Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Reading the description of St. Cajetan and his life and what he accomplished,
there were a couple of things that caught my attention.
And one was that the discipline of the clergy had fallen to a low state.
That was during the lifetime of St. Cajetan.
The discipline of the clergy had fallen to a low state.
And, of course, he worked with zeal trying to restore the discipline of the clergy.
Ecclesiastical discipline.
We read this in many of the lives of the saints,
that this was a large part of the work that they did,
that they were oftentimes reformers.
And so we see how reform involves restoring a discipline of the clergy.
And we can see how in our own day there is really a lack of discipline in the clergy.
In these last 50 years, the ecclesiastical discipline has fallen,
has dropped.
There's been a great relaxation.
I think probably one of the most evident signs of this is the clergy not wearing their clerical garb.
There was one time when I was at a meeting,
it was a meeting between the clergy of the area with the bishop.
It was not in this country.
And there were priests.
There were priests who were wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers.
For a formal meeting.
In any case, I don't know if you would call it a formal meeting,
but it was a meeting with the bishop.
Everyone knew the bishop would be there.
And we have priests wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers.
That is a lack of discipline among the clergy.
And then we want to complain that there's a lack of vocation.
What does that say when you dress like that for a meeting with the bishop?
It says, I don't care.
Okay, I don't care.
And so we want to complain that there's a lack of vocations.
Well, who wants to join an organization where people just don't care?
So today, certainly in our own day and age,
we need to restore ecclesiastical discipline.
Ecclesiastical discipline.
The discipline of the clergy.
So we should pray to St. Cayetano for that intention.
But also another part of St. Cayetano's work
was regarding divine worship.
It says,
The chief causes promoted by Cayetano were
zeal for the divine worship,
the beauty of God's house,
observance of the saints,
and the sacred rites.
Okay, and again, this is an effort that is so much needed today.
And it's taking place,
slowly but surely,
the reform of the reform,
as people are calling it.
Okay, zeal for divine worship,
the beauty of God's house,
observance of the sacred rites.
Really, what comes to mind when you say that
is St. John Cantia Society.
I was just there this past weekend.
The wonderful work,
the work they're doing.
Precisely this.
Zeal for divine worship,
the beauty of God's house,
observance of the sacred rites.
All right, so I think we should all be
working for this in our own day and age
because, again, this is what is needed today.
Okay, when we have widespread abuses
and I think we all know the lengths and degrees
that the lack of,
the lack of reverence and abuse in the liturgy
that has taken place in our own day and age.
So we should pray today for St. Cajetan
because we need his spirit, his zeal,
and his efforts in the condition that we find
the church in today.
St. Cajetan, pray for us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Thank you.