Memorial of Venerable Solanus Casey
Phil 2:12-18; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Lk 14:25-33
"Be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD"
The Venerable Solanus Casey was a hidden and honored priest of the Capuchin Order. He lived and served the poorest of the poor from the streets of Detroit. He was forbidden to preach or hear confessions, even though he was ordained. His superiors discerned that his lack of intellectual grasp of theology was not adequate for such a public ministry. Yet, this limitation, though frustrating, did not make this holy friar priest bitter and rebellious. He accepted the sufferings of his cross and found in this great gift a life of hidden and holy ministry. Even with these limitations he became a great lover of the poor, and he became a wise and holy servant of the Church. The LORD was his light and his salvation. He was not afraid of humiliation and his life became a refuge for many souls. The only thing he asked was to dwell in the house of the LORD and to gaze upon the loveliness of the LORD and contemplate his temple. He believed that he would see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. He waited for the LORD with courage; Venerable Father Solanus was stouthearted and waited for the LORD. His suffering enabled him to grow in wisdom that he would share with all who came to unburden themselves to this friar; he would teach them, "Blessed be God in all his designs". His grateful friends financed the beginnings of a soup kitchen during the Depression. His brother friars still feed the hungry there today. The priest chaplain in a sanitarium near Baltimore scandalized his brother, Father Maurice. In response to his brother's complaint Father Solanus wrote: "God could have established his Church under supervision of angels that have no faults or weaknesses. But who can doubt that as it stands today, consisting of and under the supervision of poor sinners--successors to the 'poor fishermen of Galilee'; the Church is a more outstanding miracle than any other way?" Indeed this Venerable Friar was never bitter because of his lack of public ministry instead, he became beautiful because of it. Such is the blessing waiting for all who find in the Cross their only friend.
Even in his absence the Apostle Paul would hear the good news of his beloved converts. His joy is boundless as he writes to the Church in Philippi. He praises their obedience and their struggle to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. This is the kind of virtue that kept Venerable Solanus Casey in the Capuchin Order and in service to the poor and needy. Like these early believers in Philippi, Father Casey worked out his salvation with fear and trembling. This Venerable Friar delighted in the mercy and kindness of God who, for his good purpose, worked in him in all he desired and in all he did. He did everything without grumbling or questioning, so that he became more and more blameless and innocent, a child of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom he shone like a light in the world. Father Casey held on to the Word of Life; he was courageous in his exile from public ministry, and he stoutheartedly waited upon the will of God. With Saint Paul and all the hidden saints throughout the history of the church, Venerable Solanus did not run in vain or labor in vain. He poured himself out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of his faith. It was his joy to serve in any way that he could. He did not cling to his rights and his dignity, but he poured himself out in faithful service to those who also suffered great indignities and constant humiliations. Indeed, this is the rejoicing found in the hearts of all who serve the Master, who himself was humiliated and suffered gladly for the salvation of his Beloved Bride.
A life of detachment in which one renounces all possessions is the life of discipleship. As clergy, religious, or laity, all believers are summoned by the Lord Jesus to be detached from the desire to possess anyone or anything. We must be attached to God alone. The only desire that must grow stronger every day is the desire to possess God himself, not his gifts or his blessings, but God. There is no experience of God that is God. Every experience is just than, an experience. God alone fulfills the deepest desire of the human heart. We are created to be filled with God, and until we are so filled we are restless in heart, mind and spirit. The Lord Jesus is not interested in keeping the crowds happy or loyal. He wants everyone who comes to him to renounce all attachments to family and even life itself. Indeed, no one can follow the Lord Jesus without carrying his own cross. The Lord Jesus teaches the wisdom of the cross by his illustration of the builder and the warrior king. Neither would begin a building or a military campaign without a careful assessment of his resources and his limitations. Father Solanus Casey must have spent many hours in prayerful consideration of his situation. Could he bear the humiliation of his limitations and still serve with joy? This question is at the heart of every would-be disciple of the Lord Jesus. Indeed, only attachment to the Cross of Christ will enable us to persevere in a life of prayer and service.
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