Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, May 2, 2021. Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; Gospel of St. John 15:1-8. Theme: To Jesus Through Mary
In our Liturgy of the Word today the first reading speaks of conversion of heart and its fruit of a new life. The second reminds us that we must show the reality of this new life by how we live and not just by what we say. And the Gospel uses a very Springtime example from agriculture, urging us to stay connected with Jesus the True Vine so that our lives can become something beautiful for God and others.
It’s very significant that these teachings from Scripture are proclaimed to us as we start off the month of May, the month of motherhood, 31 days specially dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She has everything to do with connection to Christ, both in history and in spirituality. In history, of course, because it was she and she alone who made it possible for the Son of God to become human, to enter into our world as our Savior. And in spirituality, because the experience of the saints has been that authentic devotion to Mary always leads us to a life-giving connection with her Son, the True Vine.
And as I was pondering all this in preparation for our liturgy, I couldn’t help but think of a man, a saint, in whom we see all of this come together in a totally marvelous and miraculous way! His name is Bartolo Longo and he lived in Italy about 100 years ago. In addition, I think his story is very relevant for us today because Pope Francs has asked us to join in on a world-wide rosary-marathon every day of May 2021 to pray for an end to pandemic. The rosary played a huge role in Bartolo’s conversion and subsequent life. He was a lawyer, who became an ordained satanic priest, but returned to the Catholic faith, dedicating his life to spreading devotion to the rosary and to caring for the poor and orphans.
Bartolo came from a wealthy practicing Catholic family and attended law school at the University of Naples. While a student there he began doing something that all Catholic parents fear for their children away from home: he started missing Mass regularly and soon enough this growing disconnect from Christ the Vine would make things go south rather quickly. He started listening to the anti-Catholic propaganda of his professors and got mixed up with the wrong crowd. He began dabbling in witchcraft and attending séances. Being cut off more and more from any connection with Jesus and the Church, Bartolo was eventually ordained a priest of Satan as the result of some occult spiritual experiences. He then entered into a period of his life that he says was marked by the dark and gloomy clouds of depression, anxiety, paranoia and suicidal temptations. He remained in this condition for many years, until the age of 30.
This was when he got reacquainted with an old hometown friend who urged him to abandon he darkness and return to Christ. Bartolo was so desperate for relief that he was willing to try anything. The friend took him for counseling to a priest who belonged to the Dominican Order. You see, the Dominican religious order has the special mission of spreading devotion to the rosary and the priest told Bartolo that the rosary has a proven track record of being a powerful against evil and darkness. By means of it, Mary would use it to bring him the freedom, joy and light in Christ.
Bartolo took the advice and this is where today’s readings start to make a flesh and blood appearance in his life! He began praying the rosary daily as best he could. Light began to dawn in his life. Joy slowly returned to his heart. The clouds of gloom parted and he was becoming a new man with a new life. He experienced a real conversion of heart, confessing his sins and taking up a new way of life. He returned to attending Mass and reconnecting with Christ in Holy Communion. Like Saul in today’s first reading, there were those who doubted the authenticity of his conversion, but he persevered and won the support of his bishop and parish community. Since his satanic ways had been known publicly, he made public acts of atonement and even went to a gathering of mediums where he stood among them, held up a rosary, and emotionally denounced the occult as false and evil.
Bartolo cherished his union with Christ the True Vine every day of his life right up to the day he died at age 85 in 1926. Following the advice of our second reading today, he showed the truth of his love by deeds and not just by words, never missing an opportunity to spread the rosary or help the poor in whatever ways he could. He and his wives (he had two and was a widower twice over) used their immense wealth to build a magnificent Shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii; to build and endow schools and orphanages; and to establish a Dominican Sisterhood devoted to teaching and the care of poor children.
I think Bartolo’s life, seen in the light of today’s readings, might make us stop and ask ourselves: Does Mary have a significant place in my spiritual journey? What parts of my life still need to be converted to Christ? Where are my susceptible weak spots in living as a Christian? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, what number best represents my present commitment to union with Christ the Vine? What number do I want it to be? Am I willing to devote a few minutes each day to asking Mary’s help in all this through the devotion of the rosary?
To help you put a face to the story, here are some photos of Blessed Bartolo Longo...
At age 22, the beginning of his dark days...
At age 35, after his conversion to Jesus through Mary
The shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii
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