All the ceremonies of Palm Sunday: the blessing of the palms, the procession, the chanted hosannas, are instituted by the Church to recall the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem on that day.
He entered Jerusalem, and into the Temple, there were certain Gentiles who came up to adore on the festival day; these therefore, came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’. Philip tells Andrew. ... Andrew and Philip spoke to Jesus. (Jn 12:20-22)
Let us, after the example of Jesus, hasten into his sanctuary to thank him for any success we may have obtained. If we visit a place, let us first of all, if possible, visit the church to adore our Lord, and ask his blessing on our labors. Does our indifference in this respect contrast unfavorably with the behavior of the Gentiles mentioned above?
Jesus, having granted the request of the Gentiles, foretells in their presence and before the multitude his approaching death, speaking of it under the guise of a parable which would shortly be made clear to them.
The hour has come, he said, for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (Jn 12:23-4) Thus Jesus speaks of his death and of its fruit, the conversion of the Gentiles.
What a lesson for us! Our Lord gave his life for the salvation of souls; and we will not suffer. We would choose another road to heaven for ourselves and others than the royal road of the cross. What extraordinary blindness!
Now is my soul troubled (Jn 12:27), continues Jesus. Why? It was at the thought of the cruel and shameful death which awaited him. But he goes on, Father, save me from this hour; and then adds, Father, glorify your name. Thus, a voice came from heaven: I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. (Jn 12:28)
Our anxiety at a prospective humiliation or affliction is not an imperfection, still less a fault, since our Lord experienced it. But do we as he did, sanctify it by prayer and submission to the holy will of God?
Ref: Cf Practical Meditations by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp171-3
The triumphal entry into Jerusalem
How different the cries, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him’, and then ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest! ... the cries now calling him ‘King of Israel’ and then in a few days time will be ... ‘We have no king but Caesar!’
What a contrast ... the green branches and the cross, the flowers and the thorns! ... they were offering their own clothes for him to walk upon ... so soon afterwards they are stripping him of his, and casting lots upon them. (cf St Bernard, Sermon on Palm Sunday, 2, 4)
Also in Jerusalem is Mary, wanting to be close to her son in celebrating the Passover. It is to be the last Jewish Passover; and the first Passover in which her Son is both Priest and Victim.
Let us stay beside Her. She will teach us how to remain constant, to struggle in little things, to grow continually in love for Jesus. May She be close to our side as we contemplate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of her Son. We will not find a more privileged place.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, In Conversation with God, 2:252
Conversion, God’s Gift
Conversion is fundamentally a turning away from sin and a return to the Living God, to the God of the Alliance: Come let us return to the Lord, for it is he who has torn, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds (Hos 6:1) is the invitation of the prophet Hosea.
He insists on the interior character of true conversion. It should always be inspired and moved by love and knowledge of God.
And Jeremiah, the great master of interior religion, prophesied an extraordinary spiritual transformation of the members of the People of God, through the action of God: I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord. They shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. (Jer 24:7)
Conversion is a gift from God which man must ask for with fervent prayer and which was merited for us by Christ, ‘the new Adam’. Sin and death entered into the world through the disobedience of the first Adam and dominate man. But, If death began its reign through one man because of his offense, much more shall those who receive the overflowing grace and gift of justice live and reign through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:17)
The Christian, strong with the strength which comes to him from Christ, moves farther and farther from sin, that is, from the sad reality of the original disobedience. This occurs to the degree to which Grace abounds through the merits of one man, Jesus Christ (cf Rom 5:15).
Conversion is thus an almost gradual, effective and continuous transition from the ‘old’ Adam to the ‘new’ one, who is Christ.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, Prayers and Devotions, 1994, p130
Harden Not Your Hearts
Hear His voice today: Harden not your hearts. (Ps 95:8)
This prayer is relevant and necessary, but it is particularly recommended in the course of the forty days that we hear the voice of the living God.
It is a penetrating voice, when we consider how God speaks in Lent not only with the exceptional richness of His Word in the liturgy and in the Church’s life; but above all with the paschal eloquence of the Passion and Death of his own Son.
He speaks with His cross and with His sacrifice. In a certain sense, this is his last discourse in His dialogue with man, ... with his mind and with his heart, with his conscience and his conduct.
The heart means man in his inner spirituality, the very center of his likeness with God. The interior man. The man of conscience.
Our prayer during Lent aims at awakening of consciences, arousing them to the voice of God. A man who has a hardened heart and a degenerate conscience is spiritually a sick man, even though he may enjoy the fullness of his powers and physical capacities. Everything must be done to bring him back to having a healthy soul.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, Prayers and Devotions, 1994, p131
• Octave of the Annunciation of Our Lady (in the Carmelite order). — Balingham on Calend. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com); maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html; (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Octave of the Annunciation. List of groups which celebrate this octave. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm
• Polish king Jan Casimir proclaims Mary the Patroness and Queen of Poland. 1656. The proclamation is in recognition of the defeat of the Swedish siege of Jasna Góra; the Polish victory at the "fortress of Mary" was attributed to her miraculous intercession. ... On April 1, 2005, a letter from Pope John Paul II was delivered to the Jasna Góra prior; the Pope also sent new "crowns" for the icon. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Tears. Syracuse, Italy. Statue which wept August 29 to September 1, 1953. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Tears Sicily, Italy 1953. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html) ; (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Suasia (Italy, 1556) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
31 March 2012: On the Island of Limasawa
On this day in 1521, the first Christian Mass was celebrated in the Philippines. Humabon, Chief of Cebu and many of his subjects were converted. Ferdinand Magellan gifted Humabon’s wife with an image of the Infant Jesus which in 1565 was recovered by one of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi’s men.
This providential find made Legazpi to name Cebu in honor of the “Santissimo Nombre de Jesus” (Most Holy Name of Jesus); still the official name of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Ref: In “2000 Years of Vatican Treasures”, 1994, p235
The Holy Mass, a renewal of Calvary
The Holy Mass and the Sacrifice of the Cross are one and the same sacrifice, although separated in time. Re-enacted is the total loving submission of Our Lord to his Father’s will.
This unbloody offering is identical to the sorrowful and bloody circumstances on Calvary: Christ’s oblation. The Priest and Victim are one.
The external manifestation of the Passion and Death of Jesus proceeds in the Mass, sacramentally, by means of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
In the Mass, the priest serves as the instrument of Christ, the Eternal and High priest. Christ offers himself in every Mass.
“... even though it is celebrated privately by a priest, every Mass is not a private action, but the action of Christ and of the Church. In the sacrifice that she offers, the Church learns to offer herself as a universal sacrifice, and applies the unique and infinite redeeming virtue of the sacrifice of the Cross for the salvation of the whole world.” (cf Paul VI, Encyclical, “Mysterium Fidei”, 4, 3 September 1965)
How do we attend and take part in the Mass? “Are you at Mass with the same dispositions that Our Lady had on Calvary? Do we realize that here it is the presence of the one and the same God and the consummation of the same sacrifice?” (St Jean Vianney [The ‘Curé d’Ars’], “Sermon on Sin”) A total identification with God’s will, perfect love, an offering of oneself, a desire to co-redeem.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:185-6
Holy Mass
528 -- “A very important characteristic of the apostolic man is his love for the Mass.”
529 -- “‘The Mass is long’, you say, and I reply: ‘Because your love is short.’”
530 -- “Many Christians take their time and have leisure enough in their social life (no hurry here). They are leisurely, too in their professional activities, at table and recreation (no hurry here, either). But isn’t it strange how those same Christians find themselves in such a rush and want to hurry the priest, in their anxiety to shorten the time devoted to the most holy sacrifice of the altar?”
532 -- “How that saintly young priest, who was found worthy of martyrdom, wept at the foot of the altar as he thought of a soul who had come to receive Christ in the state of mortal sin!
Is that how you offer him reparation?”
537 -- “When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”
Fruitfulness
934 -- Practise and ‘live’ the Holy Mass!
You may be helped by a consideration which that priest, in love, used to repeat to himself: “Is it possible, my God, to take part in the Holy Mass and not be a saint?”
And he would continue, “Each day, in fulfilment of an old promise, I will remain hidden in the Wound of Our Lord’s Side!”
Shouldn’t you do the same?
935 -- You can do so much good, and yet also so much harm!
You will do good if you are humble and you give yourself cheerfully, with a spirit of sacrifice: good for yourself and for your fellow men, and for that good Mother of yours, the Church.
964 -- Pray for the priests of today, and for those who are to come, that they may really love their fellow men, every day more and without distinction, and that they may know also how to make themselves loved by them.
965 -- I have been thinking of all the priests throughout the world. Help me to pray for the fruitfulness of their apostolates.
“My brother in the priesthood, please speak always about God and when, you really belong to him, your conversations will never be monotonous.”
Ref: Cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”
Jesus mocked by the soldiers and servants of Caiphas
Caiphas, triumphant at having condemned Jesus, retired for the day. He left his captive to the insolence of his servants and soldiers who immediately dragged him into an underground prison for criminals.
The hatred they knew their masters had for Jesus fired them up. They tried to outdo one another in ridicule, scorn, blasphemy, curses on him.
This horror lasted all night. Try to imagine our Lord’s suffering and humiliation; and our difficulties will be nothing. The days we spent among vulgar, ungrateful, and ill-tempered people will be less unbearable.
“Then did they spit on his face.” (Mt 27:30) If this were not in the Gospel, we could not believe that men could be so brutal and cruel. Or that God made man could have allowed and borne such an insult. But our Lord allowed it repeatedly, silently, as Isaiah had prophesied: ‘I have not turned away my face from them that spat upon me.’
And yet men often complain and long to take revenge when injured even if they deserve it.
We ought to fall at the feet of Jesus and cry out with St Bernard, ‘What, shall my Master and King be insulted and spat upon by his vilest subjects, and shall I be honored, who have deserved for my sins to be cast with the refuse of the human race to the bottom of hell? No, never! Let me rather be forgotten and despised, that I may obtain mercy in eternity.’
In grief and silence we will contemplate the King of Glory seated on a block of wood -- blindfolded, hands bound, surrounded by coarse, half-intoxicated men, who alternately strike him on the face and cry out, “Prophesy, who is it that struck thee?” (Mk 14:65; Mt 26:58)
When we meditate on the three degrees of humility [refer to 5 September], we resolve that we be despised and thought nothing of by the world with our Master, rather than be esteemed and highly exalted before men.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp110-111
• Our Lady of the Holy Cross, at Jerusalem, where is kept a part of Our Lady’s veil, given by St Helena. — Onuohrius, lib. vii.. Eccl. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Holy Cross (Jerusalem). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Holy Cross. Namesake of a college in New Orleans [Louisiana, USA]. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of the Militia (Sicily, 1091). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
This providential find made Legazpi to name Cebu in honor of the “Santissimo Nombre de Jesus” (Most Holy Name of Jesus); still the official name of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Ref: In “2000 Years of Vatican Treasures”, 1994, p235
The Holy Mass, a renewal of Calvary
The Holy Mass and the Sacrifice of the Cross are one and the same sacrifice, although separated in time. Re-enacted is the total loving submission of Our Lord to his Father’s will.
This unbloody offering is identical to the sorrowful and bloody circumstances on Calvary: Christ’s oblation. The Priest and Victim are one.
The external manifestation of the Passion and Death of Jesus proceeds in the Mass, sacramentally, by means of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
In the Mass, the priest serves as the instrument of Christ, the Eternal and High priest. Christ offers himself in every Mass.
“... even though it is celebrated privately by a priest, every Mass is not a private action, but the action of Christ and of the Church. In the sacrifice that she offers, the Church learns to offer herself as a universal sacrifice, and applies the unique and infinite redeeming virtue of the sacrifice of the Cross for the salvation of the whole world.” (cf Paul VI, Encyclical, “Mysterium Fidei”, 4, 3 September 1965)
How do we attend and take part in the Mass? “Are you at Mass with the same dispositions that Our Lady had on Calvary? Do we realize that here it is the presence of the one and the same God and the consummation of the same sacrifice?” (St Jean Vianney [The ‘Curé d’Ars’], “Sermon on Sin”) A total identification with God’s will, perfect love, an offering of oneself, a desire to co-redeem.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:185-6
Holy Mass
528 -- “A very important characteristic of the apostolic man is his love for the Mass.”
529 -- “‘The Mass is long’, you say, and I reply: ‘Because your love is short.’”
530 -- “Many Christians take their time and have leisure enough in their social life (no hurry here). They are leisurely, too in their professional activities, at table and recreation (no hurry here, either). But isn’t it strange how those same Christians find themselves in such a rush and want to hurry the priest, in their anxiety to shorten the time devoted to the most holy sacrifice of the altar?”
532 -- “How that saintly young priest, who was found worthy of martyrdom, wept at the foot of the altar as he thought of a soul who had come to receive Christ in the state of mortal sin!
Is that how you offer him reparation?”
537 -- “When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”
Fruitfulness
934 -- Practise and ‘live’ the Holy Mass!
You may be helped by a consideration which that priest, in love, used to repeat to himself: “Is it possible, my God, to take part in the Holy Mass and not be a saint?”
And he would continue, “Each day, in fulfilment of an old promise, I will remain hidden in the Wound of Our Lord’s Side!”
Shouldn’t you do the same?
935 -- You can do so much good, and yet also so much harm!
You will do good if you are humble and you give yourself cheerfully, with a spirit of sacrifice: good for yourself and for your fellow men, and for that good Mother of yours, the Church.
964 -- Pray for the priests of today, and for those who are to come, that they may really love their fellow men, every day more and without distinction, and that they may know also how to make themselves loved by them.
965 -- I have been thinking of all the priests throughout the world. Help me to pray for the fruitfulness of their apostolates.
“My brother in the priesthood, please speak always about God and when, you really belong to him, your conversations will never be monotonous.”
Ref: Cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”
Jesus mocked by the soldiers and servants of Caiphas
Caiphas, triumphant at having condemned Jesus, retired for the day. He left his captive to the insolence of his servants and soldiers who immediately dragged him into an underground prison for criminals.
The hatred they knew their masters had for Jesus fired them up. They tried to outdo one another in ridicule, scorn, blasphemy, curses on him.
This horror lasted all night. Try to imagine our Lord’s suffering and humiliation; and our difficulties will be nothing. The days we spent among vulgar, ungrateful, and ill-tempered people will be less unbearable.
“Then did they spit on his face.” (Mt 27:30) If this were not in the Gospel, we could not believe that men could be so brutal and cruel. Or that God made man could have allowed and borne such an insult. But our Lord allowed it repeatedly, silently, as Isaiah had prophesied: ‘I have not turned away my face from them that spat upon me.’
And yet men often complain and long to take revenge when injured even if they deserve it.
We ought to fall at the feet of Jesus and cry out with St Bernard, ‘What, shall my Master and King be insulted and spat upon by his vilest subjects, and shall I be honored, who have deserved for my sins to be cast with the refuse of the human race to the bottom of hell? No, never! Let me rather be forgotten and despised, that I may obtain mercy in eternity.’
In grief and silence we will contemplate the King of Glory seated on a block of wood -- blindfolded, hands bound, surrounded by coarse, half-intoxicated men, who alternately strike him on the face and cry out, “Prophesy, who is it that struck thee?” (Mk 14:65; Mt 26:58)
When we meditate on the three degrees of humility [refer to 5 September], we resolve that we be despised and thought nothing of by the world with our Master, rather than be esteemed and highly exalted before men.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp110-111
• Our Lady of the Holy Cross, at Jerusalem, where is kept a part of Our Lady’s veil, given by St Helena. — Onuohrius, lib. vii.. Eccl. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Holy Cross (Jerusalem). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Holy Cross. Namesake of a college in New Orleans [Louisiana, USA]. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of the Militia (Sicily, 1091). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
30 March 2012: Creation, the Gift of Love
The early chapters of ‘Genesis’ as the constitutive content of the mystery of creation, outline the reality of this gift and the act of giving. It confirms that the radiance of Love is an integrating part of this same mystery.
Only Love creates Good. In the last analysis, it alone can be perceived in all its dimensions and profiles in created things, in man above all.
The original happiness of man whom God created “male and female” (Gen 1:27), the spousal meaning of the body in its original nudity, all express rooting in Love.
This coherent giving goes back to the deepest roots of the conscience and the subconscious, to the ultimate strata of subjective existence in both man and woman.
It is reflected in their reciprocal ‘experience of the body’, it ‘testifies to their being rooted in Love’.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp94-5
The best of our life is for God
The book of “Genesis” (4:3-5) records that Abel offered to God the first fruits of his works and the finest of his cattle. God was pleased.
In contrast Cain, his brother, did not offer his best harvest. Abel was ‘just’, that is, holy and pious.
It is not the intrinsic quality of Abel’s offering that makes it better; but his dedication and generosity -- his intention.
Thus, God looked favourably on the victims Abel sacrificed. According to an ancient Jewish tradition, God sent down fire to consume them as a sign of his acceptance. (“The Navarre Bible”, note to Heb 11:4)
In our lives, too we must offer the best to God -- our time, our goods, our life. We cannot give him the worst, the surplus to our needs, what makes no real demand on us or what we don’t need.
The whole of our life is for God, including its best years. When we want to make an offering to God let us use the most precious things.
Man is not just a body or merely a soul. As matter and spirit, he must show his faith and love of God in visible acts.
How pitiful are those who find time for everything except for God -- for talking to him in prayer or visiting the Blessed Sacrament which takes only a few minutes.
Pitiful too are those who spend for so many things but are selfish when it comes to expenditure on God or on other people. Giving always dignifies and ennobles the heart of the giver.
Meanness, on the other hand, becomes ingrained and leads to an envious soul, like that of Cain: he could not bear Abel’s generosity.
“We should offer the Lord the sacrifice of Abel. ... a sacrifice of hearts that have one love alone -- you, my God. A sacrifice of minds that have been shaped through deep study and will surrender to your Wisdom; of childlike souls who will think only of pleasing you.
“Lord, receive even now this sweet and fragrant sacrifice.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 43)
The best of my life, work, talents, and possessions are all for you, Lord. Even of those I might have had.
For you, my God, totally and unconditionally everything you have given me in life. Please teach me to deny you nothing, to offer you always the best I have.
We ask God that we may learn to give him our best in all circumstances. Let us pray that there may be many sacrifices like those of Abel, the generous offerings of men and women who give themselves to God from their youth; and of hearts that at any age give what is asked of them, without haggling, without counting the cost.
Let us ask Our Lady to teach us to be generous as she was with God, in big things and little things, in youth and in maturity. That we offer, as Abel did, the very best we may have at any time, and in all circumstances of our life.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:299-300, 305
Jesus condemned as a blasphemer
“The high priest tore his clothes, and said, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses?’” (Mt 26:65)
How detestable was the hypocrisy of Caiphas and his party! Under an appearance of piety and zeal, they masked their mortal hatred of our Lord and their long-conceived plan of putting him to death.
They sought a flimsy excuse for their conduct so as not to enrage the people. Caiphas thought he could find one by begging Jesus to say if he is ‘really’ the Son of God.
If Jesus said ‘no’, he can condemn him as an impostor since the people believe him to be God. If he said ‘yes’, Caiphas would sentence him as a blasphemer.
He would then make people believe that he was overwhelmed with horror at the sin. The wicked can be very ingenious!
“What is your verdict? They answered, ‘He deserves death’.” (Mt 26:66) The judges who pronounced this sentence were men inflamed with hatred because Jesus had righteously confessed the truth.
In this world, the crafty often calumniate and oppress the innocent. God permits this for wise and merciful reasons. In this instance, Caiphas was the instrument by which Jesus should sacrifice his life in reparation to his Father for the sins of mankind. The wicked death sentence opened to us all the gates of eternal life.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp106-7
Responsibility
“In the hour of rejection at the Cross, the Virgin is there by her Son, willing to go through the same fate. Let us lose our fear of behaving like responsible Christians when the environment in which we move is not easy. She will help us.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 977
• “Notre Dame de Boulogne-sur-Mer”, France. Photos of 19th Century basilica, damaged in 1941, subsequently rebuilt. Contains statue which was a popular pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages based on 7th Century miracles. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of “Boulogne-sur-Mer”. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Restoration of the chapel of Our Lady, at “Boulogne-sur-mer” by Claude Dormy, bishop of that city. — Triple Couronne, n. 53. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Re-establishment of the chapel of Our Lady, at “Boulogne-sur-mer”, by Bishop Claude Dormy. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Holy Cross (Jerusalem). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Miracles (Lucques, 1588) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Only Love creates Good. In the last analysis, it alone can be perceived in all its dimensions and profiles in created things, in man above all.
The original happiness of man whom God created “male and female” (Gen 1:27), the spousal meaning of the body in its original nudity, all express rooting in Love.
This coherent giving goes back to the deepest roots of the conscience and the subconscious, to the ultimate strata of subjective existence in both man and woman.
It is reflected in their reciprocal ‘experience of the body’, it ‘testifies to their being rooted in Love’.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp94-5
The best of our life is for God
The book of “Genesis” (4:3-5) records that Abel offered to God the first fruits of his works and the finest of his cattle. God was pleased.
In contrast Cain, his brother, did not offer his best harvest. Abel was ‘just’, that is, holy and pious.
It is not the intrinsic quality of Abel’s offering that makes it better; but his dedication and generosity -- his intention.
Thus, God looked favourably on the victims Abel sacrificed. According to an ancient Jewish tradition, God sent down fire to consume them as a sign of his acceptance. (“The Navarre Bible”, note to Heb 11:4)
In our lives, too we must offer the best to God -- our time, our goods, our life. We cannot give him the worst, the surplus to our needs, what makes no real demand on us or what we don’t need.
The whole of our life is for God, including its best years. When we want to make an offering to God let us use the most precious things.
Man is not just a body or merely a soul. As matter and spirit, he must show his faith and love of God in visible acts.
How pitiful are those who find time for everything except for God -- for talking to him in prayer or visiting the Blessed Sacrament which takes only a few minutes.
Pitiful too are those who spend for so many things but are selfish when it comes to expenditure on God or on other people. Giving always dignifies and ennobles the heart of the giver.
Meanness, on the other hand, becomes ingrained and leads to an envious soul, like that of Cain: he could not bear Abel’s generosity.
“We should offer the Lord the sacrifice of Abel. ... a sacrifice of hearts that have one love alone -- you, my God. A sacrifice of minds that have been shaped through deep study and will surrender to your Wisdom; of childlike souls who will think only of pleasing you.
“Lord, receive even now this sweet and fragrant sacrifice.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 43)
The best of my life, work, talents, and possessions are all for you, Lord. Even of those I might have had.
For you, my God, totally and unconditionally everything you have given me in life. Please teach me to deny you nothing, to offer you always the best I have.
We ask God that we may learn to give him our best in all circumstances. Let us pray that there may be many sacrifices like those of Abel, the generous offerings of men and women who give themselves to God from their youth; and of hearts that at any age give what is asked of them, without haggling, without counting the cost.
Let us ask Our Lady to teach us to be generous as she was with God, in big things and little things, in youth and in maturity. That we offer, as Abel did, the very best we may have at any time, and in all circumstances of our life.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:299-300, 305
Jesus condemned as a blasphemer
“The high priest tore his clothes, and said, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses?’” (Mt 26:65)
How detestable was the hypocrisy of Caiphas and his party! Under an appearance of piety and zeal, they masked their mortal hatred of our Lord and their long-conceived plan of putting him to death.
They sought a flimsy excuse for their conduct so as not to enrage the people. Caiphas thought he could find one by begging Jesus to say if he is ‘really’ the Son of God.
If Jesus said ‘no’, he can condemn him as an impostor since the people believe him to be God. If he said ‘yes’, Caiphas would sentence him as a blasphemer.
He would then make people believe that he was overwhelmed with horror at the sin. The wicked can be very ingenious!
“What is your verdict? They answered, ‘He deserves death’.” (Mt 26:66) The judges who pronounced this sentence were men inflamed with hatred because Jesus had righteously confessed the truth.
In this world, the crafty often calumniate and oppress the innocent. God permits this for wise and merciful reasons. In this instance, Caiphas was the instrument by which Jesus should sacrifice his life in reparation to his Father for the sins of mankind. The wicked death sentence opened to us all the gates of eternal life.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp106-7
Responsibility
“In the hour of rejection at the Cross, the Virgin is there by her Son, willing to go through the same fate. Let us lose our fear of behaving like responsible Christians when the environment in which we move is not easy. She will help us.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 977
• “Notre Dame de Boulogne-sur-Mer”, France. Photos of 19th Century basilica, damaged in 1941, subsequently rebuilt. Contains statue which was a popular pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages based on 7th Century miracles. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of “Boulogne-sur-Mer”. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Restoration of the chapel of Our Lady, at “Boulogne-sur-mer” by Claude Dormy, bishop of that city. — Triple Couronne, n. 53. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Re-establishment of the chapel of Our Lady, at “Boulogne-sur-mer”, by Bishop Claude Dormy. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Holy Cross (Jerusalem). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Miracles (Lucques, 1588) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
29 March 2012: Listening to God
If we turn to Sacred Scripture we will see that humility is absolutely necessary when we are making ready to listen to God. “Where there is humility, there is wisdom.” (Prov 11:2)
Humility means looking at ourselves as we really are, honestly and without excuses. And when we realize we are worth hardly anything, we can then open ourselves to God’s greatness: there, our greatness lies.
How well our Lady, Jesus’ Holy Mother, understood this! She, the most exalted of all God’s creatures that have existed or ever will exist upon this earth!
Mary glorifies the power of our Lord, who “has put down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly” (Lk 1:52). And she sings of how this divine providence has once again been fulfilled in her: “because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid, henceforth all generations shall me blessed” (cf Lk 1:48).
Mary becomes transformed in holiness in the depths of her most pure heart on seeing the humility of God: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” (Lk 1:35)
The Blessed Virgin’s humility is a consequence of that unfathomable depth of grace which comes into operation with the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity in the womb of his ever Immaculate Mother.
Ref: Cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 96
Fear of Death Today
Generations of men achieved progress with great difficulty, waste, energies, expense. However, it contains ‘a potent coefficient of death’ within its complexity; conceals a gigantic ‘potential for death’ in itself. Is it necessary to test this for oneself in society, conscious of possibilities of destruction in the military and nuclear arsenals?
Man of today is therefore, afraid. The superpowers possess those arsenals but are afraid. This ‘fear is justified. ... men are slaying other men abundantly already today!’
They kill in homes, offices, universities. Men armed with modern weapons kill defenseless and innocent people.
Together with this gigantic material progress, have we also reached the point of ‘wiping out man himself, who is such a fundamental and elementary Value?’
Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, pp99-100
Faithfulness in everyday things
Judas betrays Jesus with a show of friendship. He had allowed his love for the Lord to grow cold. What remained is the mere external appearance of discipleship.
His life of loving surrender to God had become a farce. More than once he must have thought it would have been better not to have followed the Lord at all.
Now the miracles, the cures, the happy moments with the Master, his friendship with the other apostles are forgotten. He is now a man who has lost his way, out of touch, capable of committing the madness which for us will be difficult to understand.
This act has been preceded by increasingly greater acts of disloyalty; the final result of a long, interior process.
In contrast, perseverance is doing the daily small things with faith; supported by the humility of beginning again when weakness makes us go astray.
“A house is not destroyed by a momentary impulse. ... often because of an old defect in its construction. Sometimes prolonged neglect permits water to get in, drop by drop. With time one tiny crack becomes larger, causing considerable damage. In the end, the rain pours in. The result is ruin.” (cf Cassian, “Conferences”, 6)
To persevere in our vocation is to respond to our Lord’s repeated calls despite the obstacles and difficulties and, sometimes, acts of cowardice and even defeats. As we contemplate these scenes let us examine our faithfulness in the details of our vocation.
Is there any hint of a double life? Am I faithful to my duties? Do I make sure my relationship with the Lord is sincere? Do I avoid becoming attached to material things -- being drawn to the ‘thirty pieces of silver’?
The Christian betrays Jesus by mortal sin. All sin, even venial sin, is inextricably and mysteriously related to the passion of the Lord.
Our life is an affirmation or negation of Christ. But even after the most serious offences He is always ready to take us back into his friendship. Judas rejected the hand the Lord held out to him; his life was now ruined.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:241-3
Jesus accused and examined at the tribunal of Caiphas
“... the chief priests and the whole council sought false witnesses against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none.” (Mt 26:59-60)
Our Lord’s life was so holy his sworn enemies, despite many witnesses against him, false ones included, could find nothing to accuse him of, not even the shadow of sin, or an imperfection.
“The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’” (Mt 26:62) “But Jesus held his peace.” (Mk 14:61)
Wonderful indeed was this silence of our Lord. His honor, reputation, and life were in peril. He could so easily defend and acquit himself; but remained silent. He left his defence in the hands of his Father.
How different we are! Falsely accused, he was silent. We, who glory in being his disciples, cannot stand a reproof that we know we deserve, or a kind observation, without becoming defensive. Sometimes even at the expense of truth.
“The high priest said to him, ‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are Christ, the Son of the living God’.” (Mt 26:63)
“Jesus replied, ‘You have said so’.” (Mt 26:64)
Here is a valuable lesson -- as long as our Lord’s own person was concerned, he kept silence; but when it was a question of his Father’s glory, the salvation of souls, or a point of faith, he spoke, and confessed the truth freely though he knew it would cost him his life.
When to speak and when to be silent requires thought, a calm mind, and great firmness of character. Have we sometimes sacrificed truth by keeping silence?
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp104-5
Responsibility
“There is no prudence in appointing untried men to important posts of direction just to see how it works out. It would be like risking the common good on a lucky dip.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 969
• Apparition of Our Lady to St Bonet, Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne, whom she ordered to say mass one night when he had remained in the church to pray. The saint leaning against a pillar, as if to hide himself, the stone became soft and made the place for him, which is seen to this day. But the Blessed Virgin having obliged him to officiate, she left him when mass was over, the chasuble which had been brought him by angels to celebrate in. The heavenly present is still to be seen at Clermont, where it is preserved with great care. — See his Life in Surius, Jan. 15. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Apparition of Our Lady to St Bonet (7th Century). (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Apparition of Our Lady to St. Bonet. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Hope (Italy, 1755). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Humility means looking at ourselves as we really are, honestly and without excuses. And when we realize we are worth hardly anything, we can then open ourselves to God’s greatness: there, our greatness lies.
How well our Lady, Jesus’ Holy Mother, understood this! She, the most exalted of all God’s creatures that have existed or ever will exist upon this earth!
Mary glorifies the power of our Lord, who “has put down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly” (Lk 1:52). And she sings of how this divine providence has once again been fulfilled in her: “because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid, henceforth all generations shall me blessed” (cf Lk 1:48).
Mary becomes transformed in holiness in the depths of her most pure heart on seeing the humility of God: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” (Lk 1:35)
The Blessed Virgin’s humility is a consequence of that unfathomable depth of grace which comes into operation with the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity in the womb of his ever Immaculate Mother.
Ref: Cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 96
Fear of Death Today
Generations of men achieved progress with great difficulty, waste, energies, expense. However, it contains ‘a potent coefficient of death’ within its complexity; conceals a gigantic ‘potential for death’ in itself. Is it necessary to test this for oneself in society, conscious of possibilities of destruction in the military and nuclear arsenals?
Man of today is therefore, afraid. The superpowers possess those arsenals but are afraid. This ‘fear is justified. ... men are slaying other men abundantly already today!’
They kill in homes, offices, universities. Men armed with modern weapons kill defenseless and innocent people.
Together with this gigantic material progress, have we also reached the point of ‘wiping out man himself, who is such a fundamental and elementary Value?’
Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, pp99-100
Faithfulness in everyday things
Judas betrays Jesus with a show of friendship. He had allowed his love for the Lord to grow cold. What remained is the mere external appearance of discipleship.
His life of loving surrender to God had become a farce. More than once he must have thought it would have been better not to have followed the Lord at all.
Now the miracles, the cures, the happy moments with the Master, his friendship with the other apostles are forgotten. He is now a man who has lost his way, out of touch, capable of committing the madness which for us will be difficult to understand.
This act has been preceded by increasingly greater acts of disloyalty; the final result of a long, interior process.
In contrast, perseverance is doing the daily small things with faith; supported by the humility of beginning again when weakness makes us go astray.
“A house is not destroyed by a momentary impulse. ... often because of an old defect in its construction. Sometimes prolonged neglect permits water to get in, drop by drop. With time one tiny crack becomes larger, causing considerable damage. In the end, the rain pours in. The result is ruin.” (cf Cassian, “Conferences”, 6)
To persevere in our vocation is to respond to our Lord’s repeated calls despite the obstacles and difficulties and, sometimes, acts of cowardice and even defeats. As we contemplate these scenes let us examine our faithfulness in the details of our vocation.
Is there any hint of a double life? Am I faithful to my duties? Do I make sure my relationship with the Lord is sincere? Do I avoid becoming attached to material things -- being drawn to the ‘thirty pieces of silver’?
The Christian betrays Jesus by mortal sin. All sin, even venial sin, is inextricably and mysteriously related to the passion of the Lord.
Our life is an affirmation or negation of Christ. But even after the most serious offences He is always ready to take us back into his friendship. Judas rejected the hand the Lord held out to him; his life was now ruined.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:241-3
Jesus accused and examined at the tribunal of Caiphas
“... the chief priests and the whole council sought false witnesses against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none.” (Mt 26:59-60)
Our Lord’s life was so holy his sworn enemies, despite many witnesses against him, false ones included, could find nothing to accuse him of, not even the shadow of sin, or an imperfection.
“The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’” (Mt 26:62) “But Jesus held his peace.” (Mk 14:61)
Wonderful indeed was this silence of our Lord. His honor, reputation, and life were in peril. He could so easily defend and acquit himself; but remained silent. He left his defence in the hands of his Father.
How different we are! Falsely accused, he was silent. We, who glory in being his disciples, cannot stand a reproof that we know we deserve, or a kind observation, without becoming defensive. Sometimes even at the expense of truth.
“The high priest said to him, ‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are Christ, the Son of the living God’.” (Mt 26:63)
“Jesus replied, ‘You have said so’.” (Mt 26:64)
Here is a valuable lesson -- as long as our Lord’s own person was concerned, he kept silence; but when it was a question of his Father’s glory, the salvation of souls, or a point of faith, he spoke, and confessed the truth freely though he knew it would cost him his life.
When to speak and when to be silent requires thought, a calm mind, and great firmness of character. Have we sometimes sacrificed truth by keeping silence?
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp104-5
Responsibility
“There is no prudence in appointing untried men to important posts of direction just to see how it works out. It would be like risking the common good on a lucky dip.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 969
• Apparition of Our Lady to St Bonet, Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne, whom she ordered to say mass one night when he had remained in the church to pray. The saint leaning against a pillar, as if to hide himself, the stone became soft and made the place for him, which is seen to this day. But the Blessed Virgin having obliged him to officiate, she left him when mass was over, the chasuble which had been brought him by angels to celebrate in. The heavenly present is still to be seen at Clermont, where it is preserved with great care. — See his Life in Surius, Jan. 15. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Apparition of Our Lady to St Bonet (7th Century). (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Apparition of Our Lady to St. Bonet. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Hope (Italy, 1755). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
28 March 2012: Our Lady of the Precious Blood
On Easter Sunday, 28 March 1171, on the altar of Our Lady in the church of “Sta Maria Vado” (Blessed Mary in the water) in Ferrara, Italy, there occurred a Eucharistic Miracle.
This image of Our Lady, believe to have been painted by St Luke, was stolen from the church now a Basilica, on 26 April 1994. Police searched the house of the thieves. They found many paintings but not that of Our Lady. They were about to leave when the Police Chief faintly heard a voice say, ‘Return to the house!’ There was a big cupboard with a false back which on lifting, revealed the missing image.
Ref: Bob and Penny Lord, “Miracles of the Eucharist”, II: 21-33
Practising the virtue of humility
An essential condition for holiness is learning to forget about ourselves. In this way, we are able to see God as our absolute Good, and to think about others.
Together with prayer, the first means we must always use, we should also practise the virtue at work, in family life, when we are alone ... always.
We ought to exert every effort not to be too concerned with our health, our rest; whether people think well of us and regard us sufficiently. We must try to minimize talking about ourselves, of whatever can possibly put us in a good light.
We should avoid curiosity, the desire to know everything and to let everyone know we know it.
Patiently, with good humour, we will accept difficulties and offer them up joyfully as sacrifices to God. We shall not insist on our own point of view unless the truth or justice demands it, and even then we shall be moderate while remaining firm.
We shall overlook the mistakes of others; find excuses for them and in all charity assist them to overcome their failings.
We will accept corrections even if these seem unfair, and yield on appropriate occasions to other people’s opinions when charity or duty is not at stake.
We will avoid displaying our good qualities, possessions, knowledge or experience.
Mary, as the “Handmaid of the Lord”, has shown us how to practise the virtue of humility.
“We turn to her, since she is the Mother of both mercy and tenderness, and no one has ever gone to her in vain. Cast yourself with confidence into her maternal embrace; ask her to obtain for you this virtue she esteemed so highly. ...” (J Pecci [Pope Leo XIII], “The practice of humility”, pp85-6)
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:296-8
Grace begets more graces
Our Lady had plenitude of grace which corresponded to her at every moment. This grace grew and increased day by day, since graces and supernatural gifts do not limit one’s capacity to receive them.
Instead, they increase and expand that capacity for new gifts. The more we love God, the more our soul is enabled to love him further and to receive more grace.
By loving we obtain new powers to love. Whoever loves more has a greater desire to love and a greater capacity for loving.
Grace invites more grace, and a plenitude of grace calls for an ever greater plenitude. Mary’s soul at the first instant of its creation received an immense treasure of graces.
From the beginning Mary has been loved by God above all creatures, because the Lord was fully pleased with her and filled her with supernatural graces, “more than all the angelic spirits and more than all the saints.” (cf Pius IX, “Ineffabilis Deus”, 8 December 1854)
Of Our Lady, St Thomas states that “her dignity is in a certain sense infinite” (“Summa Theologiae”,1, q.25, a.6 ad.4). This grace was given to Mary due to her divine Motherhood.
Fulness of grace and fulness of freedom went together in Our Lady, since one is more free in so far as one is more holy. Thus, she gave a most faithful response to God’s gifts and obtained great merit.
Let us go to her now. We have such great need of her help.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:611-2
The treason of Judas
“As he spoke, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs ...” (Mt 26:47)
Judas, taught by Jesus for three years, confirmed in the faith by so many miracles, loaded with favors, has become the tool of those who plot the death of his Lord. For thirty pieces of silver he treacherously delivers him into their hands. Such is the depth of blindness into which avarice has slowly plunged Judas!
What revolting hypocrisy! Did Judas believe that he could deceive God, as he had deceived men? How passion blinds its victims!
Everybody detests the crime of Judas; but there are Christians nowadays who renew it by making a sacrilegious Communion. They in reality deliver up Jesus under the cloak of piety, to the demons in their hearts.
May God preserve us from such a crime! There are acts of hypocrisy less revolting but which we ought neverthess to fear and detest -- contenting ourselves with exterior virtue and piety, being more careful about duties before colleagues than when alone, alleging false pretexts to attain our ends, etc.
Which is the more wonderful -- the sweetness of Jesus, or hardness of heart of Judas? In addressing Judas, “My friend”, Jesus signified his readiness to pardon him. By asking Judas, “What did you come for?” (Mt 26:50) Jesus wished to help Judas examine himself, to recognize and abhor his crime. But Judas was firm.
Jesus tried again to convert him by showing he knew of his treachery, saying: “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Lk 22:48) All was in vain. He remained obstinate.
The extraordinary gentleness of Jesus ought to redouble our love for him. The unusual hardness of the traitor should fill us with fear and extreme distrust of ourselves, no matter how virtuous we believe we are.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp96-8
Penance
Let us not forget that in all human activity there must be men and women who, in their lives and work, raise Christ’s Cross aloft for all to see, as an act of reparation. It is a symbol of peace and of joy, a symbol of the Redemption and of the unity of the human race. It is a symbol of the love that the Most Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit has, and continues to have, for mankind.
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 985
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo, at Olian, in Catalonia. It is related that every year, on the day of the Annunciation, three lights were seen of a blue color, which shone through the glass windows of this church, lighted the lamps and wax candles, went out by the same way; and immediately disappeared. — Ludo Marinaeus. lib. Y., de rebus Hispanicis, c. ultimo. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo, Catalonia, Spain. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo (“Nuestra Señora de Castelbruedo”). Catalonia, Spain. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo Olian, Catalonia, Spain. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo (Olian, Catalonia). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Bocciola (Italy, 1543) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
This image of Our Lady, believe to have been painted by St Luke, was stolen from the church now a Basilica, on 26 April 1994. Police searched the house of the thieves. They found many paintings but not that of Our Lady. They were about to leave when the Police Chief faintly heard a voice say, ‘Return to the house!’ There was a big cupboard with a false back which on lifting, revealed the missing image.
Ref: Bob and Penny Lord, “Miracles of the Eucharist”, II: 21-33
Practising the virtue of humility
An essential condition for holiness is learning to forget about ourselves. In this way, we are able to see God as our absolute Good, and to think about others.
Together with prayer, the first means we must always use, we should also practise the virtue at work, in family life, when we are alone ... always.
We ought to exert every effort not to be too concerned with our health, our rest; whether people think well of us and regard us sufficiently. We must try to minimize talking about ourselves, of whatever can possibly put us in a good light.
We should avoid curiosity, the desire to know everything and to let everyone know we know it.
Patiently, with good humour, we will accept difficulties and offer them up joyfully as sacrifices to God. We shall not insist on our own point of view unless the truth or justice demands it, and even then we shall be moderate while remaining firm.
We shall overlook the mistakes of others; find excuses for them and in all charity assist them to overcome their failings.
We will accept corrections even if these seem unfair, and yield on appropriate occasions to other people’s opinions when charity or duty is not at stake.
We will avoid displaying our good qualities, possessions, knowledge or experience.
Mary, as the “Handmaid of the Lord”, has shown us how to practise the virtue of humility.
“We turn to her, since she is the Mother of both mercy and tenderness, and no one has ever gone to her in vain. Cast yourself with confidence into her maternal embrace; ask her to obtain for you this virtue she esteemed so highly. ...” (J Pecci [Pope Leo XIII], “The practice of humility”, pp85-6)
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:296-8
Grace begets more graces
Our Lady had plenitude of grace which corresponded to her at every moment. This grace grew and increased day by day, since graces and supernatural gifts do not limit one’s capacity to receive them.
Instead, they increase and expand that capacity for new gifts. The more we love God, the more our soul is enabled to love him further and to receive more grace.
By loving we obtain new powers to love. Whoever loves more has a greater desire to love and a greater capacity for loving.
Grace invites more grace, and a plenitude of grace calls for an ever greater plenitude. Mary’s soul at the first instant of its creation received an immense treasure of graces.
From the beginning Mary has been loved by God above all creatures, because the Lord was fully pleased with her and filled her with supernatural graces, “more than all the angelic spirits and more than all the saints.” (cf Pius IX, “Ineffabilis Deus”, 8 December 1854)
Of Our Lady, St Thomas states that “her dignity is in a certain sense infinite” (“Summa Theologiae”,1, q.25, a.6 ad.4). This grace was given to Mary due to her divine Motherhood.
Fulness of grace and fulness of freedom went together in Our Lady, since one is more free in so far as one is more holy. Thus, she gave a most faithful response to God’s gifts and obtained great merit.
Let us go to her now. We have such great need of her help.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:611-2
The treason of Judas
“As he spoke, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs ...” (Mt 26:47)
Judas, taught by Jesus for three years, confirmed in the faith by so many miracles, loaded with favors, has become the tool of those who plot the death of his Lord. For thirty pieces of silver he treacherously delivers him into their hands. Such is the depth of blindness into which avarice has slowly plunged Judas!
What revolting hypocrisy! Did Judas believe that he could deceive God, as he had deceived men? How passion blinds its victims!
Everybody detests the crime of Judas; but there are Christians nowadays who renew it by making a sacrilegious Communion. They in reality deliver up Jesus under the cloak of piety, to the demons in their hearts.
May God preserve us from such a crime! There are acts of hypocrisy less revolting but which we ought neverthess to fear and detest -- contenting ourselves with exterior virtue and piety, being more careful about duties before colleagues than when alone, alleging false pretexts to attain our ends, etc.
Which is the more wonderful -- the sweetness of Jesus, or hardness of heart of Judas? In addressing Judas, “My friend”, Jesus signified his readiness to pardon him. By asking Judas, “What did you come for?” (Mt 26:50) Jesus wished to help Judas examine himself, to recognize and abhor his crime. But Judas was firm.
Jesus tried again to convert him by showing he knew of his treachery, saying: “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Lk 22:48) All was in vain. He remained obstinate.
The extraordinary gentleness of Jesus ought to redouble our love for him. The unusual hardness of the traitor should fill us with fear and extreme distrust of ourselves, no matter how virtuous we believe we are.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp96-8
Penance
Let us not forget that in all human activity there must be men and women who, in their lives and work, raise Christ’s Cross aloft for all to see, as an act of reparation. It is a symbol of peace and of joy, a symbol of the Redemption and of the unity of the human race. It is a symbol of the love that the Most Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit has, and continues to have, for mankind.
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 985
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo, at Olian, in Catalonia. It is related that every year, on the day of the Annunciation, three lights were seen of a blue color, which shone through the glass windows of this church, lighted the lamps and wax candles, went out by the same way; and immediately disappeared. — Ludo Marinaeus. lib. Y., de rebus Hispanicis, c. ultimo. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo, Catalonia, Spain. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo (“Nuestra Señora de Castelbruedo”). Catalonia, Spain. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo Olian, Catalonia, Spain. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Castelbruedo (Olian, Catalonia). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Bocciola (Italy, 1543) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Monday, March 26, 2012
27 March 2012: On the grace of our vocation
“‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!’
The messenger greets Mary as ‘full of grace’. He calls her this as if it were her real name. He does not call her by her proper earthly name ‘Miriam’ (Mary), but by this new name: ‘Full of grace.’
What does this mean? Why does the archangel address the Virgin of Nazareth in this way?
“In the language of the Bible ‘grace’ means a special gift which according to the New Testament has its source precisely in the Trinitarian life of God himself, of God who is love.” (cf 1 Jn 4:8) (John Paul II, “Redemptoris Mater”, 25 March 1987, 8)
Mary is called ‘full of grace’ to express her true being. Whenever God changes a person’s name or gives him or her an extra one, he destines him or her to something new or reveals to that person his or her true mission in the history of salvation.
Mary is called ‘full of grace’, most highly favored, because of her divine Motherhood.
The angel’s announcement revealed to Mary her mission in the world, the key to her whole existence. For her the Annunciation was a most perfect light that filled the whole of her life and made her fully aware of her exceptional role in the history of mankind.
“Mary is definitively introduced into the mystery of Christ through this event.” (John Paul II, “Redemptoris Mater”, 25 March 1987, 8)
“The scene of the Annunciation is a very lovely one. How often have we meditated on this! Mary is recollected in prayer. ... using all her senses and her faculties to speak to God. ... in prayer ... she comes to know the divine Will. And with prayer she makes it the life of her life. Do not forget the example of the Virgin Mary.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 481)
Mary’s vocation is the perfect example for any vocation. We understand our own life and the events surrounding it in the light of our vocation.
In our endeavor to fulfill this divine plan is the way to Heaven. Therein also lies our own human and supernatural fulfilment.
Vocation is not the choice we make for ourselves so much as that which God makes of us through the thousand and one events in which we are involved. We must know how to interpret these circumstances with faith, and with a pure and upright heart.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” (Jn 15:16)
“Every vocation, every existence, is in itself a grace that encloses within it many others; it is a grace, a gift, that is given to us, that is bestowed on us without our having deserved it, without being evoked by any merit of ours, and with no right to it on our part. It is not necessary that ... the call to fulfil the plan of God, the assigned mission, be great or splendid.
“It is enough that God has wanted to employ us in his service, that He wants us to aid him, that he trusts in our cooperation. The fact that he wants our cooperation is in itself so extraordinary and magnificent, that an entire life spent in thanksgiving is not enough to repay him for such an honour.” (Federico Suarez, “Mary of Nazareth” [Sinag-Tala Publishers, Inc, Manila, 1988, pp20-21])
The 'yes' that God asks of each one of us, whatever our direction in life may be, lasts for the whole of our lives. Sometimes, it will be our reply to minor events, at other times to larger, more important situations.
Let us ask Our Lady for a great and true desire to perceive our own vocation in greater depth and for light so as to correspond to the successive calls God makes to us.
Let us ask her to enable us to give a prompt and firm reply on each occasion. Our vocation alone is what can fill our lives and give them their full meaning.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:182-7
Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives
“Being in an agony, his sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground.” (Lk 22:44)
Jesus, choosing to submit to all humiliations and sorrows, suffered them before his physical exhaustion. An interior struggle between feeling and the will aggravated the agony. A great proof of love and a lesson for us!
The bloody sweat makes us realize the torment in the soul of Jesus during his agony of nearly two hours. It shows his great suffering. He could have avoided this humiliating agony, but desired it for our sake.
The humble petitions of Jesus brought an angel who strengthened his body, fortified his soul, praised his resignation; and showed him all that his passion should do for his Father’s glory and for the happiness of men. What Jesus as man had asked for, was denied him; but his prayer obtained a wonderful consolation.
In trouble and anguished, recourse to God is always fruitful. If a heavy cross burdens us, the angel of divine consolation will shed the unction of grace in our heart.
Our soul strengthened and invigorated, the cross becomes light. We will bear it with sweet resignation and sensible joy with a fresh increase of merit.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp89-91
Jesus scolds His disciples
“He comes to his disciples, and finds them asleep; ... he said to Peter, ‘So, you could not stay awake with me one hour? ... the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” (Mt 26:40-41)
The reproach surprised the three Apostles. “... they knew not what to answer him.” (Mk 14:40) It especially embittered St Peter, who earlier had promised fidelity and constancy. The reason Jesus addressed him personally.
“Simon, I, thy master, have prayed and endured an extreme agony, you have not the courage to watch one hour with me in prayer, though I expressly commanded you to do so. ... Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation.” (cf Mk 14:38; cf Mt 26:41)
Spiritual lukewarmness is a very dangerous state. Whoever is lukewarm falls into fatal delusions. Intending to do well, and like the Apostles, liberal in grand promises, he falsely equates willing with doing. As if we have the strength to work out our salvation.
Jesus says, “The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41). That is why he immediately adds, “Watch and pray”.
Be always on your guard, always distrustful of self, always armed with prayer. If not, we will certainly fall under temptation, open to our enemies.
Jesus firmly meets tortures and death, showing the powerful effects of that long and fervent prayer to his Father. We also see, in the shameful flight of the Apostles at the first hint of danger, the loss to the soul which neglects to seek God in fervent prayer. From prayer we draw the strength needed in times of difficulty.
“... leaving them, he went again and prayed ... Then he comes to his disciples, and said to them, ‘Sleep now, take your rest; the hour has come for the Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go; he who will betray me is here.’” (Mk 14:41-2)
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p94-6
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady immediately after his resurrection. — Alphonsus a Castro, c. 17. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady after His Resurrection (in accordance with the original date). (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady, as soon as He was risen from the dead (in accordance with original date). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady after His Resurrection (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Madonna del Piratello (Italy, 1483) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
The messenger greets Mary as ‘full of grace’. He calls her this as if it were her real name. He does not call her by her proper earthly name ‘Miriam’ (Mary), but by this new name: ‘Full of grace.’
What does this mean? Why does the archangel address the Virgin of Nazareth in this way?
“In the language of the Bible ‘grace’ means a special gift which according to the New Testament has its source precisely in the Trinitarian life of God himself, of God who is love.” (cf 1 Jn 4:8) (John Paul II, “Redemptoris Mater”, 25 March 1987, 8)
Mary is called ‘full of grace’ to express her true being. Whenever God changes a person’s name or gives him or her an extra one, he destines him or her to something new or reveals to that person his or her true mission in the history of salvation.
Mary is called ‘full of grace’, most highly favored, because of her divine Motherhood.
The angel’s announcement revealed to Mary her mission in the world, the key to her whole existence. For her the Annunciation was a most perfect light that filled the whole of her life and made her fully aware of her exceptional role in the history of mankind.
“Mary is definitively introduced into the mystery of Christ through this event.” (John Paul II, “Redemptoris Mater”, 25 March 1987, 8)
“The scene of the Annunciation is a very lovely one. How often have we meditated on this! Mary is recollected in prayer. ... using all her senses and her faculties to speak to God. ... in prayer ... she comes to know the divine Will. And with prayer she makes it the life of her life. Do not forget the example of the Virgin Mary.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 481)
Mary’s vocation is the perfect example for any vocation. We understand our own life and the events surrounding it in the light of our vocation.
In our endeavor to fulfill this divine plan is the way to Heaven. Therein also lies our own human and supernatural fulfilment.
Vocation is not the choice we make for ourselves so much as that which God makes of us through the thousand and one events in which we are involved. We must know how to interpret these circumstances with faith, and with a pure and upright heart.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” (Jn 15:16)
“Every vocation, every existence, is in itself a grace that encloses within it many others; it is a grace, a gift, that is given to us, that is bestowed on us without our having deserved it, without being evoked by any merit of ours, and with no right to it on our part. It is not necessary that ... the call to fulfil the plan of God, the assigned mission, be great or splendid.
“It is enough that God has wanted to employ us in his service, that He wants us to aid him, that he trusts in our cooperation. The fact that he wants our cooperation is in itself so extraordinary and magnificent, that an entire life spent in thanksgiving is not enough to repay him for such an honour.” (Federico Suarez, “Mary of Nazareth” [Sinag-Tala Publishers, Inc, Manila, 1988, pp20-21])
The 'yes' that God asks of each one of us, whatever our direction in life may be, lasts for the whole of our lives. Sometimes, it will be our reply to minor events, at other times to larger, more important situations.
Let us ask Our Lady for a great and true desire to perceive our own vocation in greater depth and for light so as to correspond to the successive calls God makes to us.
Let us ask her to enable us to give a prompt and firm reply on each occasion. Our vocation alone is what can fill our lives and give them their full meaning.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:182-7
Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives
“Being in an agony, his sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground.” (Lk 22:44)
Jesus, choosing to submit to all humiliations and sorrows, suffered them before his physical exhaustion. An interior struggle between feeling and the will aggravated the agony. A great proof of love and a lesson for us!
The bloody sweat makes us realize the torment in the soul of Jesus during his agony of nearly two hours. It shows his great suffering. He could have avoided this humiliating agony, but desired it for our sake.
The humble petitions of Jesus brought an angel who strengthened his body, fortified his soul, praised his resignation; and showed him all that his passion should do for his Father’s glory and for the happiness of men. What Jesus as man had asked for, was denied him; but his prayer obtained a wonderful consolation.
In trouble and anguished, recourse to God is always fruitful. If a heavy cross burdens us, the angel of divine consolation will shed the unction of grace in our heart.
Our soul strengthened and invigorated, the cross becomes light. We will bear it with sweet resignation and sensible joy with a fresh increase of merit.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp89-91
Jesus scolds His disciples
“He comes to his disciples, and finds them asleep; ... he said to Peter, ‘So, you could not stay awake with me one hour? ... the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” (Mt 26:40-41)
The reproach surprised the three Apostles. “... they knew not what to answer him.” (Mk 14:40) It especially embittered St Peter, who earlier had promised fidelity and constancy. The reason Jesus addressed him personally.
“Simon, I, thy master, have prayed and endured an extreme agony, you have not the courage to watch one hour with me in prayer, though I expressly commanded you to do so. ... Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation.” (cf Mk 14:38; cf Mt 26:41)
Spiritual lukewarmness is a very dangerous state. Whoever is lukewarm falls into fatal delusions. Intending to do well, and like the Apostles, liberal in grand promises, he falsely equates willing with doing. As if we have the strength to work out our salvation.
Jesus says, “The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41). That is why he immediately adds, “Watch and pray”.
Be always on your guard, always distrustful of self, always armed with prayer. If not, we will certainly fall under temptation, open to our enemies.
Jesus firmly meets tortures and death, showing the powerful effects of that long and fervent prayer to his Father. We also see, in the shameful flight of the Apostles at the first hint of danger, the loss to the soul which neglects to seek God in fervent prayer. From prayer we draw the strength needed in times of difficulty.
“... leaving them, he went again and prayed ... Then he comes to his disciples, and said to them, ‘Sleep now, take your rest; the hour has come for the Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go; he who will betray me is here.’” (Mk 14:41-2)
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p94-6
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady immediately after his resurrection. — Alphonsus a Castro, c. 17. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady after His Resurrection (in accordance with the original date). (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady, as soon as He was risen from the dead (in accordance with original date). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady after His Resurrection (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Madonna del Piratello (Italy, 1483) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
26 March 2012: The impact of the Incarnation in our life
The Incarnation should have a pronounced and dramatic impact on our life. This event is the central moment of human history. Without Christ, life has no meaning.
“Christ the Redeemer ‘fully reveals man to himself’.” (John Paul II, Encyclical, “Redemptor hominis”, 4 March 1979, 11)
It is only through Christ that we will come to understand our inner self and everything that matters most to us: the hidden value of pain and of work well-done, the authentic peace and joy which surpass natural feelings and life’s uncertainties, the delightful prospect of the supernatural reward in our eternal homeland.
“Unceasingly contemplating the whole of Christ’s mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to this life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin.” (John Paul II, Encyclical, “Redemptor hominis”, 4 March 1979, 10)
The human testimony of the Son of God teaches us that all earthly realities ought to be loved and offered up to Heaven. Christ has transformed the human condition into a pathway to God.
As a consequence, the Christian’s struggle for perfection takes on a truly positive character. It does not mean erasing man’s humanity so that the divine might shine out instead.
Sanctity does not require total separation from worldly affairs. For it is not human nature that opposes God’s will, but sin and the effects of original sin which have so severely damaged our souls. Our struggle to become like Christ brings with it a life-long battle against whatsoever degrades our humanity -- egoism, envy, sensuality, a critical spirit ...
The authentic struggle for sanctity involves every aspect of the proper development of human personality: professional work, human and social virtues, love for everything that is truly human.
Similarly, the humanity of Christ is not effaced by his divinity. Thus, through the Incarnation, the human condition preserves its integrity and finds its final end.
“Through his Incarnation, through his work at Nazareth and his preaching and miracles in Judaea and Galilee, through his death on the cross and through his Resurrection, Christ is the centre of the universe, the firstborn and Lord of all creation.
“Our task as Christians is to proclaim this kingship of Christ, announcing it through what we say and do. Our Lord wants men and women of his own in all walks of life. Some he calls away from society, asking them to give up involvement in the world, so they remind the rest of us by their example that God exists. To others he entrusts the priestly ministry. But he wants the vast majority to stay right where they are, in all earthly occupations in which they work: the factory, the laboratory, the farm, the trades, the streets of big cities and the trails of the mountains.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Christ is passing by”, 105)
This is the context of our vocation.
Let us go to the Mother of Jesus who is also our Mother. “O Mary! ... by your conception you have brought our Saviour to the world ... O Mary, blessed be you among all women for ever ... the Godhead has become one with our humanity in such a permanent bond that nothing can break it -- not our ingratitude, not even death itself.” (St Catherine of Siena, “Elevaciones”, 15) Blessed are you!
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:179-180
Jesus enters the Garden of Olives
Jesus walks resolutely with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives where there was a garden called Gethsemane. He entered and told his disciples, “Sit here while I go yonder and pray. Pray that you may not fall into temptation.” (Mk 14:32; Lk 22:39-40) “And he takes Peter and James and John with him, and he began to fear.” (Mk 14:33)
Why did Jesus select these three disciples to be with him at the time of the great mysteries of his agony? The Gospel is silent. We may presume that since they saw his glory and happiness at the Transfiguration on Mount Thabor, it was his will that they should witness also his humiliation and agony on the Mount of Olives.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp82-4
Prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Olives
Jesus Christ knelt down, hit his face on the earth, and remained prostrate as if unworthy to look to heaven. He thought of the infinite majesty of God to whom he spoke as man bearing the weight of our sins.
“My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevetheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” (Lk 22:4)
Jesus gives us the example of a heroic resignation. Like us in his human nature, the sight of death, the thought of sufferings and humiliations which will precede it, made him implore his heavenly Father, to spare Him these sacrifices. Still he declared his readiness to endure them if it is His will.
This is how we ought to pray when we ask God to deliver us from anything against our natural inclination. But we should always say ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ in everything we ask for daily.
Jesus interrupted his prayer three times to inquire of his disciples who seemed unaware of the greatest danger. Immediately he went back to pray, and repeated ... ‘not as I will, but thy will be done’.
We learn two things:
1) We ought not to pray too long as to neglect works of charity. Neither must we allow our charitable zeal lead to neglect of prayer. We should sanctify zeal by prayer, and enrich prayer by zealous charitable labors.
2) We ought not to pray with a variety of forms and expressions, nor be weary of repeating our petitions.
In any activity, much prayer should precede action.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp87-9
Our Lady
496 -- “How men like to be reminded of their relationship with distinguised figures in literature, in politics, in the armed forces, in the Church!
“Sing to Mary Immaculate, reminding her:
“Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father! Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son! Hail Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit! Greater than you -- no one but God!”
500 -- “Wear on your breast the holy scapular of Carmel. There are many excellent Marian devotions, but few are deep-rooted among the faithful and so richly blessed by the popes. Besides, how motherly is the sabbatine privilege!”
507 --“What humility, that of my holy Mother Mary! She’s not to be seen amidst the palms of Jerusalem, nor -- except that first one at Cana -- at the hour of the great miracles.
“But she doesn’t flee from the degradation of Golgotha: there she stands, ‘juxta crucem Iesu’ -- ‘by the cross of Jesus’ -- his Mother.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”
• Our Lady of Soissons, occupied by Benedictine nuns. In this abbey is seen one of the shoes of Our Lady. — Hugo Farcitus. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Soissons. (France, 1128). In the Abbey one of the shoes of Our Lady is kept. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Soissons France. 1128. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com)
• Our Lady of Soissons (France). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• “Notre Dame de Soissons”. France. 1128. Relic of a Marian shoe. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
“Christ the Redeemer ‘fully reveals man to himself’.” (John Paul II, Encyclical, “Redemptor hominis”, 4 March 1979, 11)
It is only through Christ that we will come to understand our inner self and everything that matters most to us: the hidden value of pain and of work well-done, the authentic peace and joy which surpass natural feelings and life’s uncertainties, the delightful prospect of the supernatural reward in our eternal homeland.
“Unceasingly contemplating the whole of Christ’s mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to this life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin.” (John Paul II, Encyclical, “Redemptor hominis”, 4 March 1979, 10)
The human testimony of the Son of God teaches us that all earthly realities ought to be loved and offered up to Heaven. Christ has transformed the human condition into a pathway to God.
As a consequence, the Christian’s struggle for perfection takes on a truly positive character. It does not mean erasing man’s humanity so that the divine might shine out instead.
Sanctity does not require total separation from worldly affairs. For it is not human nature that opposes God’s will, but sin and the effects of original sin which have so severely damaged our souls. Our struggle to become like Christ brings with it a life-long battle against whatsoever degrades our humanity -- egoism, envy, sensuality, a critical spirit ...
The authentic struggle for sanctity involves every aspect of the proper development of human personality: professional work, human and social virtues, love for everything that is truly human.
Similarly, the humanity of Christ is not effaced by his divinity. Thus, through the Incarnation, the human condition preserves its integrity and finds its final end.
“Through his Incarnation, through his work at Nazareth and his preaching and miracles in Judaea and Galilee, through his death on the cross and through his Resurrection, Christ is the centre of the universe, the firstborn and Lord of all creation.
“Our task as Christians is to proclaim this kingship of Christ, announcing it through what we say and do. Our Lord wants men and women of his own in all walks of life. Some he calls away from society, asking them to give up involvement in the world, so they remind the rest of us by their example that God exists. To others he entrusts the priestly ministry. But he wants the vast majority to stay right where they are, in all earthly occupations in which they work: the factory, the laboratory, the farm, the trades, the streets of big cities and the trails of the mountains.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Christ is passing by”, 105)
This is the context of our vocation.
Let us go to the Mother of Jesus who is also our Mother. “O Mary! ... by your conception you have brought our Saviour to the world ... O Mary, blessed be you among all women for ever ... the Godhead has become one with our humanity in such a permanent bond that nothing can break it -- not our ingratitude, not even death itself.” (St Catherine of Siena, “Elevaciones”, 15) Blessed are you!
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:179-180
Jesus enters the Garden of Olives
Jesus walks resolutely with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives where there was a garden called Gethsemane. He entered and told his disciples, “Sit here while I go yonder and pray. Pray that you may not fall into temptation.” (Mk 14:32; Lk 22:39-40) “And he takes Peter and James and John with him, and he began to fear.” (Mk 14:33)
Why did Jesus select these three disciples to be with him at the time of the great mysteries of his agony? The Gospel is silent. We may presume that since they saw his glory and happiness at the Transfiguration on Mount Thabor, it was his will that they should witness also his humiliation and agony on the Mount of Olives.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp82-4
Prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Olives
Jesus Christ knelt down, hit his face on the earth, and remained prostrate as if unworthy to look to heaven. He thought of the infinite majesty of God to whom he spoke as man bearing the weight of our sins.
“My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevetheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” (Lk 22:4)
Jesus gives us the example of a heroic resignation. Like us in his human nature, the sight of death, the thought of sufferings and humiliations which will precede it, made him implore his heavenly Father, to spare Him these sacrifices. Still he declared his readiness to endure them if it is His will.
This is how we ought to pray when we ask God to deliver us from anything against our natural inclination. But we should always say ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ in everything we ask for daily.
Jesus interrupted his prayer three times to inquire of his disciples who seemed unaware of the greatest danger. Immediately he went back to pray, and repeated ... ‘not as I will, but thy will be done’.
We learn two things:
1) We ought not to pray too long as to neglect works of charity. Neither must we allow our charitable zeal lead to neglect of prayer. We should sanctify zeal by prayer, and enrich prayer by zealous charitable labors.
2) We ought not to pray with a variety of forms and expressions, nor be weary of repeating our petitions.
In any activity, much prayer should precede action.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp87-9
Our Lady
496 -- “How men like to be reminded of their relationship with distinguised figures in literature, in politics, in the armed forces, in the Church!
“Sing to Mary Immaculate, reminding her:
“Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father! Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son! Hail Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit! Greater than you -- no one but God!”
500 -- “Wear on your breast the holy scapular of Carmel. There are many excellent Marian devotions, but few are deep-rooted among the faithful and so richly blessed by the popes. Besides, how motherly is the sabbatine privilege!”
507 --“What humility, that of my holy Mother Mary! She’s not to be seen amidst the palms of Jerusalem, nor -- except that first one at Cana -- at the hour of the great miracles.
“But she doesn’t flee from the degradation of Golgotha: there she stands, ‘juxta crucem Iesu’ -- ‘by the cross of Jesus’ -- his Mother.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”
• Our Lady of Soissons, occupied by Benedictine nuns. In this abbey is seen one of the shoes of Our Lady. — Hugo Farcitus. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Soissons. (France, 1128). In the Abbey one of the shoes of Our Lady is kept. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Soissons France. 1128. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com)
• Our Lady of Soissons (France). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• “Notre Dame de Soissons”. France. 1128. Relic of a Marian shoe. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
Saturday, March 24, 2012
25 March 2012: Solemnity -- The Annunciation of the Lord
[Today, being Sunday, the Solemnity will be celebrated at mass tomorrow.]
The Archangel Gabriel communicated to Mary that she will be the Mother of the Son of God. Mary’s ‘Fiat’ (Consent) initiated the working of the Holy Spirit and she conceived the Saviour.
In this dialogue Our Lady appears to us so humble; yet so great. Through her consent to God’s plans, she takes part in the whole redemptive work of her Son, Jesus. We venerate her as the Mother of Christ and our Mother.
Ref: Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ (Eds), “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1499
‘The Word was made flesh ...’
“... the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
"Upon arriving, the angel said to her: ‘Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.’ When she had heard him she was troubled at his word, and kept pondering what manner of greeting this might be.
“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. You shall conceive and bear a son and give him the name Jesus. Great will be his dignity and he will be called Son of the most high.
"The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end.”
Ref: Cf Lk 1:26-33
Our Lady, having been allayed by the angel about fearing the loss of her virginity, gave her consent: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” (Lk 1:38) Immediately, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).
Here ... is the answer given by a mother, ... the reply of a young woman: a “yes” which suffices for a whole life. (cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, 1984, p134)
Many practical reflections flock to the mind--
1. Mary endowed with grace, raised to a dignity above all other creatures, looks on herself as nothing, calls herself only “the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38). And I, empty of mind, full of sins and imperfections, raise myself in thought above others.
2. Mary recognizes the great things that have been wrought in her; but, as she answered the congratulations of Elizabeth, she looks on them only as the free gift of God:
“He that is mighty has done great things to me.” (Lk 1:49) And I look on the little good I do as my own personal merit: I like to be esteemed before men.
3. Mary was more anxious to please God by preserving her virginal purity than to have the honor of the Divine motherhood. And I fear so little to tarnish the purity of my soul in the eyes of God.
What did God do on this day in our favor? He gave us the proof of his infinite love by giving us his only Son.
‘For God so loved the world’ (the men who are in the world) ‘as to give his only-begotten Son’ (become a mortal Man capable of suffering), that the world may be saved by him. It is by Mary who became on this day a mother while still a virgin, that he has willed to give him to us; ‘Mary, of whom was born Jesus’.
Let us be disposed to what the Church inspires in us as the fruit of this feast by rekindling love in our hearts towards our God and Creator, our heavenly Father.
Let us be grateful towards the Eternal Son of God, made Man for us on this day.
Let us have a filial devotion to Our Lady who on this day became Mother of God.
Let us activate these feelings: our ‘love’, by striving to fulfill more faithfully our Father’s Will-- our sanctification; our ‘gratitude’, in honoring this wonderful abasement of the Son of God in his Incarnation, by exalting and practising humility; our ‘filial devotion’ towards the Mother of God and our Mother, by being like her.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp857
Our Lady
“See the simplicity? ‘Ecce ancilia’ -- ‘Behold the handmaid!’ And the Word was made flesh. That’s how the saints worked: without any outward show. And if there was any, it was in spite of themselves.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 510)
“Mary most holy, Mother of God, passes unnoticed, as just one more among the women of her town. Learn from her how to live with ‘naturalness’.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 499)
Lourdes: The sixteenth apparition
‘Thursday.’ Bernadette didn’t sleep well -- her Lady was calling. She got to the grotto at 5:00 A.M. “Aquero” was waiting. After saying her rosary, she entered the grotto. On coming out her face was joyful.
Dropping the candle in her great haste, she ran off to tell Peyramale the news. Bernadette narrated:
“... I again asked her three times in a row who she is. She continued to smile. Finally, I dared ask once more. Unclasping her hands, she stood with her arms at her sides; then once more crossed her hands up to her breast, meanwhile looking up to heaven. And told me she is the Immaculate Conception ...”
Peyramale asked her if she was certain of the Lady’s reply. Bernadette said she was and that she had repeated the words -- mysterious for her -- the whole way back so she wouldn’t forget them.
This day was the high point of the story of Lourdes. The name “Immaculate Conception” was totally foreign to Bernadette’s simple vocabulary. Practically illiterate at the time, it had to be explained to her later by M. Estradre: only the Virgin Mary could have said “I am the Immaculate Conception”.
Peyramale’s doubts were dissipated. He remained prudent and reserved; but he had already decided. He would later say, “even if the roses never bloomed, water undeniably did spout from the spring”.
Ref: Cf G Menotti, “Lourdes”, p14
“Alma Mater”
“Nourishing mother”, from a hymn to the Blessed Mother, “Alma Redemptoris Mater”. Applied to universities and schools, considered foster mothers of students. (cf “The 1955 National Catholic Almanac”, p212)
“Redemptoris Mater” (Mother of the Redeemer). Pope John Paul II’s sixth Encyclical, 25 March 1987. (In George Weigel, “Witness to Hope”, 1999, p577)
Personality
443 -- “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars about her head.” From this, you and I and everyone may be sure that nothing perfects our personality so much as correspondence with grace.
“Try to imitate the Virgin Mary and you will be a complete man or woman.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 169
• The Annunciation of Our Lady. This feast was instituted by the apostles, and is the most ancient of all. — (John Bonifacius, lib. ii., Historia Virginis, c. 5.) (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Annunciation. Instituted by the Apostles. The oldest Marian festival. In years when this falls during Lent, the celebration is transferred to earlier in the Month. The day marked the beginning of the New Year in old style calendars. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Annunciation by Saint Gabriel (Universally celebrated; Instituted by the Apostles; Most ancient festival of Our Lady). (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord to Our Lady, instituted by the apostles, and the most ancient of all feasts. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• The Lady of All Nations (Amsterdam, 1945) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
The Archangel Gabriel communicated to Mary that she will be the Mother of the Son of God. Mary’s ‘Fiat’ (Consent) initiated the working of the Holy Spirit and she conceived the Saviour.
In this dialogue Our Lady appears to us so humble; yet so great. Through her consent to God’s plans, she takes part in the whole redemptive work of her Son, Jesus. We venerate her as the Mother of Christ and our Mother.
Ref: Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ (Eds), “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1499
‘The Word was made flesh ...’
“... the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
"Upon arriving, the angel said to her: ‘Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.’ When she had heard him she was troubled at his word, and kept pondering what manner of greeting this might be.
“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. You shall conceive and bear a son and give him the name Jesus. Great will be his dignity and he will be called Son of the most high.
"The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end.”
Ref: Cf Lk 1:26-33
Our Lady, having been allayed by the angel about fearing the loss of her virginity, gave her consent: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” (Lk 1:38) Immediately, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).
Here ... is the answer given by a mother, ... the reply of a young woman: a “yes” which suffices for a whole life. (cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, 1984, p134)
Many practical reflections flock to the mind--
1. Mary endowed with grace, raised to a dignity above all other creatures, looks on herself as nothing, calls herself only “the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38). And I, empty of mind, full of sins and imperfections, raise myself in thought above others.
2. Mary recognizes the great things that have been wrought in her; but, as she answered the congratulations of Elizabeth, she looks on them only as the free gift of God:
“He that is mighty has done great things to me.” (Lk 1:49) And I look on the little good I do as my own personal merit: I like to be esteemed before men.
3. Mary was more anxious to please God by preserving her virginal purity than to have the honor of the Divine motherhood. And I fear so little to tarnish the purity of my soul in the eyes of God.
What did God do on this day in our favor? He gave us the proof of his infinite love by giving us his only Son.
‘For God so loved the world’ (the men who are in the world) ‘as to give his only-begotten Son’ (become a mortal Man capable of suffering), that the world may be saved by him. It is by Mary who became on this day a mother while still a virgin, that he has willed to give him to us; ‘Mary, of whom was born Jesus’.
Let us be disposed to what the Church inspires in us as the fruit of this feast by rekindling love in our hearts towards our God and Creator, our heavenly Father.
Let us be grateful towards the Eternal Son of God, made Man for us on this day.
Let us have a filial devotion to Our Lady who on this day became Mother of God.
Let us activate these feelings: our ‘love’, by striving to fulfill more faithfully our Father’s Will-- our sanctification; our ‘gratitude’, in honoring this wonderful abasement of the Son of God in his Incarnation, by exalting and practising humility; our ‘filial devotion’ towards the Mother of God and our Mother, by being like her.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp857
Our Lady
“See the simplicity? ‘Ecce ancilia’ -- ‘Behold the handmaid!’ And the Word was made flesh. That’s how the saints worked: without any outward show. And if there was any, it was in spite of themselves.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 510)
“Mary most holy, Mother of God, passes unnoticed, as just one more among the women of her town. Learn from her how to live with ‘naturalness’.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 499)
Lourdes: The sixteenth apparition
‘Thursday.’ Bernadette didn’t sleep well -- her Lady was calling. She got to the grotto at 5:00 A.M. “Aquero” was waiting. After saying her rosary, she entered the grotto. On coming out her face was joyful.
Dropping the candle in her great haste, she ran off to tell Peyramale the news. Bernadette narrated:
“... I again asked her three times in a row who she is. She continued to smile. Finally, I dared ask once more. Unclasping her hands, she stood with her arms at her sides; then once more crossed her hands up to her breast, meanwhile looking up to heaven. And told me she is the Immaculate Conception ...”
Peyramale asked her if she was certain of the Lady’s reply. Bernadette said she was and that she had repeated the words -- mysterious for her -- the whole way back so she wouldn’t forget them.
This day was the high point of the story of Lourdes. The name “Immaculate Conception” was totally foreign to Bernadette’s simple vocabulary. Practically illiterate at the time, it had to be explained to her later by M. Estradre: only the Virgin Mary could have said “I am the Immaculate Conception”.
Peyramale’s doubts were dissipated. He remained prudent and reserved; but he had already decided. He would later say, “even if the roses never bloomed, water undeniably did spout from the spring”.
Ref: Cf G Menotti, “Lourdes”, p14
“Alma Mater”
“Nourishing mother”, from a hymn to the Blessed Mother, “Alma Redemptoris Mater”. Applied to universities and schools, considered foster mothers of students. (cf “The 1955 National Catholic Almanac”, p212)
“Redemptoris Mater” (Mother of the Redeemer). Pope John Paul II’s sixth Encyclical, 25 March 1987. (In George Weigel, “Witness to Hope”, 1999, p577)
Personality
443 -- “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars about her head.” From this, you and I and everyone may be sure that nothing perfects our personality so much as correspondence with grace.
“Try to imitate the Virgin Mary and you will be a complete man or woman.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 169
• The Annunciation of Our Lady. This feast was instituted by the apostles, and is the most ancient of all. — (John Bonifacius, lib. ii., Historia Virginis, c. 5.) (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Annunciation. Instituted by the Apostles. The oldest Marian festival. In years when this falls during Lent, the celebration is transferred to earlier in the Month. The day marked the beginning of the New Year in old style calendars. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Annunciation by Saint Gabriel (Universally celebrated; Instituted by the Apostles; Most ancient festival of Our Lady). (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord to Our Lady, instituted by the apostles, and the most ancient of all feasts. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• The Lady of All Nations (Amsterdam, 1945) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Friday, March 23, 2012
24 March 2012: Our Lady of the Dove
‘Nuestra Señora de la Paloma’
This devotion celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation. In her image, the doctrine of the virgin birth is presaged by presence of the symbolic dove, representing the Holy Spirit; and lilies and roses, symbols of her purity. She is crowned by cherubs as the ‘Virgin of virgins’. (Fr Charles Belmonte, “Aba Ginoong Maria”, 1990, p27)
Conversion, God’s Gift to the Church
The Church converts to Christ to renew consciousness and certainty of all His gifts, with which she was endowed by him through the Cross and Resurrection. Christ is at the same time the Church’s Redeemer and her Spouse.
As Redeemer and Spouse, Christ established the Church among weak, sinful and fallible men; but he established her at the same time strong, holy and infallible not through the work of men.
Believing in the Church’s strength is believing in that power which “in weakness reaches perfection” (2 Cor 12:9).
Believing in the Church’s holiness means believing in that gift which makes us heirs of the divine holiness.
Believing in the Church’s infallibility means believing in Christ’s gift which permits fallible men to infallibly proclaim and confess the truth revealed for our salvation.
The Church of our time -- this critical epoch -- ought to have particular certainty regarding Christ’s gift, the gift of strength, the gift of holiness, the gift of infallibility.
The more she is conscious of the weakness, sinfulness, fallibility of man, the more she should maintain her certainty of those gifts, coming from Her Redeemer and Her Spouse.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp133-4
Love of God
God expects from each one of us an unconditional response to his love for us. Our love for God is shown in numerous little incidents of each day.
We love God through our work done well, how we live our family life, our social interactions, the use we make of our leisure time. Everything can be converted into a deed of love.
“While we carry out as perfectly as we can (with all our mistakes and limitations) the tasks allotted to us by our situation and duties, our soul longs to escape. It is drawn towards God like iron drawn by a magnet. One begins to love Jesus in a more effective way, with the sweet and gentle surprise of his encounter.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 296)
“... all sorts of setbacks are encountered as difficult by those who do not love; those who do love, on the contrary, find them trivial and easily manageable. There is no suffering, however cruel or violent it may be, which is not made bearable or even reduced to nothing by love.” (St Augustine, “Sermon 70”)
Our love for God has to be supreme and absolute. Within this love all the noble loves of the earth are found, according to each one’s vocation and with naturalness.
“It would not be fair to say ‘either God or man’. They ought to love ‘God and man’ ... In other words, love for God is certainly dominant, but is not exclusive. ...” (John Paul I, ‘General Audience’, 27 September 1978)
Love for God is necessarily shown in love for others; in the way we live charity with whoever are with us everyday. “In this they will know you are my disciples ...” (Jn 13:35)
In refined dealings with others; in mutual respect. In thinking favorably of others, in helping in little things at home or at work, in a loving and appropriate fraternal correction, in prayer for the one who needs it most ...
Let us ask Our Lady to teach us to respond to the love of her Son, so that we may also know how to love, with deeds, her other children who are our brothers.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:148-150
Joy of the children of this world and sorrow of the children of God
Our Lord was about to leave this world when he told his disciples, “A little while, and you shall not see me, because I go to the Father. You shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice.” (Jn 16:16, 30)
Our Lord has apportioned the goods of this life: to the righteous he gives crosses and tears; to the worldly, the ‘children of the world’, riches and material enjoyments. Why so?
In his sovereign justice, God desires that the former should be purified by brief sufferings from the smallest stains of sin. The others are rewarded for their naturally good actions, but no merit in eternity.
Apparently happy, the latter are really always tormented by the thirst for gaining something and the fear of losing it; bending under the yoke of violent, disgraceful and insatiable passions; plagued by remorse of conscience; terrified at the thought of death and eternity.
Do we share this view of worldy happiness? Do we say, ‘I could as easily have saved my soul while living in the world, enjoying my liberty, taking part in innocent pleasures’? If this is so, lukewarmness has allowed ill-regulated affections to possess our heart.
As St Paul said, “I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation”; and St Augustine, about his severe penances, “The tears that you see me shed are sweeter than all the pleasures that I ever tasted in the world”.
The words 'tears' and 'sorrow' were meant by our Lord in exactly opposite to the senseless laughter and sinful joys of the world.
“There is a sorrow of the world, and a sorrow that is according to God.” (St Paul) The latter is an apparent sorrow only. In the depths of the soul is a foretaste of the joys of heaven, of which the worldly cannot imagine. ‘As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.’
‘I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you.’ An assurance that the privations, tears, and passing sorrow of the ‘children of God’ will lead to an eternal joy in heaven.
Our Lord also said -- “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Mt 5:4) But to the ‘children of this world’: “Woe to you that now laugh for you shall mourn and weep.” (Lk 6:25)
An instant of joy, eternal suffering; an instant of suffering, eternal joy. What a contrast!
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp230-32
The Tongue
920 -- “This has to be your attitude when faced by defamation. First, forgive everyone from the very beginning and with all your heart. Then love. Never fall into a single uncharitable act.
"Always respond with love. But if your Mother the Church is being attacked, defend her courageously. Keep calm, but firm. Have the strength no to give in, and prevent anyone fouling up or blocking the way ahead for Christian souls when they in their turn are eager to forgive and respond with charity to personal insults.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 327
• Eve of the Annunciation of Our Lady, instituted by Gregory II. On this day, Our Lady kept the Passover at Jerusalem, in the year of Our Lord 49. Balingham, Metaphrastes.) (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Eve of the Annunciation, instituted by Gregory II. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Vigil of the Annunciation. Instituted by Pope Gregory II. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Thorn (1400). Chalons sur Marne, France. (http://mariedenazareth.com)
This devotion celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation. In her image, the doctrine of the virgin birth is presaged by presence of the symbolic dove, representing the Holy Spirit; and lilies and roses, symbols of her purity. She is crowned by cherubs as the ‘Virgin of virgins’. (Fr Charles Belmonte, “Aba Ginoong Maria”, 1990, p27)
Conversion, God’s Gift to the Church
The Church converts to Christ to renew consciousness and certainty of all His gifts, with which she was endowed by him through the Cross and Resurrection. Christ is at the same time the Church’s Redeemer and her Spouse.
As Redeemer and Spouse, Christ established the Church among weak, sinful and fallible men; but he established her at the same time strong, holy and infallible not through the work of men.
Believing in the Church’s strength is believing in that power which “in weakness reaches perfection” (2 Cor 12:9).
Believing in the Church’s holiness means believing in that gift which makes us heirs of the divine holiness.
Believing in the Church’s infallibility means believing in Christ’s gift which permits fallible men to infallibly proclaim and confess the truth revealed for our salvation.
The Church of our time -- this critical epoch -- ought to have particular certainty regarding Christ’s gift, the gift of strength, the gift of holiness, the gift of infallibility.
The more she is conscious of the weakness, sinfulness, fallibility of man, the more she should maintain her certainty of those gifts, coming from Her Redeemer and Her Spouse.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp133-4
Love of God
God expects from each one of us an unconditional response to his love for us. Our love for God is shown in numerous little incidents of each day.
We love God through our work done well, how we live our family life, our social interactions, the use we make of our leisure time. Everything can be converted into a deed of love.
“While we carry out as perfectly as we can (with all our mistakes and limitations) the tasks allotted to us by our situation and duties, our soul longs to escape. It is drawn towards God like iron drawn by a magnet. One begins to love Jesus in a more effective way, with the sweet and gentle surprise of his encounter.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 296)
“... all sorts of setbacks are encountered as difficult by those who do not love; those who do love, on the contrary, find them trivial and easily manageable. There is no suffering, however cruel or violent it may be, which is not made bearable or even reduced to nothing by love.” (St Augustine, “Sermon 70”)
Our love for God has to be supreme and absolute. Within this love all the noble loves of the earth are found, according to each one’s vocation and with naturalness.
“It would not be fair to say ‘either God or man’. They ought to love ‘God and man’ ... In other words, love for God is certainly dominant, but is not exclusive. ...” (John Paul I, ‘General Audience’, 27 September 1978)
Love for God is necessarily shown in love for others; in the way we live charity with whoever are with us everyday. “In this they will know you are my disciples ...” (Jn 13:35)
In refined dealings with others; in mutual respect. In thinking favorably of others, in helping in little things at home or at work, in a loving and appropriate fraternal correction, in prayer for the one who needs it most ...
Let us ask Our Lady to teach us to respond to the love of her Son, so that we may also know how to love, with deeds, her other children who are our brothers.
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:148-150
Joy of the children of this world and sorrow of the children of God
Our Lord was about to leave this world when he told his disciples, “A little while, and you shall not see me, because I go to the Father. You shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice.” (Jn 16:16, 30)
Our Lord has apportioned the goods of this life: to the righteous he gives crosses and tears; to the worldly, the ‘children of the world’, riches and material enjoyments. Why so?
In his sovereign justice, God desires that the former should be purified by brief sufferings from the smallest stains of sin. The others are rewarded for their naturally good actions, but no merit in eternity.
Apparently happy, the latter are really always tormented by the thirst for gaining something and the fear of losing it; bending under the yoke of violent, disgraceful and insatiable passions; plagued by remorse of conscience; terrified at the thought of death and eternity.
Do we share this view of worldy happiness? Do we say, ‘I could as easily have saved my soul while living in the world, enjoying my liberty, taking part in innocent pleasures’? If this is so, lukewarmness has allowed ill-regulated affections to possess our heart.
As St Paul said, “I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation”; and St Augustine, about his severe penances, “The tears that you see me shed are sweeter than all the pleasures that I ever tasted in the world”.
The words 'tears' and 'sorrow' were meant by our Lord in exactly opposite to the senseless laughter and sinful joys of the world.
“There is a sorrow of the world, and a sorrow that is according to God.” (St Paul) The latter is an apparent sorrow only. In the depths of the soul is a foretaste of the joys of heaven, of which the worldly cannot imagine. ‘As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.’
‘I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you.’ An assurance that the privations, tears, and passing sorrow of the ‘children of God’ will lead to an eternal joy in heaven.
Our Lord also said -- “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Mt 5:4) But to the ‘children of this world’: “Woe to you that now laugh for you shall mourn and weep.” (Lk 6:25)
An instant of joy, eternal suffering; an instant of suffering, eternal joy. What a contrast!
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp230-32
The Tongue
920 -- “This has to be your attitude when faced by defamation. First, forgive everyone from the very beginning and with all your heart. Then love. Never fall into a single uncharitable act.
"Always respond with love. But if your Mother the Church is being attacked, defend her courageously. Keep calm, but firm. Have the strength no to give in, and prevent anyone fouling up or blocking the way ahead for Christian souls when they in their turn are eager to forgive and respond with charity to personal insults.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 327
• Eve of the Annunciation of Our Lady, instituted by Gregory II. On this day, Our Lady kept the Passover at Jerusalem, in the year of Our Lord 49. Balingham, Metaphrastes.) (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Eve of the Annunciation, instituted by Gregory II. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Vigil of the Annunciation. Instituted by Pope Gregory II. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Thorn (1400). Chalons sur Marne, France. (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Thursday, March 22, 2012
23 March 2012: The opposition from the good
We must always pray for peace in the Church and for Christians of every country. However, we should not be surprised or frightened if there is resistance to the teaching of Christ which we want to spread, a hostility in the form of defamation, calumnies. God will help us to reap abundant fruits from such situations.
On arriving in Rome, the Jews living there, referring to the infant Church, told St Paul: “We know that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts 28:22) After twenty centuries we continue to see how in various countries thousands of good Christians, priests and lay persons, have suffered martyrdom because of their faith.
They have been discriminated against for their beliefs, or kept out of public offices or teaching positions on account of their Catholicism; or encounter difficulties in securing a Christian education for their children.
It is difficult to understand calumny or persecution at a time when one hears so much about tolerance, understanding, fellowship and peace. But the attacks become more difficult to understand when they come from good men, when a Christian persecutes, no matter how, another Christian, or a brother, his brother.
Our Lord prepared his own for these inevitable times when the enemies of Christ are not pagans, but brothers in the Faith who think that by their actions they would be doing “a service to God” (cf Jn 16:2). This ‘opposition from the good’, an expression coined by the founder of “Opus Dei”, St Josemaria Escrivá, to describe what he experienced so painfully, is a trial God sometimes permits.
It is particularly painful for the Christian victim. The calumniators are usually motivated by human passions that can distort good judgment and complicate the clear intention of men who profess the same faith as those they attack, and who make up the same People of God.
At times jealousies supervene; rash allegations that may arise from envy, and make it possible to regard as evil the good that others are doing. There can also be a ‘tunnel vision’ of dogmatism that refuses to recognize for others the right to think differently in matters left by God to the free judgment of men. (cf J Orlandis, “The Eight Beatitudes”, p150)
The Christian who wants to be faithful to Christ must learn to pardon, make amends and act with rectitude of intention, all the time focused on Christ. “Don’t expect people’s applause ... sometimes you musn’t even expect other people and institutions, who like you are working for Christ, to understand you. Seek only the glory of God and while loving everyone, don’t worry if there are some who do not comprehend what it is you are doing.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 255)
“Turn to our Lady, the Mother, Daughter, and Spouse of God, and our Mother, and ask her to obtain more graces for you from the Blessed Trinity -- the grace of faith, of hope, of love and of contrition, so that when it seems that a harsh dry wind is blowing in your life, threatening the flowers of your soul, they will not wither, and neither will those of your brothers.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 227)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:589-592
Prayer Helps Read ‘the Signs of the Times’
Through prayer especially to Jesus at Communion, you will understand so many things about the world and its relationship to him. You will be in a position to read accurately what are referred to as the ‘signs of the times’. Above all, you will have something to offer those who come to you in need.
Through prayer you will possess Christ and be able to communicate him to others, the greatest contribution you can make in your lives: ‘to communicate Christ to the world’.
Through prayer you will receive the strength to resist the spirit of the world. You will receive the power to show compassion to every human being -- just as Jesus did. Through prayer you will have ‘a part in salvation history’ as it unfolds in your generation. You will be able to enter into the heart of Jesus and understand his feelings towards his Church. ...
Going to Jesus in prayer and through him to the Father, you will always find inspiration in Mary his Mother. You will learn to pray with her, and with her to await the action of the Holy Spirit in your lives. (cf Acts 1:14)
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions:, 1994, pp263-4
Crucible
793 -- “Insults hurt so much, even though you want to love them. Don’t be surprised: offer them to God.”
802 -- “Think of the good that has been done you throughout your lifetime by those who have injured or attempted to injure you.
“Others call such people their enemies. Not so you. You should imitate the saints, even in this. You are nothing so special that you should have enemies; so call them “benefactors”. Pray to God for them; as a result, you will come to like them.”
807 -- “I copy these words for you because they can bring peace to your soul. “My financial situation is as tight as it ever has been. But I don’t lose my peace. I’m quite sure that God, my Father, will settle the whole business once and for all.
“I want, Lord, to abandon the care of all my affairs into your generous hands. Our Mother -- your Mother -- will have let you hear those words, now as in Cana: ‘They have none!’ I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you, Jesus. I want nothing for myself: it’s for them.”
852 -- “Ever since Jesus Christ Our Lord founded the Church, this Mother of ours suffered continual persecution. Perhaps in other times persecution was carried out openly, while nowadays it is often done surreptitiously: but today as yesterday the Church continues to be attacked.
“How great is our obligation to live every day as responsible Catholics!”
854 -- “These are the characteristics that define the incomparable goodness of our holy Mother, Mary: a love taken to the extreme, fulfilling the will of God with tender care; a complete forgetfulness of herself, for she is happy to be where God wants her to be.
“For this reason, not even the slightest gesture of hers is trivial. Learn from her.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”
Prayer for our enemies
O GOD, the lover and preserver of peace and charity: grant unto all our enemies peace and true charity; give them remission of all their sins, and by Thy power deliver us from their snares. Amen. (Very Rev Charles J Callan, OP, STM and Very Rev John A McHugh, OP, STM, “Blessed Be God”, 1925, p469)
• Our Lady of Victory. This image bears that name because the French having fortunately taken it from the hands of the Greeks, during a sanguinary engagement with them near Constantinople in the year 1204, they gained by means of it a complete victory. — Spondanus, Annals ann. 1204. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Victory, Lepanto. Hungary. 1716. (See October 7 for details). (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Victory of Lepanto, Hungary (1716). Our Lady of Victories. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Victory. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Italy, Mater Domini (1650) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
On arriving in Rome, the Jews living there, referring to the infant Church, told St Paul: “We know that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts 28:22) After twenty centuries we continue to see how in various countries thousands of good Christians, priests and lay persons, have suffered martyrdom because of their faith.
They have been discriminated against for their beliefs, or kept out of public offices or teaching positions on account of their Catholicism; or encounter difficulties in securing a Christian education for their children.
It is difficult to understand calumny or persecution at a time when one hears so much about tolerance, understanding, fellowship and peace. But the attacks become more difficult to understand when they come from good men, when a Christian persecutes, no matter how, another Christian, or a brother, his brother.
Our Lord prepared his own for these inevitable times when the enemies of Christ are not pagans, but brothers in the Faith who think that by their actions they would be doing “a service to God” (cf Jn 16:2). This ‘opposition from the good’, an expression coined by the founder of “Opus Dei”, St Josemaria Escrivá, to describe what he experienced so painfully, is a trial God sometimes permits.
It is particularly painful for the Christian victim. The calumniators are usually motivated by human passions that can distort good judgment and complicate the clear intention of men who profess the same faith as those they attack, and who make up the same People of God.
At times jealousies supervene; rash allegations that may arise from envy, and make it possible to regard as evil the good that others are doing. There can also be a ‘tunnel vision’ of dogmatism that refuses to recognize for others the right to think differently in matters left by God to the free judgment of men. (cf J Orlandis, “The Eight Beatitudes”, p150)
The Christian who wants to be faithful to Christ must learn to pardon, make amends and act with rectitude of intention, all the time focused on Christ. “Don’t expect people’s applause ... sometimes you musn’t even expect other people and institutions, who like you are working for Christ, to understand you. Seek only the glory of God and while loving everyone, don’t worry if there are some who do not comprehend what it is you are doing.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 255)
“Turn to our Lady, the Mother, Daughter, and Spouse of God, and our Mother, and ask her to obtain more graces for you from the Blessed Trinity -- the grace of faith, of hope, of love and of contrition, so that when it seems that a harsh dry wind is blowing in your life, threatening the flowers of your soul, they will not wither, and neither will those of your brothers.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 227)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:589-592
Prayer Helps Read ‘the Signs of the Times’
Through prayer especially to Jesus at Communion, you will understand so many things about the world and its relationship to him. You will be in a position to read accurately what are referred to as the ‘signs of the times’. Above all, you will have something to offer those who come to you in need.
Through prayer you will possess Christ and be able to communicate him to others, the greatest contribution you can make in your lives: ‘to communicate Christ to the world’.
Through prayer you will receive the strength to resist the spirit of the world. You will receive the power to show compassion to every human being -- just as Jesus did. Through prayer you will have ‘a part in salvation history’ as it unfolds in your generation. You will be able to enter into the heart of Jesus and understand his feelings towards his Church. ...
Going to Jesus in prayer and through him to the Father, you will always find inspiration in Mary his Mother. You will learn to pray with her, and with her to await the action of the Holy Spirit in your lives. (cf Acts 1:14)
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions:, 1994, pp263-4
Crucible
793 -- “Insults hurt so much, even though you want to love them. Don’t be surprised: offer them to God.”
802 -- “Think of the good that has been done you throughout your lifetime by those who have injured or attempted to injure you.
“Others call such people their enemies. Not so you. You should imitate the saints, even in this. You are nothing so special that you should have enemies; so call them “benefactors”. Pray to God for them; as a result, you will come to like them.”
807 -- “I copy these words for you because they can bring peace to your soul. “My financial situation is as tight as it ever has been. But I don’t lose my peace. I’m quite sure that God, my Father, will settle the whole business once and for all.
“I want, Lord, to abandon the care of all my affairs into your generous hands. Our Mother -- your Mother -- will have let you hear those words, now as in Cana: ‘They have none!’ I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you, Jesus. I want nothing for myself: it’s for them.”
852 -- “Ever since Jesus Christ Our Lord founded the Church, this Mother of ours suffered continual persecution. Perhaps in other times persecution was carried out openly, while nowadays it is often done surreptitiously: but today as yesterday the Church continues to be attacked.
“How great is our obligation to live every day as responsible Catholics!”
854 -- “These are the characteristics that define the incomparable goodness of our holy Mother, Mary: a love taken to the extreme, fulfilling the will of God with tender care; a complete forgetfulness of herself, for she is happy to be where God wants her to be.
“For this reason, not even the slightest gesture of hers is trivial. Learn from her.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”
Prayer for our enemies
O GOD, the lover and preserver of peace and charity: grant unto all our enemies peace and true charity; give them remission of all their sins, and by Thy power deliver us from their snares. Amen. (Very Rev Charles J Callan, OP, STM and Very Rev John A McHugh, OP, STM, “Blessed Be God”, 1925, p469)
• Our Lady of Victory. This image bears that name because the French having fortunately taken it from the hands of the Greeks, during a sanguinary engagement with them near Constantinople in the year 1204, they gained by means of it a complete victory. — Spondanus, Annals ann. 1204. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Victory, Lepanto. Hungary. 1716. (See October 7 for details). (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Victory of Lepanto, Hungary (1716). Our Lady of Victories. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Victory. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Italy, Mater Domini (1650) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
22 March 2012: Motives for penance -- The thought of hell
‘I have merited hell’ -- first motive.
Adam, by his disobedience, drew down upon himself the sentence of eternal condemnation. God, it is true, gave him certain hope of escaping it when he foretold the advent of a Redeemer. On the condition that he should do penance --
“In the sweat of thy face shall you eat bread.” (Gen 3:19)
Adam must have been most grateful for this gracious commutation of his punishment, although long and severe! Nowadays, condemned criminals sometimes receive a similar reprieve.
If we had committed a mortal sin, we must say, ‘I have merited hell, as did our first father Adam. If I am to escape, it is also on the condition of leading a life of penance.’
“All the life of a Christian should be a life of penance.” (The Council of Trent) How true! If we go down to hell in spirit and see the eternal punishments the lost endure, suffering in this life will seem light. We will then say, with St Augustine, “Here below, O Lord, burn, cut, and spare me not, so long as you spare me in eternity!”
‘Hell threatens me’ -- second motive.
Our Lord’s words are explicit -- ‘Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.’
Why so? Because pride and concupiscence, since the Fall, having infected our mind and heart, rule our actions and will certainly lead us into every species of sin and disorder unless we practice constant penance and mortifications.
Humiliation is the penance of the intellect. Many, in rejecting it, have become apostates before God, if not before man. Mortification is the penance of the heart. How many, unwilling to endure it, who have begun in the spirit, later indulge the desires of the flesh? (St Paul)
The Church does well to exhort us tenderly to do penance from the first Sunday in Lent. Let us embrace it willingly during the Holy Week. We should strive, therefore, to do more than before.
‘Beings more perfect than myself are eternally lost’ -- third motive.
The angels have fallen in heaven; from heaven they were cast into hell. Faith assures us so. They had no time for penance; immediate punishment followed their offence.
Judas, called and formed by Jesus to the practice of spiritual perfection and apostolic duties, spent three years with him. Secretly fostering an evil inclination, he eventually became capable of conceiving and executing the most detestable of crimes which led him to despair, suicide, and hell.
“Wherefore, he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed, lest he fall ... But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.” (St Paul)
Let us reason and act as did St Paul; we shall be saved with him.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp173-5
Striving for virtue
God doesn’t ask the impossible. He expects all Christians to live the christian virtues in their entirety, even if they find themselves in environments that seem to be moving farther and farther away from God.
God will give the graces necessary for being faithful in such situations. Furthermore, the good example He expects of all of us will often be the means of making Christ’s doctrine attractive to others, and of evangelizing again the world.
To grow in the human and supernatural virtues, as well as in grace, we must make a personal effort to develop the practice of these virtues in our everyday “lives until we acquire authentic habits, and not only the appearance of virtue. The facade appears full of strength and resilience. But how much softness and lack of will-power there is within! You must hold to your determination not to let your virtues become fancy dress but clothes that define your character.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 777)
What is important is we should make a definite and loving decision to strive after virtue in our everyday affairs. The more we practise doing these good acts, the easier it will be to do them again. In this way we will identify ourselves more and more with Christ.
Our Lady, “Model and school of all virtues” (St Ambrose, “Treatise on Virginity”, 2) will teach us to achieve our wish if we turn to her for help and advice. She will make it easier for us to reach the goal we have set in our particular examination of conscience wherein we will often decide to aim at the acquisition of a very specific virtue.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:137-8
“Paid in full with one glass of milk”
(A touching true story, on the power of one good act. This anecdote is copied from “Word Alive” by Fr Bel R San Luis, SVD, “Manila Bulletin”, 2 September 2001.)
One day a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything”, she replied. “Mother taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” “Then, I thank you from my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man became strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.
He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words ...
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”
(Signed) Dr Howard Kelly
• On Palm Sunday, in the year 1098, St Robert, Abbot of Moleme, retired with twenty-one of his monks to the diocese of Chalons-sur-Seine, where he built, in honor of Our Lady, the celebrated monastery of Citeaux, the head house of the order. — Arnold Vionus, lib. L; Ligni vitae c. 47. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Citeaux (France, 1098). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
• Our Lady of Citeaux. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Citeaux, France (1098), built by St Robert. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• “Notre Dame de Citeaux”. France. 1098. Constructed by St Robert. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
Adam, by his disobedience, drew down upon himself the sentence of eternal condemnation. God, it is true, gave him certain hope of escaping it when he foretold the advent of a Redeemer. On the condition that he should do penance --
“In the sweat of thy face shall you eat bread.” (Gen 3:19)
Adam must have been most grateful for this gracious commutation of his punishment, although long and severe! Nowadays, condemned criminals sometimes receive a similar reprieve.
If we had committed a mortal sin, we must say, ‘I have merited hell, as did our first father Adam. If I am to escape, it is also on the condition of leading a life of penance.’
“All the life of a Christian should be a life of penance.” (The Council of Trent) How true! If we go down to hell in spirit and see the eternal punishments the lost endure, suffering in this life will seem light. We will then say, with St Augustine, “Here below, O Lord, burn, cut, and spare me not, so long as you spare me in eternity!”
‘Hell threatens me’ -- second motive.
Our Lord’s words are explicit -- ‘Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.’
Why so? Because pride and concupiscence, since the Fall, having infected our mind and heart, rule our actions and will certainly lead us into every species of sin and disorder unless we practice constant penance and mortifications.
Humiliation is the penance of the intellect. Many, in rejecting it, have become apostates before God, if not before man. Mortification is the penance of the heart. How many, unwilling to endure it, who have begun in the spirit, later indulge the desires of the flesh? (St Paul)
The Church does well to exhort us tenderly to do penance from the first Sunday in Lent. Let us embrace it willingly during the Holy Week. We should strive, therefore, to do more than before.
‘Beings more perfect than myself are eternally lost’ -- third motive.
The angels have fallen in heaven; from heaven they were cast into hell. Faith assures us so. They had no time for penance; immediate punishment followed their offence.
Judas, called and formed by Jesus to the practice of spiritual perfection and apostolic duties, spent three years with him. Secretly fostering an evil inclination, he eventually became capable of conceiving and executing the most detestable of crimes which led him to despair, suicide, and hell.
“Wherefore, he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed, lest he fall ... But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.” (St Paul)
Let us reason and act as did St Paul; we shall be saved with him.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp173-5
Striving for virtue
God doesn’t ask the impossible. He expects all Christians to live the christian virtues in their entirety, even if they find themselves in environments that seem to be moving farther and farther away from God.
God will give the graces necessary for being faithful in such situations. Furthermore, the good example He expects of all of us will often be the means of making Christ’s doctrine attractive to others, and of evangelizing again the world.
To grow in the human and supernatural virtues, as well as in grace, we must make a personal effort to develop the practice of these virtues in our everyday “lives until we acquire authentic habits, and not only the appearance of virtue. The facade appears full of strength and resilience. But how much softness and lack of will-power there is within! You must hold to your determination not to let your virtues become fancy dress but clothes that define your character.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 777)
What is important is we should make a definite and loving decision to strive after virtue in our everyday affairs. The more we practise doing these good acts, the easier it will be to do them again. In this way we will identify ourselves more and more with Christ.
Our Lady, “Model and school of all virtues” (St Ambrose, “Treatise on Virginity”, 2) will teach us to achieve our wish if we turn to her for help and advice. She will make it easier for us to reach the goal we have set in our particular examination of conscience wherein we will often decide to aim at the acquisition of a very specific virtue.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:137-8
“Paid in full with one glass of milk”
(A touching true story, on the power of one good act. This anecdote is copied from “Word Alive” by Fr Bel R San Luis, SVD, “Manila Bulletin”, 2 September 2001.)
One day a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything”, she replied. “Mother taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” “Then, I thank you from my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man became strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.
He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words ...
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”
(Signed) Dr Howard Kelly
• On Palm Sunday, in the year 1098, St Robert, Abbot of Moleme, retired with twenty-one of his monks to the diocese of Chalons-sur-Seine, where he built, in honor of Our Lady, the celebrated monastery of Citeaux, the head house of the order. — Arnold Vionus, lib. L; Ligni vitae c. 47. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Citeaux (France, 1098). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
• Our Lady of Citeaux. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Citeaux, France (1098), built by St Robert. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• “Notre Dame de Citeaux”. France. 1098. Constructed by St Robert. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
21 March 2012: Motives for penance -- The thought of judgment
Three things are to be feared in the particular judgment:
1) The judge,
2) the account to be rendered, and
3) the sentence.
By penance we may make the judge, our Lord himself, favorable to us. The judge whom we have neglected, offended and injured, with all the malice of sin, and so often, deliberately, although he favored us with benefits.
A God of mercy, he is quick to pardon at the first sign of repentance; but then he will be a God of justice. Not the smallest fault, not an idle word, will pass unperceived; but will be severely punished in purgatory.
What have we to fear from our judge? For one, lukewarmness which blinds man as to the number and gravity of his faults; or maintains him in false security.
What, then, should we do? “When you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case.” (Lk 12:58)
That is, according to St Augustine, with God who is your judge, and whom sin has made you an enemy. You can do so, if “you be humble ... under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation” (1 Pet 5:6).
Penance may lighten the account we shall give. Everything will be reviewed by One from whom nothing can be hidden-- time lost in useless things; the good left undone, the good ill-done; all our thoughts, intentions, words, actions.
The judgment will be severe in proportion to the grace received: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.” (Lk 12:48)
These truths filled with fear even the penitents of the desert who never thought they had atoned enough for their past lives. Their only means of consolation was unending penance until death.
Let us strive to imitate them and try to lighten by such penance and mortification our heavy account of sin, faultiness and negligence.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp157-9
Learning to see the good in others
Charity makes the heart find room in it for all men, even those who don’t understand us or who fail to respond to our love. With the Lord beside us no one will be our enemy.
We will learn not to judge the covert personal intentions of others. The few external signs we see often do not reflect their true motives.
“Although you might see something bad, do not instantly judge your neighbour”, advises St Bernard, “but, rather, excuse him interiorly. Excuse the intention if you are unable to excuse the action. Consider it as done in ignorance, or unawares, or through weakness. If the matter is so weighty that you cannot possibly overlook it, then try to believe the following and say to yourself: ‘the temptation must have been very strong!’” (St Augustine, “Sermon 40 on the Song of Songs”)
Our Lady will teach us, if we ask her, how to forgive -- in Cana, Mary does not deplore or criticize the lack of wine, ‘but helps find a solution to the need’ -- and to struggle to cultivate in our personal lives these very virtues which, on occasion, may seem to us to be lacking in others. We will then be in an excellent position to offer a helping hand to them.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:132
On Making Disciples
Jesus Christ said:
“Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20)
Since then, there has been ceaseless organizational or communal response from those who believe and are baptized. In the “Acts of the Apostles” we read: “Those who accepted his message devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life ...” (2:41-2) Here we already see the Church’s communitarian nature. ...
“This is how all men will know you for my disciples: your love for one another.” (Jn 13:35) The communal dimension of your Christian vocation was strongly emphasized by the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. Every liturgical act is an act of the entire Body of Christ ... and every Mass is an act of Christ in his Body.
Every good deed done by a member is to the advantage of all the members together, and every sin is not only an offense against God but is also a wound inflicted on Christ’s Body ... Clearly, it is not even thinkable that a Christian should live solely for himself.
A Christian who has not learned to see and love Christ in his neighbor is not fully Christian. We are our brothers’ keepers; bound to each other by the bond of love ...
This communal or organizational nature of our vocation ought to be directed toward the universal Church. We are a local Church instituted by Christ the Lord only to the degree in which we are part of the universal Church.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, p56
Father’s Day
Venerate Joseph, the just man, Joseph, who loved Mary, of the house of David, all the more deeply for having accepted her mystery. We venerate Joseph in whom the Fatherhood of God Himself is reflected more fully than all earthly fathers. We venerate Joseph who built a family home on earth for the Eternal Word, just as Mary gave Him a human body. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. (Jn 1:14)
Let us turn our eyes from that great mystery of the faith and direct our thoughts to our homes, to so many couples and families. Joseph of Nazareth is a special revelation of the dignity of human fatherhood, Joseph of Nazareth, the carpenter, tne man of labor ....
The family rests upon the dignity of human paternity -- on the responsibility of man, husband and father, as it does also on his work. Joseph of Nazareth testifies to that.
God addressed the following words to him: “Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife” (Mt 1:20).
Are not these words perhaps addressed to each one of you? Dear brothers, fathers and husbands of families! “Do not be afraid to take ...” Do not desert!
It was said at the beginning, “A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gen 2:24). And Christ added, “Therefore let no man separate what God has joined!” (Mk 10:9).
The compactness of the family, its stability, is one of the fundamental goods of man and society. At the basis of the compactness of the family lies the indissolubility of matrimony.
If man, if society, seek ways depriving marriage of its indissolubility and the family of its compactness, then they cut away almost the very root of its moral strength and its health; they deprive themselves of one of the fundamental goods on which human life is built.
Ref: Prayers and Devotions from POPE JOHN PAUL II, 365 Daily Meditations. 1984, p453
Our Lady
“Love of our Lady is proof of a good spirit, in works and in individuals. Don’t trust the undertaking that lacks this characteristic.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 505)
“Before, by yourself, you couldn’t. Now, you’ve turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy!” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 513)
• Our Lady of Bruges Flanders 1150. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Bruges, in Flanders, where a lock of the Blessed Virgin’s hair is exhibited, given by a Syrian bishop, named Moses. — Hugo Farcitus, lib. i., Miracul. B. Virg. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Bruges, Flanders (1150), where a lock of Our Lady’s hair is preserved. (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Bruges. Flanders. 1150. Relic of Mary's hair. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Bruges (Flanders). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of the Rain (Italy, 1367) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
1) The judge,
2) the account to be rendered, and
3) the sentence.
By penance we may make the judge, our Lord himself, favorable to us. The judge whom we have neglected, offended and injured, with all the malice of sin, and so often, deliberately, although he favored us with benefits.
A God of mercy, he is quick to pardon at the first sign of repentance; but then he will be a God of justice. Not the smallest fault, not an idle word, will pass unperceived; but will be severely punished in purgatory.
What have we to fear from our judge? For one, lukewarmness which blinds man as to the number and gravity of his faults; or maintains him in false security.
What, then, should we do? “When you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case.” (Lk 12:58)
That is, according to St Augustine, with God who is your judge, and whom sin has made you an enemy. You can do so, if “you be humble ... under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation” (1 Pet 5:6).
Penance may lighten the account we shall give. Everything will be reviewed by One from whom nothing can be hidden-- time lost in useless things; the good left undone, the good ill-done; all our thoughts, intentions, words, actions.
The judgment will be severe in proportion to the grace received: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.” (Lk 12:48)
These truths filled with fear even the penitents of the desert who never thought they had atoned enough for their past lives. Their only means of consolation was unending penance until death.
Let us strive to imitate them and try to lighten by such penance and mortification our heavy account of sin, faultiness and negligence.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp157-9
Learning to see the good in others
Charity makes the heart find room in it for all men, even those who don’t understand us or who fail to respond to our love. With the Lord beside us no one will be our enemy.
We will learn not to judge the covert personal intentions of others. The few external signs we see often do not reflect their true motives.
“Although you might see something bad, do not instantly judge your neighbour”, advises St Bernard, “but, rather, excuse him interiorly. Excuse the intention if you are unable to excuse the action. Consider it as done in ignorance, or unawares, or through weakness. If the matter is so weighty that you cannot possibly overlook it, then try to believe the following and say to yourself: ‘the temptation must have been very strong!’” (St Augustine, “Sermon 40 on the Song of Songs”)
Our Lady will teach us, if we ask her, how to forgive -- in Cana, Mary does not deplore or criticize the lack of wine, ‘but helps find a solution to the need’ -- and to struggle to cultivate in our personal lives these very virtues which, on occasion, may seem to us to be lacking in others. We will then be in an excellent position to offer a helping hand to them.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:132
On Making Disciples
Jesus Christ said:
“Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20)
Since then, there has been ceaseless organizational or communal response from those who believe and are baptized. In the “Acts of the Apostles” we read: “Those who accepted his message devoted themselves to the apostles’ instruction and the communal life ...” (2:41-2) Here we already see the Church’s communitarian nature. ...
“This is how all men will know you for my disciples: your love for one another.” (Jn 13:35) The communal dimension of your Christian vocation was strongly emphasized by the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. Every liturgical act is an act of the entire Body of Christ ... and every Mass is an act of Christ in his Body.
Every good deed done by a member is to the advantage of all the members together, and every sin is not only an offense against God but is also a wound inflicted on Christ’s Body ... Clearly, it is not even thinkable that a Christian should live solely for himself.
A Christian who has not learned to see and love Christ in his neighbor is not fully Christian. We are our brothers’ keepers; bound to each other by the bond of love ...
This communal or organizational nature of our vocation ought to be directed toward the universal Church. We are a local Church instituted by Christ the Lord only to the degree in which we are part of the universal Church.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, p56
Father’s Day
Venerate Joseph, the just man, Joseph, who loved Mary, of the house of David, all the more deeply for having accepted her mystery. We venerate Joseph in whom the Fatherhood of God Himself is reflected more fully than all earthly fathers. We venerate Joseph who built a family home on earth for the Eternal Word, just as Mary gave Him a human body. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. (Jn 1:14)
Let us turn our eyes from that great mystery of the faith and direct our thoughts to our homes, to so many couples and families. Joseph of Nazareth is a special revelation of the dignity of human fatherhood, Joseph of Nazareth, the carpenter, tne man of labor ....
The family rests upon the dignity of human paternity -- on the responsibility of man, husband and father, as it does also on his work. Joseph of Nazareth testifies to that.
God addressed the following words to him: “Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife” (Mt 1:20).
Are not these words perhaps addressed to each one of you? Dear brothers, fathers and husbands of families! “Do not be afraid to take ...” Do not desert!
It was said at the beginning, “A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Gen 2:24). And Christ added, “Therefore let no man separate what God has joined!” (Mk 10:9).
The compactness of the family, its stability, is one of the fundamental goods of man and society. At the basis of the compactness of the family lies the indissolubility of matrimony.
If man, if society, seek ways depriving marriage of its indissolubility and the family of its compactness, then they cut away almost the very root of its moral strength and its health; they deprive themselves of one of the fundamental goods on which human life is built.
Ref: Prayers and Devotions from POPE JOHN PAUL II, 365 Daily Meditations. 1984, p453
Our Lady
“Love of our Lady is proof of a good spirit, in works and in individuals. Don’t trust the undertaking that lacks this characteristic.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 505)
“Before, by yourself, you couldn’t. Now, you’ve turned to our Lady, and with her, how easy!” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 513)
• Our Lady of Bruges Flanders 1150. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Bruges, in Flanders, where a lock of the Blessed Virgin’s hair is exhibited, given by a Syrian bishop, named Moses. — Hugo Farcitus, lib. i., Miracul. B. Virg. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Bruges, Flanders (1150), where a lock of Our Lady’s hair is preserved. (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Bruges. Flanders. 1150. Relic of Mary's hair. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Bruges (Flanders). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of the Rain (Italy, 1367) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Monday, March 19, 2012
20 March 2012: Necessity and manner of doing penance
God imposes penance as a duty. This command is formal and universal. ‘Except you do penance, you shall perish’ not ‘perhaps’ or ‘probably’; but simply, ‘you shall all perish’. Why? Because we are sinners!
After losing baptismal innocence our only road to heaven is penance. Again, why? The flesh, ever rebelling against the spirit, inclines us towards sin. Thus, “If by the spirit you mortify ... the flesh, you shall live” (Rom 8:13).
We are then obliged to do penance proportioned to the number and gravity of our sins (Council of Trent); and to do it always, but especially during Lent. Whatever our age or vigor, we can do penance in some way.
The desert Fathers, eminent for their penance, did it mainly in ‘fasting’, ‘vigils’, and ‘austerities’. On fasting, we can observe it at least partly.
We can limit our ordinary food with due discretion to what is absolutely necessary. Or mortify our taste by habitually avoiding treats. Eating less of what we enjoy; more of what we don’t.
We are not obliged to break our sleep to keep vigil in the oratory. But always rise quickly from sleep -- the heroic minute. Let us at least ‘watch’ in our mental prayers, and in all spiritual activities, ‘never’ yielding to sleep or spiritual torpor. This can be a very painful struggle.
An article of faith is, what we have not atoned for in life by penance will be expiated by the fire of purgatory. Therefore, as St Augustine says, ‘do penance, or burn’. We can choose.
To habitually kneel or sit without a comfortable support; to pass through public places without ever satisfying our curiosity, is to do penance; and, if continuous, can become a severe one.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp91-3
Docility in spiritual direction
Faith in the means God gives us works miracles. On one occasion Our Lord asked a cripple to do something which the man knew, from vast experience, he could not do: to stretch out his withered hand. But again, docility, the sign of an operative faith, made the miracle possible.
“And the man stretched out his hand, and it was restored ...” (Mt 12:13)
At times we, too will be asked to do things we think we are incapable of. They will become possible if we allow the grace of God to act within us -- a grace which comes to us as a result of docility in spiritual direction.
Our Lord asks us not to seek mere earthly supports which would inevitably lead us to pessimism. He asks us for supernatural trust, for us to be supernaturally realists -- to count on Him, ie, being aware that Jesus Christ continues to influence our lives.
Ten docile lepers are cured. Jesus simply tells them: “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Lk 17:14).
On another occasion Our Lord has compassion on a man born blind. St John vividly relates the incident:
Jesus spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him:
“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” The beggar did not doubt. “So he went and washed, and came back able to see.” (Jn 9:6-7)
Blindness, defects, weaknesses -- are faults that have a remedy. By ourselves, we are helpless; Jesus Christ is all-powerful.
The water of that pool was still water, and the clay remained clay. But the blind man recovered his sight with a deeper, living faith in the Lord.
“I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he remade it into another vessel ... Like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.” (Jer 18:1-7)
With availability and docility, we will allow ourselves to be reworked and reshaped by God as often as is necessary. This could be the resolution we make in our prayer today, a resolution we will bring to fruition with the help of Our Lady.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:124-6
Allowing ourselves to be led
The word ‘faith’ is rooted in a person’s placing himself in the care of someone who is stronger; trusting in this person’s assistance. We put our trust in God. But He wants us to rely on those He has put by our side to help us see. God frequently gives light through his creatures. (cf J Dheilly, “Biblical Dictionary”, Barcelona)
The Lord passes by so close to us that we should be able to find him and follow him. Frequent recourse to the sacrament of Penance is an excellent way to ensure we see God more clearly in ourselves and in those around us.
We ask the Blessed Virgin to help us purify our mind and heart so we can find God in the circumstances of every day.
“Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith. I trust in you: strengthen my trust. I love you: let me love you more and more.” (“The Universal Prayer” [Attributed to Pope Clement XI] in Fr Charles Belmonte and Fr James Socias [Eds], “Handbook of Prayers”, 1988, p213)
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:194-6
More About Interior Life
307 -- “The supernatural way of conducting yourself is real military strategy. You carry on the war -- the daily battles of your interior life -- in positions far from the main walls of your fortress.
“And the enemy comes to meet you there: in your small mortification, in your daily prayer, in your orderly work, in your plan of life. And only with difficulty does he get close to the otherwise easily-scaled battlements of your citadel. And if he does, he arrives exhausted.”
317 -- “What zeal men put into their earthly affairs! Dreaming of honors, striving for riches, bent on sensuality! Men and women, rich and poor, old and middle-aged and young and even children: all of them alike.
“When you and I put the same zeal into the affairs of our souls, then we have a living and working faith. And there will be no obstacle that we cannot overcome in our apostolic works.”
321 -- “Apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you -- so close to him for many years! Doesn’t it mean anything to you?”
322 -- “It’s true that I always call our tabernacle Bethany. Become a friend of the Master’s friends -- Lazarus, Martha, Mary -- and then you will ask me no more why I call our tabernacle Bethany.”
323 -- “You know that there are “counsels of the Gospel”. To follow them is a refinement of love.
“They say it is the way of the few. At times I feel that it could be the way of many.”
Ref: Cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”
• Our Lady of Calevourt, at Uckelen, near Bussels. This image began to work miracles in the year 1454, which induced the erection of a magnificent chapel in honor of Our Blessed Lady, in the year 1623. The Infanta of Spain, Isabella Clara Eugenia, devoutly visited it the same year. — Aub. Miraeus, in Annalis Belgicis. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Calevourt. Uckelen, Belgium. 1454. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Calevourt (Uckelen, near Brussels). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Calevourt Uckelen, near Brussels 1454. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Calevourt, near Brussels, Belgium (1454). (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com)
After losing baptismal innocence our only road to heaven is penance. Again, why? The flesh, ever rebelling against the spirit, inclines us towards sin. Thus, “If by the spirit you mortify ... the flesh, you shall live” (Rom 8:13).
We are then obliged to do penance proportioned to the number and gravity of our sins (Council of Trent); and to do it always, but especially during Lent. Whatever our age or vigor, we can do penance in some way.
The desert Fathers, eminent for their penance, did it mainly in ‘fasting’, ‘vigils’, and ‘austerities’. On fasting, we can observe it at least partly.
We can limit our ordinary food with due discretion to what is absolutely necessary. Or mortify our taste by habitually avoiding treats. Eating less of what we enjoy; more of what we don’t.
We are not obliged to break our sleep to keep vigil in the oratory. But always rise quickly from sleep -- the heroic minute. Let us at least ‘watch’ in our mental prayers, and in all spiritual activities, ‘never’ yielding to sleep or spiritual torpor. This can be a very painful struggle.
An article of faith is, what we have not atoned for in life by penance will be expiated by the fire of purgatory. Therefore, as St Augustine says, ‘do penance, or burn’. We can choose.
To habitually kneel or sit without a comfortable support; to pass through public places without ever satisfying our curiosity, is to do penance; and, if continuous, can become a severe one.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp91-3
Docility in spiritual direction
Faith in the means God gives us works miracles. On one occasion Our Lord asked a cripple to do something which the man knew, from vast experience, he could not do: to stretch out his withered hand. But again, docility, the sign of an operative faith, made the miracle possible.
“And the man stretched out his hand, and it was restored ...” (Mt 12:13)
At times we, too will be asked to do things we think we are incapable of. They will become possible if we allow the grace of God to act within us -- a grace which comes to us as a result of docility in spiritual direction.
Our Lord asks us not to seek mere earthly supports which would inevitably lead us to pessimism. He asks us for supernatural trust, for us to be supernaturally realists -- to count on Him, ie, being aware that Jesus Christ continues to influence our lives.
Ten docile lepers are cured. Jesus simply tells them: “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Lk 17:14).
On another occasion Our Lord has compassion on a man born blind. St John vividly relates the incident:
Jesus spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him:
“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” The beggar did not doubt. “So he went and washed, and came back able to see.” (Jn 9:6-7)
Blindness, defects, weaknesses -- are faults that have a remedy. By ourselves, we are helpless; Jesus Christ is all-powerful.
The water of that pool was still water, and the clay remained clay. But the blind man recovered his sight with a deeper, living faith in the Lord.
“I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he remade it into another vessel ... Like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.” (Jer 18:1-7)
With availability and docility, we will allow ourselves to be reworked and reshaped by God as often as is necessary. This could be the resolution we make in our prayer today, a resolution we will bring to fruition with the help of Our Lady.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:124-6
Allowing ourselves to be led
The word ‘faith’ is rooted in a person’s placing himself in the care of someone who is stronger; trusting in this person’s assistance. We put our trust in God. But He wants us to rely on those He has put by our side to help us see. God frequently gives light through his creatures. (cf J Dheilly, “Biblical Dictionary”, Barcelona)
The Lord passes by so close to us that we should be able to find him and follow him. Frequent recourse to the sacrament of Penance is an excellent way to ensure we see God more clearly in ourselves and in those around us.
We ask the Blessed Virgin to help us purify our mind and heart so we can find God in the circumstances of every day.
“Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith. I trust in you: strengthen my trust. I love you: let me love you more and more.” (“The Universal Prayer” [Attributed to Pope Clement XI] in Fr Charles Belmonte and Fr James Socias [Eds], “Handbook of Prayers”, 1988, p213)
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:194-6
More About Interior Life
307 -- “The supernatural way of conducting yourself is real military strategy. You carry on the war -- the daily battles of your interior life -- in positions far from the main walls of your fortress.
“And the enemy comes to meet you there: in your small mortification, in your daily prayer, in your orderly work, in your plan of life. And only with difficulty does he get close to the otherwise easily-scaled battlements of your citadel. And if he does, he arrives exhausted.”
317 -- “What zeal men put into their earthly affairs! Dreaming of honors, striving for riches, bent on sensuality! Men and women, rich and poor, old and middle-aged and young and even children: all of them alike.
“When you and I put the same zeal into the affairs of our souls, then we have a living and working faith. And there will be no obstacle that we cannot overcome in our apostolic works.”
321 -- “Apostolic soul, that intimacy between Jesus and you -- so close to him for many years! Doesn’t it mean anything to you?”
322 -- “It’s true that I always call our tabernacle Bethany. Become a friend of the Master’s friends -- Lazarus, Martha, Mary -- and then you will ask me no more why I call our tabernacle Bethany.”
323 -- “You know that there are “counsels of the Gospel”. To follow them is a refinement of love.
“They say it is the way of the few. At times I feel that it could be the way of many.”
Ref: Cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”
• Our Lady of Calevourt, at Uckelen, near Bussels. This image began to work miracles in the year 1454, which induced the erection of a magnificent chapel in honor of Our Blessed Lady, in the year 1623. The Infanta of Spain, Isabella Clara Eugenia, devoutly visited it the same year. — Aub. Miraeus, in Annalis Belgicis. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Calevourt. Uckelen, Belgium. 1454. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Calevourt (Uckelen, near Brussels). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Calevourt Uckelen, near Brussels 1454. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Calevourt, near Brussels, Belgium (1454). (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com)
Sunday, March 18, 2012
19 March 2012: Solemnity -- St Joseph, the husband of Mary
Considered as the greatest saint, next to the Blessed Virgin Mary, because of his humility and closeness to Jesus. Sacred Scripture records that Joseph was just, pure, gentle, prudent, and unfailingly obedient to the divine will. We wish to imitate him by renewing our desire to be faithful to the Lord till the last day: the only meaning of our life. Patron of the Universal Church. (Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1494)
‘Go to Joseph’
St Joseph, as the legal husband of the Blessed Virgin, was head of the Holy Family. He supported them by manual labor; governed and guided them in obedience to direction from on high, through the ministry of angels.
Jesus and Mary strictly obeyed him. Thus, he is invoked as the protector of Christian families who desire to obey the will of God.
The Gospel records that Jesus submitted to the direction of St Joseph. Jesus and Mary obeyed him in everything. “And he was subject to them.” (Lk 2:51)
We may say he had charge of the education of Jesus as a child, youth, and young man. He enjoyed the greatest happiness a father can have: seeing him increase in age, in wisdom before God and men.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp228-9
Going to St Joseph for our every need
By the example of their life in Nazareth Jesus and Mary invite us to seek Joseph’s assistance. They frequently went to Joseph for his help in all kinds of needs. Their attitude and behavior is a wonderful model for us to imitate.
When “we go to Joseph for help we should have no fear at all. We ought to have a steadfast faith that what we are doing is the most pleasing to God Almighty and the Queen of Angels.” (Isidoro de Isolano, “The Gifts of St Joseph”)
With the exception of God himself, Our Lady loved no one more than she loved St Joseph, her husband. Who can imagine the strength of Joseph’s petition before Our Lady, Mediatrix of all graces?
Spiritual authors have seen fit to make this comparison:
“Christ is the one mediator before the Father, and the way to reach Christ is through Mary, his Mother. Similarly, the best way to reach Mary is through St Joseph. The ascending order is from Joseph to Mary, from Mary to Christ, from Christ to the Father.” (B Llamera, “Theology of St Joseph”, 315)
Reflect on the teaching of St Thomas concerning divine vocation:
“To those whom God calls for his work, God provides the necessary preparation and graces so that they will be the ideal instruments for that work.” (St Thomas, “Summa Theologiae”, 3, q27,a4,c)
St Joseph fulfilled the mission which God had entrusted to him. His whole life was an unconditional gift to God for the good of the Holy Family and all people. (cf John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, “Redemptoris custos”, 15 August 1989, 17)
We ask the Holy Patriarch to help us fulfill the will of God in everything. We pray that he show us how to live out our commitments joyfully and without reservation.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:162, 165-6, 171
St Joseph’s eminent dignity and great power
To form an idea of St Joseph’s attributes, we should reflect that God called him to the holiest and most exalted of all offices-- to be the spouse of the Mother of God, foster-father of the Eternal Son of God made man, ruler of the Holy Family, and guardian of the secret of the Divine Incarnation.
Reflect that God always proportions his gifts to the dignity to which he raises whomever it pleases him to elevate. Reflect that St Joseph whom the Holy Spirit called “a just man” (Mt 1:18), corresponded most faithfully to the abundant graces which he received.
Thus he laid up an immense treasure of merits and sanctity, and we will draw the certain conclusion that, after the Mother of God, St Joseph is the nearest to the Eternal Throne; and that his intercession must be all-powerful. How can Jesus refuse the prayer of him whose will he obeyed in all things while on earth?
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p855
Be silent and listen
Here was an ordinary man to whom God granted extraordinary graces. Joseph was to fulfill a most singular mission in God’s salvific design. He experienced indescribable joys along with trials of doubt and suffering.
We recall his perplexity at the mystery of Mary’s conception, the extreme material poverty in Bethlehem, the prophecies of Simeon in the Temple, the hurried flight into Egypt, the difficulties of having to live in a foreign land, the return from Egypt, and the threat posed by Archelaus. Joseph proved himself always faithful to the will of God; ever ready to set aside his own plans. (cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:170)
And yet there is not a single word spoken by him in the Gospels. Truly he lived the wonderful implications of two words -- ‘silent’ and ‘listen’. Applied to our spiritual life, they dispose us to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. If we “make” time to be ‘silent’, we become docile and disposed to ‘listen’ to the Holy Spirit.
Joseph Believed
St Joseph of Nazareth was a ‘just man’; said to his credit, ‘as justice’, ‘that he believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things which do not yet exist’.
That happened at the ‘decisive moment for the history of salvation’, when God, the eternal Father sent His Son into the world to accomplish the promise made to Abraham.
It was exactly then that the faith of Joseph of Nazareth was manifested. It showed itself to be up to the measure of the faith of Abraham.
It was evident even more when ‘the Word of the living God became flesh in Mary’; by the announcement of the angel, ‘she was with child through the power of the Holy Spirit’. The faith of St Joseph was bound to be manifested ‘before the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God’.
... Joseph believed in God: ‘Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife.’
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp22-3
• Solemnity of St Joseph. 29 AD. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• The Beautiful Lady, at “Norgent-Sur-Seine”. It is affirmed, that it is impossible to remove this celebrated picture from its little chapel, which is only four or five feet square. — Ex monumentis Novigentenis. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• The Beautiful Lady, “Norgent-sur-Seine”, France. (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady Fair (“La Belle Dame”, The Beautiful Lady). “Norgent-sur-Seine”, France. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady Fair / “La Belle Dame & Norgent-sur-Seine”, France. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady Fair (“La Belle Dame”). (“Norgent-sur-Seine”, France). [Impossible to move image, miraculously held in place.]
(maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
‘Go to Joseph’
St Joseph, as the legal husband of the Blessed Virgin, was head of the Holy Family. He supported them by manual labor; governed and guided them in obedience to direction from on high, through the ministry of angels.
Jesus and Mary strictly obeyed him. Thus, he is invoked as the protector of Christian families who desire to obey the will of God.
The Gospel records that Jesus submitted to the direction of St Joseph. Jesus and Mary obeyed him in everything. “And he was subject to them.” (Lk 2:51)
We may say he had charge of the education of Jesus as a child, youth, and young man. He enjoyed the greatest happiness a father can have: seeing him increase in age, in wisdom before God and men.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp228-9
Going to St Joseph for our every need
By the example of their life in Nazareth Jesus and Mary invite us to seek Joseph’s assistance. They frequently went to Joseph for his help in all kinds of needs. Their attitude and behavior is a wonderful model for us to imitate.
When “we go to Joseph for help we should have no fear at all. We ought to have a steadfast faith that what we are doing is the most pleasing to God Almighty and the Queen of Angels.” (Isidoro de Isolano, “The Gifts of St Joseph”)
With the exception of God himself, Our Lady loved no one more than she loved St Joseph, her husband. Who can imagine the strength of Joseph’s petition before Our Lady, Mediatrix of all graces?
Spiritual authors have seen fit to make this comparison:
“Christ is the one mediator before the Father, and the way to reach Christ is through Mary, his Mother. Similarly, the best way to reach Mary is through St Joseph. The ascending order is from Joseph to Mary, from Mary to Christ, from Christ to the Father.” (B Llamera, “Theology of St Joseph”, 315)
Reflect on the teaching of St Thomas concerning divine vocation:
“To those whom God calls for his work, God provides the necessary preparation and graces so that they will be the ideal instruments for that work.” (St Thomas, “Summa Theologiae”, 3, q27,a4,c)
St Joseph fulfilled the mission which God had entrusted to him. His whole life was an unconditional gift to God for the good of the Holy Family and all people. (cf John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, “Redemptoris custos”, 15 August 1989, 17)
We ask the Holy Patriarch to help us fulfill the will of God in everything. We pray that he show us how to live out our commitments joyfully and without reservation.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:162, 165-6, 171
St Joseph’s eminent dignity and great power
To form an idea of St Joseph’s attributes, we should reflect that God called him to the holiest and most exalted of all offices-- to be the spouse of the Mother of God, foster-father of the Eternal Son of God made man, ruler of the Holy Family, and guardian of the secret of the Divine Incarnation.
Reflect that God always proportions his gifts to the dignity to which he raises whomever it pleases him to elevate. Reflect that St Joseph whom the Holy Spirit called “a just man” (Mt 1:18), corresponded most faithfully to the abundant graces which he received.
Thus he laid up an immense treasure of merits and sanctity, and we will draw the certain conclusion that, after the Mother of God, St Joseph is the nearest to the Eternal Throne; and that his intercession must be all-powerful. How can Jesus refuse the prayer of him whose will he obeyed in all things while on earth?
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, p855
Be silent and listen
Here was an ordinary man to whom God granted extraordinary graces. Joseph was to fulfill a most singular mission in God’s salvific design. He experienced indescribable joys along with trials of doubt and suffering.
We recall his perplexity at the mystery of Mary’s conception, the extreme material poverty in Bethlehem, the prophecies of Simeon in the Temple, the hurried flight into Egypt, the difficulties of having to live in a foreign land, the return from Egypt, and the threat posed by Archelaus. Joseph proved himself always faithful to the will of God; ever ready to set aside his own plans. (cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:170)
And yet there is not a single word spoken by him in the Gospels. Truly he lived the wonderful implications of two words -- ‘silent’ and ‘listen’. Applied to our spiritual life, they dispose us to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. If we “make” time to be ‘silent’, we become docile and disposed to ‘listen’ to the Holy Spirit.
Joseph Believed
St Joseph of Nazareth was a ‘just man’; said to his credit, ‘as justice’, ‘that he believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things which do not yet exist’.
That happened at the ‘decisive moment for the history of salvation’, when God, the eternal Father sent His Son into the world to accomplish the promise made to Abraham.
It was exactly then that the faith of Joseph of Nazareth was manifested. It showed itself to be up to the measure of the faith of Abraham.
It was evident even more when ‘the Word of the living God became flesh in Mary’; by the announcement of the angel, ‘she was with child through the power of the Holy Spirit’. The faith of St Joseph was bound to be manifested ‘before the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God’.
... Joseph believed in God: ‘Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife.’
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp22-3
• Solemnity of St Joseph. 29 AD. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• The Beautiful Lady, at “Norgent-Sur-Seine”. It is affirmed, that it is impossible to remove this celebrated picture from its little chapel, which is only four or five feet square. — Ex monumentis Novigentenis. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• The Beautiful Lady, “Norgent-sur-Seine”, France. (www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady Fair (“La Belle Dame”, The Beautiful Lady). “Norgent-sur-Seine”, France. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady Fair / “La Belle Dame & Norgent-sur-Seine”, France. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady Fair (“La Belle Dame”). (“Norgent-sur-Seine”, France). [Impossible to move image, miraculously held in place.]
(maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
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