18th September 2016 - Triduum in Honour of St. Padre Pio - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

On this week's programme Fr. John Mockler of the Servi Della Sofferenza (Servants of Suffering) chats with Lorraine about the upcoming triduum in honour of St. Padre Pio which will be held in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, from September 21st to 23rd 2016. You can listen to the podcast for this week's programme HERE.

Triduum in Honour of St. Padre Pio

Fr. John begins by explaining why he has organised a triduum in honour of St. Pio and why St. Pio is the saint for our times. St. Pio, who was the first priest who had the stigmata (the wounds of Christ), is the saint for our times, because in bearing the wounds of Jesus, he witnessed to the fact of the Resurrection in his wounds.

St. Pio also participated in the redemptive suffering of Jesus, as St. Paul says: "completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col 1:24). By uniting his suffering with that of Christ he was able to bring many people back to Christ in the confessional. For this reason, Pope Francis named him a 'Servant of Mercy' and one of the patrons for the Year of Mercy.

Fr. John speaks to us about the spirituality of St. Pio and what message he has both for young people and those who are not so young. 

Fr. John also shares about his own devotion to St. Pio and how he came to hear about and became a consecrated priest of the secular institute of the Servi Della Sofferenza (The Servants of Suffering) which Our Lady requested be set up to continue the work of St. Pio in the world.

The triduum in honour of St. Pio will include an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as St. Pio is the saint of the confessional, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the rosary and veneration of and blessing with the first class relic of St. Pio. 

A first class relic contains a part of the saint's body, in this case it is part of a bandage that contains the blood of St. Pio. Of course, as we know relics are not magic, nor are they to be used superstitiously. When we venerate the relics of a saint we are professing our belief in:

"(1) the belief in everlasting life for those who have obediently witnessed to Christ and His Holy Gospel here on earth; (2) the truth of the resurrection of the body for all persons on the last day; (3) the doctrine of the splendour of the human body and the respect which all should show toward the bodies of both the living and the deceased; (4) the belief in the special intercessory power which the saints enjoy in heaven because of their intimate relationship with Christ the King; and (5) the truth of our closeness to the saints because of our connection in the communion of saints we as members of the Church militant or pilgrim Church, they as members of the Church triumphant." (H/T to the Catholic Education Resource Center where you can read more about the Catholic understanding of relics HERE).

The following video contains rare footage of the final Mass that St. Pio celebrated on the day before he died:

Fr. John will return to the programme at a later date to speak to us more about his vocation journey and the Servants of Suffering.

Gospel - Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”

Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty”. To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty”.

‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’

‘And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’

Reflections on this week's gospel:

Word on Fire
English Dominicans
Sunday Reflections
Centre for Liturgy

Liturgical Odds & Ends

Liturgy of the Hours - Psalter week 1, 25th week in Ordinary Time

Saints of the Week

Sept 19th - St. Januarius
Sept 20th - St. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang and Companion Martyrs
Sept 21st - St. Matthew
Sept 22nd - St. Maurice
Sept 23rd - St. Pius of Pietrelcina (St. Padre Pio)
Sept 24th - Our Lady of Walsingham