temple or they never saw it.

Since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Who is the author referring to as us?

The New Testament saints.

And so having considered all of these people who make up sort of like the Hall of Fame in ancient Israel, the Old Testament, what has become of them?

Well, to this day there's a rabbinic tradition that is embedded in the synagogue liturgy where they were viewed as being in Sheol.

That's the Hebrew word for the shadowy underworld.

The Greek term that translates Sheol is familiar to us.

It's Hades.

But Jesus brought about something against which the gates of Hades could not prevail.

And as Christians we believe in this, but the rabbis still await it, thinking of it as a promise that has not yet been fulfilled.

So there in Hebrews 12, having gone through that faith chapter, that long list of all of these heroes of the faith in the Old Testament, we read something that's somewhat startling.

It isn't startling, but it ought to be.

In Hebrews 12 verse 1 we read, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.

Notice the author doesn't say, therefore, since we are inspired by the memory of so many heroic forerunners.

No. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of what?

Witnesses.

Notice that the cloud that is so familiar to the Jews in the Old Testament as being the dwelling place of God in glory and the place where the angels are sometimes seen in the visions of the prophets.

That cloud where God dwells with the angels is now a dwelling place for all of these witnesses who surround us.

And notice it's not a cloud of spectators.

They're not just kind of up there in the stands looking down on us, taking sides.

They're not just cheering us on.

They're not just like Paula Abdul or Simon Cole, you know, like, you know, judging our performances.

No. They are witnesses who are invested in us in a way that exceeds our awareness of them.

We are united to them in the Spirit through charity.

They are invested in us through charity that has been perfected.

So we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.

Therefore, we must lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

Looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

We're going to come back to that notion of joy and how endurance might bring hardship, suffering, affliction, and even sorrow, but not a sorrow that robs us of joy, but a sorrow that through faith, hope, and love can actually intensify that sense of joy.

So what do we take away from all of this?

Well, the writer doesn't leave us to speculate.

Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.

Make straight paths for your feet.

In other words, run the race that's set before you just like they did.

And recognize that they're not just looking on, they are bearing witness.

And the term there for witness in the Greek really denotes an active participation in our own struggles.

Because it's sort of set up like a courtroom, corresponding to the visions of John in the Apocalypse, where these witnesses give sworn testimony through prayers that go up like incense before the altar of God in heaven.

And so often the graces that come down upon us are in direct response to the prayers of the elders, and the martyrs, and the saints in Revelation 4, 5, especially in chapters 6 and 7 and beyond.

These are older brothers and sisters.

These are perfected saints.

These are the ones who finally received, after Jesus' death and resurrection, what all of the heroes of faith in the Old Testament longed for, but didn't get.

Again, we don't really know how long those saints stuck around the streets of Jerusalem.

We don't know exactly how they were transported from their earthly witness to this heavenly role, where they can pray for us and bring down upon us graces and mercies.

All we know is the climax that we read in Hebrews 12, that says in verse 22 something, once again, that ought to startle us, but it doesn't. We read, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

Not, you will come, or you can see through the eyes of faith, or eventually you might get around to arriving there.

It's rather, you have come to Mount Zion, into the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.

Literally myriads, an innumerable host, like 10,000 to the 10,000th power.

The angels were familiar to all of the faithful in the Old Covenant.

There's an angel there in Genesis 3, the cherubim with the flaming sword.

There are angels there with Abraham in Genesis 18. The angel that wrestles with Jacob later on.

The angel that leads Moses as Moses led Israel through the wilderness.

The angels that appear to the judges of Israel.

The angels that dwell in the temple of Jerusalem.

The angels that appear to the prophets.

The angels that surround the throne of God, as Isaiah describes it, when he hears them singing, holy, holy, holy.

But in all of those episodes, and in all of these scenery, you never find anybody that is human in that assembly above.

There are angels, but not angels and saints, until the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And suddenly the gates are opened wide, and the whole family of God is united in charity and in holiness.

Therefore, I want to tell you something that I want you to really remember, and that is, whenever you hear people talk about the church, we can assume that they know what they're talking about at one level.

And yet, I want to propose to you that when people use the word church and mean nothing more than the local parish, or maybe the chancery, the cathedral, or maybe something really big like St. Peter's, and the Vatican, and the Pope, we're not really discussing the church in its entirety.

Because the heavenly church is not a different church.

There aren't two churches, one up there and one down here.

There is one church, because there is one liturgy, and one Father, and one body of Christ, and one Spirit who unites us, so that through the sacraments, we are united to them in faith, hope, and love, and they are invested in us in a fraternal love, the likes of which we never found in our elder siblings.

And this is just what's going on all around us, whether we know it or not.

The heavenly church is not another church.

It's the church in its essence.

The church in her essential reality.

The church in its essential perfection.

Because only up there are the members of the church in glory.

They're not sinning.

They're not suffering.

Whereas down here, the church militant, the pilgrim church, is both sinning and suffering.

And not just the lowly lay people who gather for defending the faith, but our priests, and our bishops, and even our Pope.

They all go to confession.

Imagine that.

The shepherd has laid his life down for the sheep, and yet they continue to stray and wander.

Even our highest leaders still sin against their Savior and King, just like we do.

And then there is a third state of the church, the church suffering.

Where they're suffering, but they're no longer sinning.

And so they have great suffering, great sorrow, for which we need to pray and sacrifice.

And don't ever forget that.

But because they're suffering but no longer sinning, they have a joy the likes of which we have never known.

Well, how can it be both the sorrow and the joy?

Well, ask Our Lady of sorrows, because She is also the cause of our joy.

So it is that the church below, the church suffering, makes up an essential part of the church.

And this is a vision that we need to recover.

This is a reality that we need to stay focused on.

And Vatican II did a great job.

One of the sixteen documents of Vatican II is entitled Lumen Gentium.

That is, the dogmatic constitution of the church.

And the last two chapters really zero in on this mystery, especially chapter seven, which focuses on the pilgrim church in union with the church in heaven.

And it goes on to describe how the pilgrim church enters sacraments and institutions which pertain to the present time, has the appearance of this world.

And yet, it goes on to recognize that we, as disciples and followers of Jesus, are exiles on earth.

And then that there are others who are purified, and others who are in glory.

These three states.

For all who are in Christ, having a spirit, form three churches.

No, they form one church, and cleave together in Him.

Therefore, the union of the pilgrims with the brethren who have gone to sleep in the peace of Christ is not weakened or interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the perpetual faith of the church, it is strengthened.

For by reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with Christ than we are, they establish the whole church more firmly in holiness.

For after they've been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord through Him and with Him and in Him, they don't cease to intercede with the Father for us.

They don't intercede, you know, for eight hours a day.

It's 24-7. They're praising God and thanking Him, but as part of their own worship is this intercessory power that is released in our own experience.

I love this vision.

You know, when I came into the church twenty-eight years ago, I came across an old manual that was used in theology classes, used in a seminary.

And I was curious because the church was described with a Latin phrase Societas Perfecta.

A perfect society.

When I read that, I'm thinking, wait a minute, I appreciate the Catholic Church for its beauty, its grandeur, for its historical rootage, for its 2,000 years spiritual lifespan, for the amazing gift of the sacraments and the institutions that we have and the sacraments and the sacramentals, but perfect society?

I just wasn't seeing it.

Not in my parish, not in my pew, not in my family, but I realized as I began to focus on the vision of the church up in heaven, the church in its essence, that is perfected.

And through the Holy Spirit, by means of the sacraments, the church up there, working with Jesus through the power of the Spirit, is perfecting us.

This is why I think it's preferable to never say that the church's sins are as follows.

No, the members of the church can sin, but the church in its essence is holy.

The church in its essential reality is the church in glory.

They cannot lose their status.

We're on probation.

We're still running the race.

And not even Mother Teresa was a canonizable saint until she drew her last breath, just like no runner wins the race, even if he's a mile ahead of the people behind him until he's crossed the line.

And so, they're praying for us now and at the hour of our death because they know that we're suffering and sinning.

The church below is suffering involuntarily, but we have the opportunity to still suffer voluntarily out of faith, hope, and love.

For he who suffers has ceased from sin, first Peter reminds us.

When we take up the cross and follow him, enduring the pain for the joy set before us, then and only then does it really sink in and transform us.

We are formed by the Spirit to transform the world, but Jesus wants to transform us.

He doesn't simply want to use priests to transubstantiate bread and wine into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ.

That is not the goal.

That is a means to an end.

The end is to transubstantiate sinners into saints, to get pilgrims home, to help those runners finish the race, cross the line, and enter into that family reunion that is the only inheritance that faith is fulfilled by.

This is who we are as Catholic Christians, and this is what we do, and this is why we believe that this great cloud of witnesses surrounds us.

You know, it's important for people like me who study academic theology to step out of that and to focus upon not just the subject matter, but the reality, the supernatural mystery.

Because we're not saved by Christology, we're saved by Christ.

And that doesn't relativize or diminish the importance of Christology, it just subordinates it so that our study of Christ is really ordered to our union with Him.

Right?

I often find myself preoccupied with study and lecture preparation and drafting books and editing and all of that.

You know, then suddenly I get interrupted.

You know, oh Lord, people want so much from me.

And He whispers, no, they want me, not you.

You know, that's helpful.

And then I say, but Lord, you're asking so much of me.

He said, your problem, Scott, is that you're asking so little from me.

Because if you ask more from me, you'd realize I'm not asking anything from you except that you open yourself up to me.

What a difference it makes to discover that we please God the most, not as employees, but as children.

This came home to me in a vivid way, moving from the theory to the practice, from the theology to the experience, about 13 years ago when I was literally a pilgrim, on a pilgrimage with Kimberly and our kids to Roman Assisi.

Our son, Joseph, who's now 20, was just 7 at the time, and I was called out of class and I rushed to the hospital because he had an emergency appendectomy just 10 days before we were supposed to leave for the pilgrimage.

So I just kind of assumed that one of us is going to have to stay behind.

But the doctor gave us an assurance, no, he should be recovered fully and be able to come along.

And so he did.

And the flight over to Rome was without any problem.

And the first day or so when we drove up from Rome to Assisi, he seemed to be fit as a fiddle.

And then as now, he was one of the more strongly constituted Han males of the five.

And so we were sort of confident.

But the second day I began to notice, and so did Kimberly, that he was stooping over.

He was wincing.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

And then a few more steps and he'd double over again.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

Just a stomach cramp.

I'm probably, you know, hungry or something.

You could tell it was more, but he didn't want to admit it.

A couple of hours later, he could barely take a step.

We had to take our baby David out of the stroller and put our seven-year-old in.

And it became worse until I realized, I better hail a cab.

I better find a doctor.

And with the help of our guide, I did.

And the doctor looked at him and said, we better have some tests run.

We better have an x-ray.

So we took him to the most podunk hospital I've ever seen before, with all due respect to the residents of Assisi.

That little hospital we walked into, you know, to get an x-ray.

The x-ray technician was also a part-time fireman.

He came and took off his galoshes and squashed the roach in the middle of the floor and began the tests.

We found the doctor a little while later and he began to poke and prod and Joe could just win some more, you know, but he said, you know, he's going to be all right as long as the pain stays on this side.

But as soon as it goes to the other side, then we're going to have some problems because we'll probably need to get some surgery here.

And he emphasized here with his thick Italian accent.

And I could tell that as a surgeon, this was not the place he wanted to do surgery here.

It was too primitive.

So we were checked in and I stayed with Joe that whole evening and the whole night.

And he was moaning and groaning in a way that I never saw.

I just couldn't believe the strongly constituted son was in such agony, writhing.

He couldn't sit up, he couldn't stand, he couldn't walk.

9 p.m., 10 p.m., I said, is it still over on this side?

And he said, no, oh, it's on that side.

And he hadn't heard what the doctor had said.

So he didn't know what that meant.

But I did.

And so I ran down the hall and the nurses who only spoke Italian, they let me write a little sign, you know, pain on other side, danger, get this to dottore.

And so they called the doctor and he let them know that he would be in first thing in the morning.

And I'm like, okay, welcome to Assisi.

And by 11 p.m., he was just crying.

And I was too.

I felt so helpless as a dad until I realized as he was just coming in and out of this sort of restless sleep, there was something I could do.

And so around midnight, I finally got down on my knees and I began to pray.

But I have to admit, it was hard.

It was like this iron ceiling.

God, are you up there?

And then I felt his presence.

Lord God, help me.

Help my son.

And I sensed his presence.

And then I didn't hear a voice.

And I'm not one who's ever had an apparition.

But I got a sense that he was asking me something.

Like what?

What are you afraid of?

What am I afraid of?

It almost seemed impertinent.

I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my son here in this hospital where the surgery is gonna be done too late in a facility that is too backwards.

What am I afraid of?

I'm afraid of what's gonna happen to my wife, his mom, to their siblings.

We've got over a hundred pilgrims.

I can't even think about them.

But I feel so inadequate as a father, as a husband, as a provider.

What am I afraid of?

That's what I'm afraid of.

And lightning didn't strike me.

Instead, I got a sense that my Father in Heaven was saying, is that all you're afraid of?

And I began to think for a moment.

I realized, no.

You know, I just realized that besides the personal crisis, there would be all kinds of family issues.

But even beyond that, the stuff that I had brought with me on the pilgrimage, there were professional issues, interpersonal tensions.

There were all kinds of fears about deadlines that haven't passed.

And I went on for about five or ten more minutes.

Okay, yeah, I have other fears.

Here they are.

And then I stopped.

And what I heard was saying, the Lord was asking, do you have more fears?

Do you have other fears?

And then it became sort of like a process where you peel back an onion layer by layer.

And I went through layer of fear after layer of fear until after about 35 or 40 minutes, I realized how many fears I had and how much my fears were controlling me.

But then it occurred to me after about 40 or 45 minutes that I hadn't let God in on a single deep dark secret of mine.

What He was showing me was, I know your fears better than you do.

And how much you're controlled by them, and how hard it is to break through.

And at that moment I began to sense that there was more in the room than just the presence of my Heavenly Father.

I began to sense my guardian angel.

I began to sense the presence of Saint Francis of Assisi, and above all, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And so I began to say, Father, I want to address these members of our family.

I mean, if you had flipped on the switch and I had seen the face of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, it wouldn't have made it seem any more real.

I was talking to them.

I was talking to Saint Paul.

I was talking to my guardian angel and Joe's about my fears, about his pain, and about our anguish, but about other things as well.

This went on for an hour, an hour and a half, two hours.

More and more layers, more and more fears, but more and more of a sense of the presence of these brothers and sisters, of these angels and saints surrounding our hospital beds.

I was just about four or five feet from Joe's bed, and that's when I realized around 230, maybe 240 a.m., that he hadn't stirred since I'd gotten down on my knees.

Well, I'm just not that optimistic.

I just assumed that he'd fallen asleep.

I didn't assume anything in the way of healing graces, but I did just sense that room was densely packed by people who were in love with us, and who were concerned about us, and who were praying to God with a faith, with a trust, with a confidence that they knew I lacked, but I needed.

And so in the last few minutes, I just turned to Our Lady, and I'm like, with your permission, I'd like to stay up all night.

I'd like to continue praying.

You know, usually for me, prayer is like rowing a boat upstream, but that night, I didn't even pick up an oar.

It felt like I'd hoisted a sail, and the wind of God's Spirit was blowing my soul in a direction and in a way I had never known, and yet they were there all this time, and they were there before I was even aware of it.

Around 2.45, it occurred to me that, you know, tomorrow morning is coming early.

I'm gonna be needed.

There'll be tests, so I need some sleep, even though I didn't want any at that point, and so I just concluded with a rosary to Our Lady.

And I just felt like all of these brothers and sisters in that room were praying with me in gratitude to God for the gift of a mother for all of God's family.

Shortly after 3 a.m., I just fell fast asleep.

I got up.

I'm not sure exactly what time.

It was around 7.30 a.m., because I could hear the nurses talking.

I could hear the footsteps of the doctor, and then I heard the door open, and so I sat up, and the doctor just poked his head in, and he said, I said, Yes.

And then all of a sudden, we both heard and saw Joseph sit up.

He couldn't move the night before, and he looked at the doctor, and he said, And the doctor started looking at me sort of incredulously, like, what was the scare, you know?

And I'm like, I don't know.

He said, I don't know, Giuseppe.

How do you feel?

Fine.

And sure enough, he did.

And I kind of scratched my head, and I said, Doctor, I'm telling you what happened last night.

You know, there was something else.

I prayed, and I sensed the presence.

He said, I'm a man of science, not a man of religion.

We have to run tests, but I believe you, because when you said it went to the other side, that was what I feared.

And so for the next three or four hours, he ran some tests.

By noon, we were released.

At that point, the doctor was scratching his head, saying, you know, I'm a man of science, I'm not a man of faith, but when you live and you practice medicine in Assisi, things happen.

And that's when I was reminded of St. Teresa Benedicta, Edith Stein, who spoke of the science of the saints, that knowledge that God the Father gives His beloved sons and daughters, that there is something more, something greater, something truly present.

And I am convinced that we have got to tap that power now, not only for the new evangelization, but for our own sanctification, that we have friends in high places like nobody really else does.

Higher places than DC or Wall Street, holier people than popes and bishops, brothers and sisters who have loved us like no siblings ever could on this planet, and angels as well, garden angels like Christ promised us.

You know, it's nice to have powerful and wealthy friends, but I want to assure you that all of us have been given a friend in a garden angel.

He is more intelligent than a thousand Einsteins, more powerful than ten thousand armies, and yet gentle, and he respects our freedom, but he was created for one purpose, to get us home.

And he is there in all kinds of big ways and small ones.

I remember another occasion.

It was the night before Gabriel was to turn five.

It was his fifth birthday, it was going to be our tenth anniversary, and I was tucking him and his older brother Michael into bed.

And we told some stories, we said some prayers, and then I blessed the boys, and on the way out I just said, Gabriel, happy birthday.

Is there anything you'd like tomorrow?

And he said, Dad, don't leave yet.

What?

He said, there is one thing I want.

Well, we've got you a present.

No, there's only one thing I want.

What is that?

It's a kitten.

And I'm like, okay, well thanks, but you know your dad is very allergic to cats, and when there's a cat anywhere near, my eyes swell up, I cough, I choke, I can't breathe, you know, and so we have other things.

He said, Dad, all I want is a kitten.

And I'm like, that's nice.

And I closed the door, and I walked down the hall, and I went into my bedroom.

Kimber was downstairs leading a women's Bible study, and I remember praying for Gabriel, asking for help to kind of, you know, forget what he just asked for.

When suddenly I heard this meow.

Oh, there he goes.

Meow.

And I'm like, Gabriel, cut it out.

Go to sleep.

Meow.

So I walked down the hall, I opened the door, and I said, guys, you know, it's time for sleep.

Stop making that kitten sound.

And Michael spoke up on his brother's behalf.

He didn't make any sounds, and I didn't either.

And then we all heard it.

Meow.

It was coming from outside.

Okay, fine.

So I walked down the stairs, I opened the front door, and out of the front yard was a kitten.

Meow.

I'm like, I don't need this.

I don't want this.

I can't handle this.

I'm like, God, if this kitten is for Gabriel, I've got, he's got ten seconds, ten seconds to be here at my feet.

By number eight, he was wrapping himself around my ankle.

And I'm like, oh great, I'm gonna choke and gag and die.

And I did something, and I am ashamed of it.

I want to say that beforehand.

I kicked him.

And he ran off.

I'm like, see, it wasn't meant to be.

But immediately my conscience was stricken.

But I didn't do anything.

I just walked back in.

What was that?

Scott Kimberly asked.

Oh, it was a kitten out there.

Oh really?

I'm like, yeah, okay.

The Bible said he was just getting over it, so I told them what had just happened in the last ten minutes.

And you kicked him?

I'm like, well, I mean, if I don't kick him, he's going to, you know, get me, and I'm going to choke and all that.

Oh, come on.

I'm like, okay, fine.

I'll give him one more chance.

And I thought, no, I'm going to walk to the back door, in the back of the kitchen, and I open the door, and I'm like, Lord, he's got ten seconds.

And I thought, that's not fair.

He's not about to come.

So I put a bowl of milk down right inside the kitchen.

By number nine, he was lapping up the milk.

And I'm looking at this kitten thinking, what am I supposed to do with him?

So I take him in my arms.

I walk upstairs.

I open the door.

I sit down next to Gabriel, and I'm like, here's a kitten.

Oh, and he sat up.

Thank you, Dad.

And he pet the kitten, and he played with him, and he stroked him while I, my eyes were swelling shut, while I began coughing and gagging and trying to breathe, while I ran off trying to find a Benadryl.

And after about 15 or 20 minutes, it hasn't kicked in yet, but it was time for me to kick that kitten out, so I scooped him up.

I'm like, it's time for you to go to bed.

Okay, thank you.

And I took him outside, and we all went to sleep.

And the next morning, we were at the breakfast table, and I'm like, remember the kitten?

Yes.

We can't keep him.

He goes, Daddy, I know.

I'm like, so it was enough for you to have that kitten last night?

Oh, yeah.

That's all I wanted.

And I looked at Kimberly, and she looked at me, and it just became so clear.

God loves this son of ours.

And it was just like the guardian angel heard that prayer, and in spite of a loving father, found a kitten.

And it was so strange, but it's happened again and again.

I want to urge you to pray not only to your guardian angel, but to your kids, especially when you feel like you've reached an impasse.

And for your grandkids and for your in-laws, they exist to help us to get home.

They're more intelligent and powerful than anybody else on the planet, and they were made for us to make us saints, and they behold the face of God.

And not just the angels, but also the saints.

You know, St. Joseph, especially for you fathers, and I want to tell you fathers, that we need holy and heroic help.

We're called upon to be priests, prophets, and kings in our own family.

We're also called to engage in the church's mission of the new evangelization.

Recently, I received a letter from a dear friend of mine, Steve Wood, at Dads.org.

He's the head of St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers, and he reported to me the findings of a sociological study that was sponsored by the Southern Baptists.

And gentlemen, fathers, I want you to hear it, because what it found was the following, that if a child is the first in the family to experience conversion, there's a 3.7% probability that the rest of the family will become Christian.

If the mother is the first in the family to become a Christian, there is a 17% probability that the rest of the family will follow.

But if the dad is the first in the family to experience conversion, there is a 93% probability that the rest of the family will come to the faith.

If the new evangelization is going to succeed, brothers, it will be because of how we are fathers.

If it fails, I think I can already anticipate one of the principal reasons.

The study goes on to conclude that if a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful and devout the wife is, only one child in fifty becomes a regular church-going worshiper.

If a father goes regularly, regardless of the practice of the mother, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will become church-goers, regular worshipers.

But sisters, this is not a license to nag.

It's a license to pray for them and to their guardian angels and to you and to your guardian angels to conspire together in a way that will bring the grace of conversion to overcome what is clearly the crisis of fatherhood.

I've experienced this in my own life.

You know, I'll be honest.

No, I won't. Never mind.

Never mind.

I don't want to go there.

I spend most of my life feeling inadequate and at times almost paralyzed by inadequacy.

Before I come up to speak, I was back there by the blessed sacrament where we have him on reserve begging him for help because I don't think you realize how nervous I get, how weak I feel, how utterly inadequate I am.

You know, I feel like the donkey that rides Jesus into Jerusalem.

You know, I'm sure the donkey thought they were clapping for him at times, you know, and maybe I think that too.

But the fact is, I am so privileged to bear our Lord, but I am also not adequate, not worthy.

Who is?

If you ever feel worthy for a task like this, duck.

We're not.

But I'll tell you, fathering is even more of a challenge than speaking about the faith, living it, going back home, especially when they were teens.

Our firstborn, by the time he was about 15, it was really, it was really rough, especially between him and mom.

And he was just up in his room all alone.

You know, even though we were homeschooling, it seemed like a thousand light years away.

So one night I went up and I heard him playing some music and it was the Dave Matthews Band.

And so I walked in.

I never really listened to it before.

I didn't really care for it initially, but I loved him.

So I sat down and listened.

Like, what is this?

Oh, Under the Table and Dreaming.

What?

Oh yeah, it's one of the more recent albums.

And so I listened to it for about an hour or so.

And I'm like, oh, that's really good.

Can you play me some more?

Although I didn't want it.

And he played me some more.

In fact, for about three hours, he loaned me the CDs. I listened to them.

You know, it's an acquired taste.

I'm not recommending the man's music, but I love my own.

I would do whatever it took.

And so I did.

And over the next few weeks, I began to talk to him more about his music.

And he said to me, you know, Dave is coming to Pittsburgh to play a concert at the Three Rivers Stadium.

It'll be the last concert before they tear it down.

Can I go?

And I'm like, no.

The last time I was at a concert at Three Rivers Stadium was Eric Clapton.

It was the 5th of July, all the firecrackers, and that wasn't the only thing causing smoke.

And I described this.

You know, I was there behind the dugout with my best buddy, Scott.

And in the middle of the concert, I just, for whatever reason, turned around, looked up at the yellow seats, and some guy tossed something glistening.

And I followed it down until I reached out and I caught a bottle of Mad Dog 2020 against the base of my best friend's skull.

He was like, what are you doing?

I'm like, I just caught this.

It was from the yellow seats thrown from up the tiers.

The upper tier.

He's like, that would have cracked my head.

I know.

I'm like, Michael, that's the kind of concert culture at Three Rivers.

He's like, Dad, can I go?

I'm like, what part of no do you not understand?

And he stormed off.

Fine.

Well, at this point, things were tense between not just him and mom, but me and him.

And I remember because, you know, days later, actually weeks later, he had gotten through, you know, the learner's permit, he'd gotten his license, and I was down in Atlanta speaking at a parish, and I was coming back that night, and he had just gotten his license, so he was going to pick me up that Saturday evening, and the tickets were going to go on sale Monday, so I knew who would be Mr. Nice Guy.

So I get on this plane.

It's almost entirely empty, except for the seat next to me.

There's a priest.

And so we strike up a conversation.

He's going up to spend a week on retreat, and I can tell he's a great priest because he's read my books, he's listened to my tapes, you know, and he recognized me.

And so I said, Father, would you pray for me?

And he said, ask why, and I told him, and so he said he would, and he's like, so Dave Matthews, what do you think of his music?

I'm like, well, honestly, I like it, but I haven't really told my son.

And he's like, I do too, you know, and Dave himself is a pretty nice guy.

I'm like, what do you mean?

He's like, well, he came to Atlanta and did a concert, and then he went on to describe, to the best of my recollection, that he had actually come a day early.

He had called up a former girlfriend who was a parishioner of his, but she was now married, and so her husband was out of town, and so she talked Father into coming along as a sort of chaperone while she showed Dave around Atlanta.

And I'm like, you spent the day with him?

Yeah, he's a really nice guy.

I'm like, what are the chances of me sitting on an empty plane next to a priest who enjoys his music and vouch for his character?

He said, I'm praying for you.

And so when I got to the airport, my son was there.

Oh, get your suitcase, you know, he was Mr. Nice Guy.

And as we're driving on the way home, I said, a funny thing happened on the way from Atlanta, and I told him all about this priest in my conversation, that he had spent a day with Dave Matthews, and he almost wrecked the car.

What?

This priest spent a day with Dave?

I'm like, yeah, and he's really a nice guy.

Oh, I thought so.

And I'm like, okay, I'll tell you, I know the tickets are going on sale Monday, and I'll make, I've made a decision.

I'm going to let you go to the concert, but only if I buy the ticket for you and I go with you so that we can enjoy this together, because I haven't let you in, but I enjoy his music.

And he almost wrecked the car again.

And then he got quiet, and then he reached into his pocket and pulled something out, and he's like, Dad, you know, I'm really glad.

I'm like, okay, and he doesn't usually get emotional.

He's like, well, no, I wasn't glad before.

I was really mad.

In fact, I was ticked off, only he spelled it with a P. I understand.

Oh, no, you don't understand.

I mean, I was so PO'd at you, Dad, the last two weeks.

I went to confession.

I'm like, well, thanks be to God you went to confession.

And I'm like, what's your point?

He said, well, you know, Father assured me that you love me, that you respect me.

I know that, but I just can't stand how close-minded he is.

And so this is what he gave me, and he handed me this prayer card.

He's like, could you pray a novena to Saint Joseph to help your father to be a better dad?

And I'm like, well, thanks be to God.

And he said, today's the ninth day, Dad, and it's my first novena.

By the time we got home, we were embracing.

When we went to the concert, it was an incredible experience.

And I don't know exactly why, but our guardian angels helped him through those last vestiges of rebellion.

I mean, he still had issues, and we still had problems from time to time, but it was an absolute turning point in my relationship with him and in our family as well.

And I just realized Saint Joseph's involvement was indirect.

I have had a devotion to Saint Joseph all of my Catholic life, but I've got to tell you what a special bond that was to realize that my son was praying to the virgin Father of Jesus for help to come to his dad, his natural father.

You know, it's funny because it was about 15 years ago this all happened.

My son is now 31. He's married.

They're expecting their fourth child next month.

He's getting his Ph.D. in theology at Notre Dame, focusing on Aquinas' use of Scripture, his old man's favorite theologian.

But 15 years ago, when all of this happened, I was so grateful that at defending the faith, about two or three months later, for whatever reason, I just, on an impulse, told that story.

And I went over time in that talk just like I am now.

And it was so funny because the next night, Sunday evening, when I'm relaxing, kind of unwinding, the phone rang.

Hello, is this Scott?

Yeah, who am I speaking to?

Father Vic.

Remember me?

I'm like, were you the guy on the plane?

Oh, yeah.

I've been praying for you and your son for months.

Apparently, some parishioners of mine went up to defending the faith.

They heard your story.

They got back home.

They called me up, and they asked me, are you the guy?

And I'm like, oh, I'm so grateful for you, Father Vic.

He said, well, I'm so grateful that my prayers were answered.

Is there anything else I can pray for?

We have fathers, one who is divine.

We have one in St. Joseph.

We have one in our parish pastors.

We've got so many father figures in our family.

Brothers in Christ, we have got to be better fathers.

We have got to tap into the angels and the saints.

One last story I've got to share, even though I'm over time.

It's this.

Kimberly, the year I had become Catholic, was pregnant with Hannah.

And somebody, for whatever reason, gave me this prayer card to a guy named St. Gerard Magellan, Redemptor, the 18th century.

You know, now that your wife's pregnant, he's the patron of Now that your wife's pregnant, he's the patron of pregnant women.

Okay, fine, whatever.

So I read the prayer one Saturday night.

That Sunday morning was Palm Sunday.

And near the end, she got dizzy.

What's wrong?

I don't know.

She began to bleed.

And at the end of the service, she was just almost passing out, laid out on the pew.

I'm like, I'm going to lose my wife and my child.

I just was in a panic.

And I raced out of the church.

And I saw a payphone.

We didn't have cell phones back then.

And I called the doctor.

And I'm like, Dr. Marmion, you've got to help me.

My wife is bleeding.

Where are you?

I'm in Elmbrook.

Where?

At the church.

Where in the church?

On the ground floor.

That's amazing, because I'm in the basement, right below those stairs.

I'll be right up.

I happen to be visiting today.

And he came up and he took care of her.

And we rushed her off to St. Joseph's. I love that.

It was placenta previa, but the mom and the baby were both safe.

And now Hannah's coming up the day after tomorrow with her new child.

And she's expecting in December.

But it was so amazing, once again, to experience the closeness and the concern and the compassion of these older brothers like St. Gerard.

Now, I haven't even talked about St. Thomas Aquinas or, you know, St. Francis de Sales.

But we are part of a family that reaches from earth to heaven.

And God is a Father who is proud of His children and His grandchildren.

And He longs to see us become holy.

And He wants it for us more than we want it for ourselves.

As Pope Francis has been reminding us continuously, God never tires of showing us mercy, although we get tired of asking Him for it.

He will never stop loving us, because that's just who He is.

As long as the bright, warm sun melts hard, cold ice, God's love will melt our hard, cold hearts.

We can trust that He will get us all the way home.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Almighty God, our Father in heaven, we thank You for the gift of Jesus, for the body of Christ, for the whole Christ, that we can be the members of His body, that we can be His younger brothers and sisters, that we can discover who we are as Your sons and daughters.

I pray in the powerful name of Jesus, that You would give us the eyes to see the cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, that intercedes for us, that is invested in our well-being more than we are in our own and our loved ones.

Help us to tap into that treasure of love.

Help us to receive the gift of Your grace.

Help us to ask more and more of You, and to reveal more and more of our fears and our anxieties, so that we won't trust ourselves any longer, but we will entrust ourselves to Jesus more and more with Your help.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee.

Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.

Saint Francis of Assisi, Saints Joachim and Anne, Saint Simon and Jude, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

I just added those last two, because I was born on the feast of Saint Simon and Jude.

Simon, of course, is a zealot.

Saint Jude is the patron of lost causes.

How perfect is that?

Thank you, brothers and sisters.

God bless you.