Items filtered by date: April 2025

Think Again

(24^th Ordinary Sunday: Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35)

If you have already seen today’s readings, we have a quiz question for you. How many parts of the body can you remember that are mentioned in the first reading and the Psalm? We will return to this later.

In the Gospel, after listening to the rumors circulating about him, Jesus asks his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers for all, “You are the Christ,” i.e., the Anointed One, the Messiah. This is a pivotal moment in their life. Jesus now has to prepare them for what lies ahead. He is about to begin his final journey to Jerusalem, and he tells them to rethink their messianic ideas.

Peter is shocked! His reaction, misguided though it is, is understandable. Words like “suffer... be rejected... be killed” do not belong in the same sentence with “Messiah.” Jesus might as well have added: “I will give my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pluck my beard; my face I will not shield from buffets and spitting,” to paraphrase Isaiah.

Mary at La Salette provides her tearful answer to Jesus’ question. He is her Son, who is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. Her large crucifix, however, accompanied by hammer and pincers, shows him not in the majesty of power but in the beaten, bruised image of redeeming love.

Today’s text from Isaiah invites us to revise our understanding of suffering and humiliation. No matter what we face as Christians, we too can say, “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced.”

Returning to the quiz question that opened this reflection, the answer is six: ear, back, cheeks, face, eyes and feet. In the Bible, parts of the body are often a poetic way of saying “I,” e.g., “my eyes have seen.”

St. James tells his readers to take a new look at the meaning of faith. It is internal and external. “I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works,” he writes. A poem attributed to St. Teresa of Avila puts it this way: “Christ has no body but yours... Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.” Let us use them with courageous faith, that through our works others may come to know Christ and rejoice in his boundless mercy.

Wayne Vanasse, and Fr. René Butler, M.S.

Be Opened!

(23^rd Ordinary Sunday: Isaiah 35:4-7; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37)

The texts the Church puts before us today might at first appear somewhat less challenging or stimulating than usual. On the other hand the La Salette connections to these readings are abundant and fertile.

In Isaiah: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! ... Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe.” We hear the Beautiful Lady’s first words to Mélanie and Maximin. We see the miraculous fountain.

In the Psalm: “The God of Jacob... gives food to the hungry...; the way of the wicked he thwarts.” We recall Mary’s promise of abundance if her people take her words to heart... and her fear of further calamities if they do not.

In James: “Show no partiality... Did not God choose those who are poor in the world?” Maximin’s family was far from rich; and Mélanie’s was desperately poor.

In the Gospel, the opening of the deaf man’s ears may be seen in Mary’s speaking to the children in their own dialect when she observed that they did not understand French; and the loosening of the man’s tongue is reflected in the surprising responses these uneducated children gave under interrogation.

In fact, “Ephphatha! Be opened!” is central to the La Salette message. The Blessed Virgin came to open people’s eyes to the reality of sin and suffering, their ears to the Word of God, their minds and imagination to new possibilities.

Above all, she wanted to open their hearts to the love of God manifested in the crucified Christ and the Eucharist. This reflects the first line of the Responsorial Psalm: “The God of Jacob keeps faith forever.”

La Salette is an invitation to keep faith with the Lord who “comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.” We respond with prayer and respect. Inevitably this will also mean keeping faith with others, whether through reconciliation as needed, or by reaching out to others in their need, whether physical or spiritual.

Mary’s message about keeping faith is timeless and relevant to all ages, groups, and to all her people..

Wayne Vanasse, and Fr. René Butler, M.S.

That you may Live

(22^nd Ordinary Sunday: Deuteronomy 4:1-8; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-23)

When is the last time someone said to you, “You Catholics are truly a wise and intelligent people. Who else has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which you have?” Probably never.

In the first reading, however, Moses anticipates that other nations will be impressed with the laws and statutes God gave them. He calls on his people to “hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live.” In other words, the Law, far from being a burden, is a wondrous gift. It will enable them, in the words of today’s Psalm, to walk blamelessly and do justice.

Why, then, in today’s Gospel, is Jesus so critical of the law-abiding Pharisees and scribes? Because they had become the fulfillment of a prophecy: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).

Of those whom Mary called “my people” at La Salette, many did not even pay lip service to the demands of their faith. She told them, in tears, how much she had to plead with her Son on their behalf. She pleaded with them to observe the Law, not out of a spirit of legalism, but for their own sake. She did not want Jesus to abandon them to famine and death. She came that they might live.

Most people are willing to obey the laws of their country. And yet, when it comes to Christian morality and dogma, it is surprisingly easy to “disregard God’s commandment and cling to human tradition.” We forget the injunction, “You shall not add to what I command you (like the Pharisees) nor subtract from it (as we are inclined to do).”

The Israelites did not observe the Law perfectly. Neither have we. We often fall short of God’s plan for us. Relying on his mercy, we try again. This is essential to the message of reconciliation, the call to return to the spirit and practice of our Catholic faith.

St. James writes, “Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” Humility is essential in our relationship to the Lord’s will.

God knows what gives life. So does the Beautiful Lady.

Wayne Vanasse, and Fr. René Butler, M.S.

INTERNATIONAL CONCERT OF LA SALETTE LAITY

In this very important year in which we commemorate the 175th Anniversary of the apparition of the beautiful Lady, La Salette laity are promoting a “Virtual Thankgiving Concert” for this event. This concert aims to unite La Salette charismatic Family in a cultural event as a source of evangelization and dissemination of the Message of La Salette.

Any member of La Salette charismatic Family, laity or religious, who feels the call and inspiration to write and perform a song dedicated to Our Mother of La Salette may participate, with only one song per country. The song, which should be unpublished, may have its composition based on the story, the fact, the characters, the message, or the mision requested by Our Lady when she appeared in La Salette. It can also be the musicalization of a prayer or part of it.

The international Concert will take place on September 18th, 2021, on the ZOOM platform, at a time determined according to the time zones of the countries. Registration from participating countries will take place until August 31, 2021.

More detailed information can be obtained through the e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to Serve the Lord, and Why

(21^st Ordinary Sunday: Joshua 24:1-18; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69)

Warning! This week’s readings will challenge all of us in different ways.

The last time we encountered these readings (three years ago), the title of the reflection was Whom shall we Serve?Everything pointed to the obvious answer— we serve the Lord. For us, the decision is made! We, like Joshua, choose to serve the Lord. Great! Now what? Next comes the how.

What does it actually mean to serve the Lord? What can we do? Our Lady of La Salette gives a partial list: daily prayer, weekly Eucharist, the annual discipline of Lent, respect for the name of the Lord.

The full list comes to us from the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church, which also place before us the importance of love of neighbor, through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

So we are called to prayer, love, mercy. But the how of service does not end with the performance of these things. All of these presuppose two fundamental attitudes: submission and conversion, which we always experience as challenging.

Joshua gave the people options. He said, “Decide today whom you will serve.” This was their moment of truth. They gave the right answer: “We also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” Was that enough?

The real how of serving the Lord may be summed up as follows: if I faithfully, truly and honestly want to serve the Lord, I may do so only if my commitment to him is absolutely unconditional. But can I really be so sure?

The answer to that question brings us to the why. Simon Peter spoke for the Apostles and, we hope, for us, when he said, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

What a powerful statement of faith! Is it ours, too? Do we really believe that our life is nothing without Christ? Are we willing to accept his will, and even be subordinate to each other, out of reverence for him?

The challenges are many, but still we may hope to cry out with the psalmist, “Let my soul glory in the Lord!”

Wayne Vanasse, and Fr. René Butler, M.S.

Ark of the Covenant

(Assumption: 1 Chron. 15:3-4,15-16 to 16:1-2; 1 Cor. 15:54-57; Luke 11:27-28. NOTE: These readings are for the Vigil Mass.)

It was a great and festive day in Jerusalem! The Ark of the Covenant was coming home, as the first reading tells us, “to the place which David had prepared for it.” Today we celebrate Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant, as she is taken up to the place which the Father prepared for her in heaven.

Just as the Ark built by Moses was the great sign of God’s presence among his people, so the Virgin’s womb brought the Son of God among us. In today’s Gospel, a woman in the crowd called out to Jesus, saying, “Blessed is the womb that carried you!” She was perhaps the first to fulfill the Virgin’s own prophecy, uttered in her Magnificat: “All generations will call me blessed.”

It is because Mary was assumed into heaven that we have her apparition at La Salette (amongst others). Her radiance as the Queen of Heaven, is the light of Christ shining out from her. Everything in the apparition ultimately points to Christ. Here, too, she is the Ark, bringing her Son to her people yet again.

The Beautiful Lady echoes Jesus’ reply to the woman of the Gospel, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it,” with her own words, “If they are converted.” She promises all kinds of graces, and mercy in abundance.

The Assumption reflects St. Paul’s words in the second reading, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” La Salette shows the tragic connection between sin and death, but at the same time offers the means of triumphing over both. How do we partake of this victory? A good starting place is to observe the commandments preserved on stone tablets in the original Ark of the Covenant.

If you have been to La Salette and taken part in the candlelight procession at night, you have probably experienced the special enthusiasm that accompanies the singing of the La Salette Angelus and the end of the service. It is like David’s command to the musicians and singers “to make a loud sound of rejoicing.”

May our love for Our Lady of La Salette be always a source of joy in our hearts.

Wayne Vanasse, and Fr. René Butler, M.S.

Life in Christ, Together

(19^th Ordinary Sunday: 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51)

Eiljah was a powerful and successful prophet. It is strange, then, to hear him, in the first reading, praying for death and saying, “This is enough, O Lord!”

Not many of us ask for death, but there are times when our prayer is, “Enough, Lord!” It may seem to us that the times we live in are harder than for earlier generations; we witness bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling and malice.

Does this list sound familiar? It should, because it is taken from today’s second reading, written over 1,950 years ago. There have always existed attitudes and behaviors that could prevent Christians from having a loving, faith-filled relationship with God.

It is bad enough when the negativity is directed against others, whom we perceive as enemies. We see this in the murmuring of those who disapproved of Jesus’ claim of having come down from heaven.

But it is worse when the bitterness is directed against God. Mary, at La Salette, spoke of the abuse of her Son’s name, and a general turning away from the practice of the faith. Even Maximin and Mélanie had to admit that they hardly ever prayed.

Prayer is the solution. God heard Elijah’s prayer, not by taking his life but by giving him strength. Private prayer is effective. That of the Christian community is even more so. In the Psalm today we hear, “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.”

When we participate in the Eucharist together, and “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” not only do we escape, at least for a while, the reviling and malice in the world around us, but we seek healing for those same faults in ourselves. Then, like Elijah, “strengthened by that food,” we can hope to carry a community attitude into our everyday lives.

In this way, the La Salette message of conversion and reconciliation becomes an expression of St. Paul’s words: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God.”

An angel of God woke Elijah and provided food. The Beautiful Lady woke her people and directed them to the Bread of Life, the flesh of her Son, “given for the life of the world.” Without it we cannot truly live.

Wayne Vanasse, and Fr. René Butler, M.S.

August 2021

Telling a story sets the heart on fire

Storytelling has existed as long as humanity has had language. Crafting stories as a means of entertainment and education is an ancient art that has been present in every culture. Stories have shaped worldviews and values of the major civilizations in history.

Even today, an increasing number of famous motivational speakers keep on highlighting the relevance and importance of good stories as part of an effective and involving verbal communication. 

We all know and have experienced the power of stories. Stories keep alive our attention, stir our emotions and feelings, encourage us to remember. Good stories move us deeply, and we end up sharing them. Rightly, the American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University, Edward Reynold Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011), stated that “the sound of story is the dominant sound of our lives.”

Stories imbue the entire Bible. Stories are at the heart of the Bible and at the heart of Jesus’ communication style. Whether walking on the roads of Galilee and beyond with his disciples or preaching to the crowds, Jesus of Nazareth used stories to share his message. It is not a coincidence that Matthew reminds us that storytelling was Jesus’ preferred technique when speaking to the crowds (see Matthew 13:34). Yes, Jesus appears to be a great storyteller. Interesting enough, when the well-known American writer Mark Twain was asked who he thought was the greatest storyteller, he answered Jesus of Nazareth.

Not only Jesus used stories to speak about the Father and His Kingdom, but his stories were told in simple language. They were both relatable and understandable. Pharisees, fishermen, and farmers all heard Jesus’ stories and metaphors drawn from their everyday life. His teaching included birds, flowers, lost coins, and a lot of other everyday objects that the people of his time could easily relate to.

Through stories Jesus was able to capture the attention of his audiences, inspire their imagination, and communicate a compelling and life-changing message. Through stories he revealed the merciful face of the Father and touched the deepest chords of the people. Indeed, Jesus told powerful stories: they challenged and changed lives. As a result, many of those who heard his stories started to follow him and become part of His-Story.

Following the example set by Jesus of Nazareth, his followers have been telling his story century after century. From generation to generation, the story of God’s goodness and mercy made flesh in Jesus the Christ has been told and preached. 

Jesus’ final words to the Gerasene man “Return home and recount what God has done for you” (Luke 8:39) encouraged him to go off and proclaim throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him. At La Salette, the “Beautiful Lady” invested the two little shepherds, Maximin and Melanie, with the mission of recounting the story of their encounter with her. This story too, like the one concerning the Son, has been handed down from generation to generation. Both have transformed a great multitude of men and women. And we, Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, are the custodians of these two stories: not to guard them jealously, but to make them resonate in the lives of our brothers and sisters that we meet while pursuing our earthly pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem. Today as yesterday, the Church and the world need to hear both stories told. People need to hear them from those who have been transformed by both the Son and the Mother.

Mary tells us a story about her Son

While the two witnesses thought that their first mission was to convey the news of the glorious apparition to the inhabitants of the vicinity of Corps, the concern of Mary, Mother of the Divine Redeemer, was to remind the Church of her duty of being the herald of the Good News of Salvation. This is why Marie is not concerned with exalting herself, even though she deserves this honor. The Mother of the Church seems to remind us of submission as a fundamental condition for deserving the graces that her Son has left us as an inheritance, through his abnegation to the human condition and culminating in the outpouring of his blood on the cross.

The Apparition of Mary in La Salette is not an end in itself. Mary intends to awaken in all the baptized, starting with those to whom was given the greatest responsibilities in the Church, the awareness of the urgency of announcing to all the mystery of her Son, who was buried and was raised on the third day. She does not place herself at the center of her message. The purpose of his glorious apparition, as during the wedding feast in Cana, is to ask obedience from his Son: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).

In 2001, John Paul II, in his message for World Mission Day, encouraged the people of God to set out to bring the Gospel of Jesus to all peoples. What story should we tell then? The luminous crucifix that Mary wears on her chest during the apparition answers precisely this question, since it was the one thing that most attracted the attention of Maximin and Melanie because of the light emanating from it. This shows and confirms Paul’s missionary call: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:22–23). It is this story, this message that we must tell until the final coming of Christ. In order for this “great adventure of evangelization” to be effective, John Paul II proposes new methods, new models and new paradigms. In this mission common to all, it is important to make present the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Remembering helps us to move forward for a better future

In her last recommendation to the visionaries at La Salette, Mary asked them to make “this” known to all Her people, and she repeated it twice in French (precisely: “Eh bien, mes enfants, vous le ferez passer à tout mon people”).  That “this” which has been transmitted for 175 years is contained in the entire La Salette event. Here, details are important: the country in which the apparition took place (19^th century France); the place of the apparition (a village in the Alps); the time (about 3. 00 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, 1846); the time after the first vespers of the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (celebrated on the third Sunday of September[1]); the dress of the Beautiful Lady, modeled on that worn by the peasant women of the region of La Salette, and other elements she had on her (the crucifix with Jesus[2], the pliers and hammer[3], the two chains[4], the multicolored roses); then the sadness, the hidden face, the tears, the way Mary moved and her gestures in the presence of the children. But also, the message itself and the two languages in which it was communicated, the spring that emerged and continues to run at the place of the Apparition, where the sphere of light appeared with the person of Our Lady sitting inside, and finally the fact that both children received secrets, which they did not even talk about between themselves.

All of these elements are known to us. We talk about them at every possible opportunity. As long as the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary exists on the mountain near the village of La Salette in France, and as long as the Congregation of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette exists, the continuity and actuality of the message of the Beautiful Lady, communicated to Melanie and Maximin, will be assured. The transmission of the story of this event supposes a continuation until the end of time, but it could have ended earlier, if men would convert and by their conduct make useless the call of the Lady in tears to conversion and penance.

Our Lady’s true spiritual children surely consider the conversion of humanity to the paths of the Divine Will more important than the existence of the Basilica of Our Lady of La Salette and of the Congregation of the Missionaries of La Salette itself.

One element remains unresolved and is the subject of useless controversy: what is the significance of the secrets entrusted to Melanie and Maximin[5]?

The fact that Mary entrusted secrets to these two children constitutes an important element in the transmission of the story of the event at La Salette. They are a guarantee that the encounter had the character of mystery and therefore requires respect. We should not be worried about discovering their content, but in giving the account of the apparition, we should always mention their existence in humbly acknowledging our ignorance as to their content.

Flavio Gillio MS

Eusébio Kangupe MS

Karol Porczak MS