Convert/Catholic/Lynn

Language

2008-12-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

........And, because as an adult you are a creature of language, your healing must be done through language. In other words, you cannot just become a child again in the consulting room; instead you have to put the trauma of the past into adult language, so as to “break the spell,” so to speak, of the past. It’s a bit like how in the fairy tale of Rumpelstilzchen the queen was able to free herself from her dilemma by discovering the name of Rumpelstilzchen.

........learning how to speak your own pain allows you to hear the child’s pain with pure trust. But if you haven’t learned how to speak your own pain honestly, then every touch you give a child will have within it a veiled hint of your own needs to be soothed. And that, to a child, is terrifying.

Source click here

Sin

2008-12-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

...........And with the loss of soul many of us today have also discarded the concept of sin—that is, that functional narcissism in all of us which serves the self, rather than others.

Source click here

4 Steps to Humilty

2008-12-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

4 Steps to Humilty - Source click here

1. Recognizing Emotions

2. Recognizing Psychological Defenses

3. Learning How the Past “Lives” in the Present

4. Learning New Behaviors

Discernment

2008-12-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

............what is meant by God's will. We need to understand that God's will
is not some ready made plan that will solve all your worries if only you could access it
is related to your deepest desires and aspirations is found within you.

In the prophet Isaiah God says : My plans for you are for peace not destruction." Responding to God's will is about discovering how to be my best self, my most authentic self. Does this mean that I will never suffer hardship and pain? Of course not. Deep down we all know that. Decisions and choices can often mean hardship and even pain. But the bottom line is that following God's will, is also about discovering and living my most authentic self. This will lead to a deep peace and joy even when there is struggle and hardship.

Discernment Process click here

Comentary of the day

2008-12-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

Commentary of the day :

Vatican Council II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy «Sacrosanctum Concilium», §6.8

"As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes" (1Cor 11,26)

Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also He sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This He did that, by preaching the gospel to every creature (Mk 16,15), they might proclaim that the Son of God, by His death and resurrection, had freed us from the power of Satan and from death, and brought us into the kingdom of His Father. His purpose also was that they might accomplish the work of salvation that they had proclaimed, by means of sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves. Thus by baptism men are plunged into the paschal mystery of Christ: they die with Him, are buried with Him, and rise with Him (Rom 6,4); they receive the spirit of adoption as sons "in which we cry: Abba, Father" (Rom. 8,15), and thus become true adorers whom the Father seeks (Jn 4,23). In like manner, as often as they eat the supper of the Lord they proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes...

In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims (Rev 21,2), where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle (Heb 8,2); we sing a hymn to the Lord's glory with all the warriors of the heavenly army; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory (Col 3,4).

Source Click here

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - Lifting up - the mind toward God

2008-12-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

Prayer

2098 The acts of faith, hope, and charity enjoined by the first commandment are accomplished in prayer. Lifting up the mind toward God is an expression of our adoration of God: prayer of praise and thanksgiving, intercession and petition. Prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God's commandments. "[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart."15

Sacrifice

2099 It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion: "Every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice."16

2100 Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. . . . "17 The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor.18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our salvation.20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.

Source click here >> the mind toward God

Spiral of sin

2008-12-01T04:50:00.000-08:00

“There are a number of sins in our lives that we can easily identify, acknowledge as wrongdoing, and take responsibility for. We need to bring those sins regularly to the throne of God and ask him for forgiveness. We need to be vigilant, so that we never fall into the habit of tolerating those sins by saying, ‘Yes, but that’s just me. I’ll never change.’ Such an attitude evinces hopelessness in that area—and a surrender to the spiral of sin. Of course, it is true that we will have areas of weakness as long as we live. This is why we need a Savior daily.” (52)

Sr. Ann Shields
Pray and Never Lose Heart: The Power of Intercession, Servant Publications

Source click here

Catholic Radio Report Toolbar

2008-11-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

Free Download

CatholicRadioReport.com Toolbar – includes radio preloaded with Catholic Stations and podcasts.

Click here to take you to the site to download.

I found it on this site - click here.

I’m listening to it now – awesome.

Awesome prayer site

2008-11-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

Daily Prayer Online

Sacred Space

We invite you to make a 'Sacred Space' in your day, and spend ten minutes, praying here and now, as you sit at your computer, with the help of on-screen guidance and scripture chosen specially every day.

Click here to start praying

Commentary of the day : Origen

2008-11-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

Origen (c.185-253), priest and theologian

Commentary on St John's Gospel, 10,39; PG14, 369f.
«Do you not know that you are the temple of God?» (1Cor 3,16)

«Jesus said to the Jews: 'Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up'... But he was speaking about the temple of his body» (Jn 2,19.21)... Certain people think it impossible to apply to Christ's body everything spoken about the Temple; they think his body was called 'temple' because, just as the first Temple was indwelt by God's glory, so the Firstborn of all creation is the image and glory of God (Col 1,15) and therefore it is fitting that his Body, the Church, should be called the temple of God because it contains the divine image... But we have learned from Peter that the Church is the body and house of God, built of living stones, a spiritual house for a holy priesthood (1Pt 2,5).Thus we can consider Solomon, the son of David, who built the Temple, as being a prefiguration of Christ: it was after the war, while peace reigned, that Solomon constructed a temple to the glory of God in the earthly Jerusalem...Just so, when all Christ's enemies have been «put under his feet and the last enemy, death, has been destroyed» (1Cor 15,25-26), then there will be perfect peace, then Christ will be the «Solomon» whose name means «Peacemaker» and in him this prophecy will be fulfilled: «With those who hate peace, I speak of peace» (Ps 120[119], 6-7). Then each of these living stones will become a stone in the temple, according to their merits in this present life: one – apostle or prophet – placed in the foundation, will carry the stones set above it; another, following after those at the foundation and itself carried by the apostles, will carry other, weaker ones with it; one will be a stone completely on the inside, where the ark with the cherubim and the mercy seat is to be found (1Kgs 6,19); another will be the stone of the porch (v.3), and yet another, outside the vestibule for the priests and Levites, will be the altar stone where the grain offerings are made... The overseeing of the construction together with the organization of the ministers will be entrusted to the angels of God, those holy powers prefigured by Solomon's prefects for the work... All these things will be accomplished when peace is perfect, when there reigns a great peace.

Source click here

YEAH

2008-11-25T06:35:00.001-08:00

.......sin....so that's what's wrong with me. Thank God it's not out there.....

“The reason we are full of fear is that we are not willing to look at the source of the problems we face. The source of our fear-the reason we crumble before obstacles-is our unrepented sin. We are really in fear of God. Sin is the source of our difficulties. If we would look at the sin and experience the greatness of the salvation God offers to us, we would be free from fear. The Holy Spirit wants to convict us of our sin and help us to repent.”

Fr. Francis MartinThe Life Changer: How you Can Experience Freedom, Power and Refreshment in the Holy Spirit, St. Bede’s Publications

Source click here

"E-spirations" is a daily email subscription that provides brief quotes, passages, and comments from popular Franciscan University Summer Conference Speakers. We hope they will inspire you to a life of greater holiness and faith.
Joining the "E-spirations" list is free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY

2008-11-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY
by Valentin Breton, O.F.M.

And because we are all poor sinners, we are not worthy to pronounce Thy name, therefore we pray Thee to deign to be pleased that our Lord, Jesus Christ, in whom alone Thou art well pleased, render Thee thanks for all things, together with the Holy Spirit, the Consoler. May He be pleasing to Thee and to them, because THIS SON SUFFICES ALWAYS AND FOR ALL THINGS TO THEE, and it is through Him that Thou hast granted us all graces. Alleluia!"

Source click here
Which I orginally started here which took me to the EWTN site.

The Immermorial Mass

2008-11-23T20:31:00.000-08:00

Video of Tridentine Solemn High Mass

Explained and Narrated by...

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Click here

Respect Cost Nothing

2008-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4QxDo6RZh0

Adoption Experience

2008-11-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

Strengthening Families
Keynote address, 5/25/96By Rev. Thomas F. Brosnan

Catholic Charities USA

1996 National Maternity and Adoption Conference

San Antonio, Texas

April 24-27, 1996

Click here for article

2008-11-20T04:22:00.000-08:00

Reading A sermon by St Augustine

The heart of the just man will rejoice in the Lord
The just man will rejoice in the Lord and put his hope in him; the hearts of all good men will be filled with joy. We must surely have sung these words with our hearts as well as with our voices. Indeed, the tongue of the Christian expresses his deepest feelings when it addresses such words to God. The just man will rejoice, not in the world, but in the Lord. Light has dawned for the just, Scripture says in another place, and joy for the upright of heart. Were you wondering what reason he has for joy? Here you are told: The just man will rejoice in the Lord. Another text runs: Delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.What are we instructed to do then, and what are we enabled to do? To rejoice in the Lord. But who can rejoice in something he does not see? Am I suggesting that we see the Lord then? No, but we have been promised that we shall see him. Now, as long as we are in the body, we walk by faith, for we are absent from the Lord. We walk by faith, and not by sight. When will it be by sight? Beloved, says John, we are now the sons of God; what we shall be has not yet been revealed, but we know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. When this prophecy is fulfilled, then it will be by sight.That will be the great joy, the supreme joy, joy in all its fullness. Then we shall no longer drink the milk of hope, but we shall feed on the reality itself. Nevertheless, even now, before that vision comes to us, or before we come to that vision, let us rejoice in the Lord; for it is no small reason for rejoicing to have a hope that will some day be fulfilled.Therefore, since the hope we now have inspires love, the just man rejoices, Scripture says, in the Lord; but because he does not yet see, it immediately goes on to say, and hopes in him.Yet already we have the first fruits of the Spirit, and have we not also other reasons for rejoicing? For we are drawing near to the one we love, and not only are we drawing near – we even have some slight feeling and taste of the banquet we shall one day eagerly eat and drink.But how can we rejoice in the Lord if he is far from us? Pray God he may not be far. If he is, that is your doing. Love, and he will draw near; love, and he will dwell within you. The Lord is at hand; have no anxiety. Are you puzzled to know how it is that he will be with you if you love? God is love.“What do you mean by love?” you will ask me. It is that which enables us to be loving. What do we love? A good that words cannot describe, a good that is for ever giving, a good that is the Creator of all good. Delight in him from whom you have received everything that delights you. But in that I do not include sin, for sin is the one thing that you do not receive from him. With that one exception, everything you have comes from him.

Concluding Prayer

O Lord our God, grant that we may always find joy in serving you; for if we constantly serve the one from whom all good things come, it will give us perfect happiness for ever.Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.Amen.

God and HIs Creation - EWTN

2008-11-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

Man, Unique in the Universe
Pope John Paul II

The Spirit of God who, we are told in the Book of Genesis, breathed upon the waters at the very beginning of creation (cf. 1:2), is the same Spirit of life who was breathed into man, so that "man became a living being" (ibid., 2:7). This is what makes us different from every other creature. In our bodies we are a mere speck in the vast created universe, but by virtue of our souls we transcend the whole material world. I invite you to reflect on what makes each one of you truly marvelous and unique. Only a human being like you can think and speak and share your thoughts in different languages with other human beings all over the world, and through that language express the beauty of art and poetry and music and literature and the theater, and so many other uniquely human accomplishments.

And most important of all, only God's precious human beings are capable of loving. Love makes us seek what is good; love makes us better persons. It is love that prompts men and women to marry and form a family, to have children. It is love that prompts others to embrace the religious life or become priests. Love makes you reach out to others in need, whoever they are, wherever they are. Every genuine human love is a reflection of the Love that is God himself, to the point where the First Letter of Saint John says: "The man without love has known nothing of God; for God is love" (4:8).

From his Homily at Central Park, 7 October 1995
Electronic text (c) Copyright 1997 EWTN. All rights reserved.

Source click here "Reflections and Prayers" section

WOW

2008-11-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM
LED BY HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II
GOOD FRIDAY 2000HOLY YEAR
MEDITATION AND PRAYERS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II
OPENING PRAYER

The Holy Father:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

R. Amen.

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24).

Good Friday evening. For twenty centuries the Church has gathered on this evening to remember and to re-live the events of the final stage of the earthly journey of the Son of God. Once again this year, the Church in Rome meets at the Colosseum, to follow the footsteps of Jesus, who “went out, carrying his cross, to the place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha” (Jn 19:17).

We are here because we are convinced that the Way of the Cross of the Son of God was not simply a journey to the place of execution. We believe that every step of the Condemned Christ, every action and every word, as well as everything felt and done by those who took part in this tragic drama, continues to speak to us. In his suffering and death too, Christ reveals to us the truth about God and man.

In this Jubilee Year we want to concentrate on the full meaning of that event, so that what happened may speak with new power to our minds and hearts, and become the source of the grace of a real sharing in it. To share means to have a part.

What does it mean to have a part in the Cross of Christ? It means to experience, in the Holy Spirit, the love hidden within the Cross of Christ. It means to recognize, in the light of this love, our own cross. It means to take up that cross once more and, strengthened by this love, to continue our journey... To journey through life, in imitation of the one who “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).

Brief pause for silence.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, fill our hearts with the light of your Spirit, so that by following you on your final journey we may come to know the price of our Redemption and become worthy of a share in the fruits of your Passion, Death and Resurrection. You who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.

FIRST STATION

Jesus is condemned to death

V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.

R/. Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

“Are you the King of the Jews?” (Jn 18:33). “My Kingdom is not of this world; if my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my Kingdom is not from the world” (Jn 18:36).

Pilate said to him: - “So you are a king?” Jesus answered: - “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” Pilate said in answer: “What is truth?”. At this point, the Roman Procurator saw no need for further questions. He went to the Jews and told them: “I find no crime in him” (cf. Jn 18:37-38). The tragedy of Pilate is hidden in the question: What is truth?

This was no philosophical question about the nature of truth, but an existential question about his own relationship with truth. It was an attempt to escape from the voice of conscience, which was pressing him to acknowledge the truth and follow it. When someone refuses to be guided by truth he is ultimately ready even to condemn an innocent person to death.

The accusers sense this weakness in Pilate and so do not yield. They relentlessly call for death by crucifixion. Pilate’s attempts at half measures are of no avail. The cruel punishment of scourging inflicted upon the Accused is not enough. When the Procurator brings Jesus, scourged and crowned with thorns, before the crowd, he seems to be looking for words which he thinks might soften the intransigence of the mob.

Pointing to Jesus he says: Ecce homo! Behold the man! But the answer comes back: “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate then tries to buy time: “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no crime in him” (Jn 19:5-7). He is increasingly convinced that the Accused is innocent, but this is not enough for him to decide in his favour. The accusers use their final argument: “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar” (Jn 19:12).

This is clearly a threat. Recognizing the danger, Pilate finally gives in and pronounces the sentence. But not without the contemptuous gesture of washing his hands: “I am innocent of this ... blood; see to it yourselves!” (Mt 27:24).

Thus was Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of the world, condemned to death by crucifixion. Over the centuries the denial of truth has spawned suffering and death. It is the innocent who pay the price of human hypocrisy. Half measures are never enough. Nor is it enough to wash one’s hands. Responsibility for the blood of the just remains. This is why Christ prayed so fervently for his disciples in every age: Father, “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:17).

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, you accepted an unjust judgment. Grant to us and to all the men and women of our time the grace to remain faithful to the truth. Do not allow the weight of responsibility for the sufferings of the innocent fall upon us and upon those who come after us. To you, O Jesus, just Judge, be honour and glory for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

All:

Our Father...

Stabat Mater:

At the Cross her station keeping stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.

(To continue reading the "Stations Of The Cross" -please click here)

The Present as a Gift...

2008-11-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

The Present as a Gift...

So much suffering comes from disappointment. We wait for something which we believe will bring us happiness, and it does not arrive. We see only the negative things that have come our way - illness, a child with a handicap - and we close up in anger and rebellion. Human wisdom means coming back down to earth; not closing ourselves up in a beautiful ideal which we must attain, but welcoming reality just as it is; discovering God present in reality; not struggling against reality, but working with it; discovering the seed of life, the possibilities hidden in it. Of course we must have a vision for the future and focus on it, we must have a plan, and be aware of and responsible for the future, but our hope and vision must be rooted in the present. This is true wisdom - to discover God in the present moment, to be a friend of time and of reality. - Jean Vanier, Our Journey Home, pp 165-166

2008-11-09T10:29:00.001-08:00

Some notes I took and don't remember the source.

You will live as you pray.

We believe as we pray.

God’s word uncreates the created word.

Universal call to holiness – through the virtues – theological and cardinal

You purify the other through your own sacrifice.

Fast from words. We talk to much. Talkative soul is empty.

Why should you look around you when you carry the world within you.

Create silence in your interior

Part of todays Office Reading

2008-11-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Source

1 Peter 2:1-17 ©

He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. As scripture says: See how I lay in Zion a precious cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust on it will not be disappointed. That means that for you who are believers, it is precious; but for unbelievers, the stone rejected by the builders has proved to be the keystone, a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men down. They stumble over it because they do not believe in the word; it was the fate in store for them.

A sermon of St Caesarius of Arles
Baptism makes every one of us into a temple of God.
My fellow Christians, today is the birthday of this church, an occasion for celebration and rejoicing. We, however, ought to be the true and living temple of God. Nevertheless, Christians rightly commemorate this feast of the church, their mother, for they know that through her they were reborn in the spirit. At our first birth, we were vessels of God’s wrath; reborn, we became vessels of his mercy. Our first birth brought death to us, but our second restored us to life.Indeed, before our baptism we were sanctuaries of the devil; but after our baptism we merited the privilege of being temples of Christ. And if we think more carefully about the meaning of our salvation, we shall realise that we are indeed living and true temples of God. God does not dwell only in things made by human hands, nor in homes of wood and stone, but rather he dwells principally in the soul made according to his own image and fashioned by his own hand. Therefore, the apostle Paul says: The temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.When Christ came, he banished the devil from our hearts, in order to build in them a temple for himself. Let us therefore do what we can with his help, so that our evil deeds will not deface that temple. For whoever does evil, does injury to Christ. As I said earlier, before Christ redeemed us, we were the house of the devil, but afterward, we merited the privilege of being the house of God. God himself in his loving mercy saw fit to make of us his own home. My fellow Christians, do we wish to celebrate joyfully the birth of this temple? Then let us not destroy the living temples of God in ourselves by works of evil. I shall speak clearly, so that all can understand. Whenever we come to church, we must prepare our hearts to be as beautiful as we expect this church to be. Do you wish to find this basilica immaculately clean? Then do not soil your soul with the filth of sins. Do you wish this basilica to be full of light? God too wishes that your soul be not in darkness, but that the light of good works shine in us, so that he who dwells in the heavens will be glorified. Just as you enter this church building, so God wishes to enter into your soul, for he promised: I shall live in them, I shall walk through their hearts.

Todays Office Readings That Spoke to me

2008-11-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

Source

Psalm 106 (107)

They sat in the darkness and shadow of death, imprisoned in chains and in misery,because they had rebelled against the words of God

___________________________________________

Psalm 106 (107)

He sent forth his word and healed them, delivered them from their ruin.

__________________________________________

St Ambrose, On The Blessing of Death
On the blessing of death

.....when the law of the flesh is no longer in conflict with the law of the mind....

And thus this death is a journey for everyone. You must always be journeying: from decay to incorruptibility, from mortality to immortality, from turbulence to peace. Do not be alarmed by the word ‘death’ but rejoice at the good that the journey will bring. For what is death except the burial of vice and the raising up of virtue?

Practise what you preach

2008-11-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Reading

A sermon by St Charles Borromeo

I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the Lord God has given us the means to find it easily. One priest may wish to lead a good, holy life, as he knows he should. He may wish to be chaste and to reflect heavenly virtues in the way he lives. Yet he does not resolve to use suitable means, such as penance, prayer, the avoidance of evil discussions and harmful and dangerous friendships. Another priest complains that as soon as he comes into church to pray the office or to celebrate Mass, a thousand thoughts fill his mind and distract him from God. But what was he doing in the sacristy before he came out for the office or for Mass? How did he prepare? What means did he use to collect his thoughts and to remain recollected? Would you like me to teach you how to grow from virtue to virtue and how, if you are already recollected at prayer, you can be even more attentive next time, and so give God more pleasing worship? Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter. If teaching and preaching is your job, then study diligently and apply yourself to whatever is necessary for doing the job well. Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head. Are you in charge of a parish? If so, do not neglect the parish of your own soul, do not give yourself to others so completely that you have nothing left for yourself. You have to be mindful of your people without becoming forgetful of yourself. My brothers, you must realise that for us churchmen nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: I will pray, and then I will understand. When you administer the sacraments, meditate on what you are doing. When you celebrate Mass, reflect on the sacrifice you are offering. When you pray the office, think about the words you are saying and the Lord to whom you are speaking. When you take care of your people, meditate on how the Lord’s blood that has washed them clean so that all that you do becomes a work of love. This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work: in meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men.

Concluding Prayer

Almighty and compassionate God, it is by your gift that your faithful are able to serve you as they ought. Grant that we may hasten towards the joys you have promised and not stumble or sin on the way.Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Eleventh Hour Election Alert

2008-10-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

Please read this and forward to all your loved ones, friends, and anybody who may not understand what is at stake!

Fr. Corapi produced a half hour video today that all Catholics (and Americans) should see. It expounds upon what Bishop Rene H. Gracida just said boldly in a recent radio spot. (He is the Bishop that ordained Fr. Corapi a Deacon).

"This is Bishop Rene H. Gracida, reminding all Catholics that they must vote in this election with an informed conscience. A Catholic cannot be said to have voted in this election with a good conscience if they have voted for a pro-abortion candidate. Barack Hussein Obama is a pro-abortion candidate."

Due to YouTube's limit of 10 minutes, the video was posted in Three parts - they can All be viewed below. Make sure to send this link to your friends and family!

Website and Video

Quote

2008-10-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Quote for the Day

The soul is in God and God in the soul, just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish.

St. Catherine of Siena

Quote from the book, "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"

Reading II 1Jn 3:1-3

2008-10-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

Reading II 1 Jn 3:1-3

Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,as he is pure.

2008-10-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

Fri 24 >>Friday of week 29 of the year

You are to read the book aloud which we send you with this and so make public confession in the house of the Lord on the feastday and on days of solemn assembly. You are to say:Integrity belongs to the Lord our God; to us the look of shame we wear today, to us, the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, to our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, as to our ancestors, because we have sinned in the sight of the Lord, have disobeyed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God telling us to follow the commandments which the Lord had ordained for us. From the day when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, we have been disloyal, refusing to listen to his voice. And so the disasters, and the curse which the Lord pronounced through his servant Moses the day he brought our fathers out of Egypt to give us a land where milk and honey flow, have seized on us, disasters we experience today. Despite all the words of those prophets whom he sent us, we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, but, each following the dictates of his evil heart, we have taken to serving alien gods, and doing what is displeasing to the Lord our God.And so the Lord has carried out the sentence which he passed on us, on our judges who governed Israel, on our kings and leaders, on the men of Israel and of Judah; what he did to Jerusalem has never been paralleled under the wide heavens – all this in conformity with what was written in the Law of Moses; we were all reduced to eating the flesh of our own sons and daughters. Furthermore, he has handed them over into the power of all the kingdoms that surround us, to be loathed and avoided by all the neighbouring nations among whom he scattered them. Instead of being masters, they found themselves enslaved, because we had sinned against the Lord our God by not listening to his voice.Almighty Lord, God of Israel, a soul in anguish, a troubled heart now cries to you: Listen and have pity, Lord, for we have sinned in your sight. You sit enthroned for ever, while we perish continually. ‘Almighty Lord, God of Israel, hear the prayer of the dead of Israel, of the sons of those who have sinned against you and have not listened to the voice of the Lord their God, hence the disasters that have seized on us. Do not call to mind the misdeeds of our ancestors, but remember instead your power and your name. You are indeed the Lord our God and we long to praise you, Lord, since you have put respect for you in our hearts to encourage us to call on your name. We long to praise you in our exile, for we have emptied our hearts of the evil inclinations of our ancestors who sinned against you. Look on us today, still in exile where you have dispersed us as something execrable, accursed, condemned, in punishment for all the misdeeds of our ancestors who had abandoned the Lord our God.

Reading
A letter to Proba by St Augustine
The spirit pleads for us

The person who asks for and seeks this one thing from the Lord makes his petition confidently and serenely. He has no fear that, when he receives it, it may harm him, for if this is absent, anything else he duly receives brings no benefit at all. This is the one, true and only life of happiness, that, immortal and incorruptible in body and spirit, we should contemplate the Lord’s graciousness for ever. It is for the sake of this one thing that everything else is sought and without impropriety requested. The person who has this will have all that he wants; in heaven, he will be unable to want, because he will be unable to possess anything that is unfitting.In heaven is the fountain of life, that we should now thirst for in prayer as long as we live in hope and do not yet see the object of our hope, under the protection of his wings in whose presence is all our desire, so that we may drink our fill from the plenty of his house and be given drink from the running stream of his delights, for with him is the fountain of life, and in his light we shall see light, when our desire will be satisfied with good things, and there will be nothing to ask for with sighs but only what we possess with joy.Yet, since this is that peace that surpasses all understanding, even when we ask for it in prayer we do not know how to pray for what is right. Certainly we do not know something if we cannot think of it as it really is; whatever comes to mind we reject, repudiate, find fault with; we know that this is not what we are seeking, even if we do not yet know what kind of thing it really is.There is then within us a kind of instructed ignorance, instructed, that is, by the Spirit of God who helps our weakness. When the Apostle said: If we hope for something we do not see, we look forward to it with patience, he added, In the same way the Spirit helps our weakness; we do not know what it is right to pray for, but the Spirit himself pleads with sighs too deep for words. He who searches hearts knows what the Spirit means, for he pleads for the saints according to God’s will.We must not understand by this that the Holy Spirit of God pleads for the saints as if he were someone different from what God is: in the Trinity the Spirit is the unchangeable God and one God with the Father and the Son. Scripture says: He pleads for the saints because he moves the saints to plead, just as it says: The Lord your God tests you, to know if you love him, in this sense, that he does it to enable you to know. So the Spirit moves the saints to plead with sighs too deep for words by inspiring in them a desire for the great and as yet unknown reality that we look forward to with patience. How can words express what we desire when it remains unknown? If we were entirely ignorant of it we would not desire it; again, we would not desire it or seek it with sighs, if we were able to see it.

Concluding Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, make us devoted to doing your will and serving you in your majesty with sincere hearts.Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.Amen.

October 2008

Fri 24
Friday of week 29 of the yearor Saint Antony Mary Claret, Bishop

Calendar used: General Calendar

Monday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time

2008-10-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Commentary of the day : Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), priest, Founder of a religious community, theologian Parochial and Plain Sermons vol.5, no.22: The Thought of God, the Stay of the Soul

Come to God in true repentance

The sense of God's presence is not only the ground of the peace of a good conscience, but of the peace of repentance also. At first sight it might seem strange how repentance can have in it anything of comfort and peace. The Gospel, indeed, promises to turn all sorrow into joy. It makes us take pleasure in desolateness, weakness, and contempt. "We even boast of our afflictions," says the Apostle, "because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us," (Rom 5,3; 5)... But if there be one sorrow, which might seem to be unmixed misery, if there be one misery left under the Gospel, the awakened sense of having abused the Gospel might have been considered that one. And, again, if there be a time when the presence of the Most High would at first sight seem to be intolerable, it would be then, when first the consciousness vividly bursts upon us that we have ungratefully rebelled against Him.

Yet so it is that true repentance cannot be without the thought of God; it has the thought of God, for it seeks Him; and it seeks Him, because it is quickened with love; and even sorrow must have a sweetness, if love be in it. For what is to repent but to surrender ourselves to God for pardon or punishment; as loving His presence for its own sake, and accounting chastisement from Him better than rest and peace from the world? While the prodigal son remained among the swine, he had sorrow enough, but no repentance; remorse only; but repentance led him to rise and go to his Father, and to confess his sins. Thus he relieved his heart of its misery, which before was like some hard and fretful tumour weighing upon it... Remorse, or what the Apostle calls "worldly sorrow," (2Cor 7,10) worketh death. Instead of coming to the Fount of life, to the God of all consolation, remorseful men feed on their own thoughts, without any confidant of their sorrow... We need a relief to our hearts, that they may be dark and sullen no longer... Nothing short of God's presence is our true refuge.

Daily email from www.franciscanconferences.com

2008-10-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

“We know from experience what kind of hold beauty has on people, especially since they are created in the image of God who is infinite beauty… We can say that the quest for and the cult of beauty is the most novel and explicit characteristic of classical culture… What we are primarily heirs of in the West is a focus on beauty. However, this beauty was often conceived as separate from the good and the sacred. It was no longer understood the way Plato defined it, as the ‘splendor of truth.’ When it ends up as the exultation of physical forms, beauty is transformed into a dangerous idol and becomes, for the spiritual person who seeks to free himself or herself from material things, one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome, precisely because of its affinity to the good and the true.” Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. CAP.The Mystery of the Transfiguration, Servant Books

Daily email from www.franciscanconferences.com

2008-10-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.franciscanconferences.com/“We so often lose sight of our loving Savior. Or even worse, we purposely hide from God, when only his love can rescue us. Remember Adam and Eve in the garden, who immediately clothed their naked bodies and hid when they heard God calling… And how often we hide our shame from one another. The tendency is observable even in children. A young girl who has been sexually molested by the apparently kindly older man next door, is absolutely incapable of understanding her pitiful plight. Filled with shame, she feels utterly abandoned. Her childish perspective places the blame squarely on her own little shoulders… Fearing her parents’ anger instead of trusting in their love, this innocent victim cannot bring herself to tell them—perhaps the only people who can protect her from further damage.” Benedict J. Groeschel, CFRHealing the Original Wound: Reflections on the Full Meaning of Salvation, Servant Publications

Love

2008-10-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

True love, therefore, is not about getting noticed or feeling accepted.

True love is a process of giving—not the giving of material things that merely bribe others to like us, but the giving of qualities such as patience, kindness, compassion, understanding, mercy, forbearance, and forgiveness, qualities whose ultimate purpose is the salvation of other souls.

The Angelus

2008-10-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

**Click here to listen

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour ofour death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

_______________________________
"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28)
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb"(Lk 1:42).

Living Between Two Masses

2008-10-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Living Between Two Masses
by Catherine Doherty.
Your life as a lay person in the world is hard, and the life around you will be grim, even sordid at times. But God will give you strength. Everything can be borne between two Masses.
If every morning you eat the bread of the saints, you will be able to face any kind of day. Your mind and heart will be nourished, too, by the Word of God. The voice of the psalmist and the warm tones of the voice of Christ will give you courage and new hope. Your faith will be renewed.
You plunge into the sea of fire that is the Mass and come out burning, ready to go forth and light fires of love, no matter where you are. The Mass, above all, is the school of love, the love of God for us, and of us for God. Our faith centers around the Mass—and the immense and infinite thought I never tire of repeating—that God loved us first, and that all we have to do to be fiery Catholics is to love him back.

Love

2008-10-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

Want to know what the Bible says about love. Click here. Have fun.

Question 37. The name of the Holy Ghost--Love

2008-10-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

I answer that, The name Love in God can be taken essentially and personally. If taken personally it is the proper name of the Holy Ghost; as Word is the proper name of the Son. (Click here for original source.)

Love

2008-10-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

From: Psychological Healing in the Roman Catholic Mystic Tradition

Love, in its purest and most divine meaning, refers to something so far beyond our comprehension that it is, well, incomprehensible. Christian theology says that “God is love,” but most us can grasp that concept only intellectually. Many Catholic mystics through the ages, however, have had an immediate experiential encounter with divine love, and they all end up saying essentially the same thing: I thought my heart would burst and that I would die right there.

But by reason of this secret and intimate union with God, there remains in the Soul a sweet impression, so firm and assured a satisfaction, that no torture, however cruel, could overpower it, and a zeal so ardent that a man, had he a thousand lives, would risk them all for that hidden consciousness which is so strong that hell itself could not destroy it.
—Saint Catherine of GenoaSpiritual Dialogue, Part Third, Chapter X

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2008-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

Commentary of the day : Saint Anthony of Padua (c.1195-1231), Franciscan, Doctor of the Church Sermons for Sundays and feasts of the saints

«Let the light of your countenance shine upon us» (Ps 4,7)

Just as this coin bears the image of Caesar, so our soul is in the image of the Blessed Trinity, as one of the psalms says: «The light of thy countenance has been imprinted upon us» (4,6 LXX)... Lord, the light of your countenance, that is to say the light of your grace that sets your image within us and makes us become like you, has been imprinted upon us, that is to say imprinted in our rational faculty, which is the highest power of our soul and receives this light as wax receives the mark of a seal. God's countenance is our reason because, just as we recognize someone by his face, so we recognize God through the mirror of reason. However, this reason has been deformed by human sin since sin opposes us to God. The grace of Christ has put our reason right. Hence, the apostle Paul says to the Ephesians: «Be renewed in your minds» (4,23). The light in question in this psalm is thus the grace that restores God's image imprinted in our nature...The whole Trinity has marked mankind with its likeness. With the memory it resembles the Father; with the understanding it resembles the Son; by love it resembles the Holy Spirit... From the beginning of creation man was made «in the image and likeness of God» (Gn 1,26). The image in his understanding of truth, the likeness in his love of virtue. The light on God's countenance is thus the grace that justifies us and brings to light once again our created image. This light constitutes man's whole good, his true good; it sets its mark on him just as the emperor's image marked the coin.That is why the Lord adds: «Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar». It was as if he said: Just as you repay Caesar with his image so repay God with your soul, beautified and marked by the light of his countenance.

Saint Faustina Diary

2008-10-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

It is not always within your power to control your feelings. You will recognize that you have love if, after having experienced annoyance and contradiction, you do not lose your peace, but pray for those who have made you suffer and wish them well.
—as told to Saint Faustina,Diary, 1628

Quote

2008-10-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

“It is important to remember: Christ conquers. Not by violence, but by love; not by the words of men and women, but by the illumination of the Holy Spirit; not by guns and tanks, but by works of mercy and charity; not by soldiers and armies, but by the humble prayers of devout believers; not by the blood of his enemies, but by the blood of his martyrs.”

Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR

Quotes

2008-10-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

God can only do for you, what He can do through you.

Eric Butterworth

“Do not wait for leaders: do it alone, person to person.”

Mother Teresa

Christ of Saint John of the Cross is a painting by Salvador Dalí made in 1951.

2008-10-15T23:42:00.001-07:00