Death comes to us all.  Yesterday, Robin Williams died, the victim of an apparent suicide.  Depression can be a fatal disease.  This man who made so many of us laugh, who made us feel joy, even through our sadness, has passed into eternity.

God is the judge of each of us.  We cannot judge this man.  We can only pray for the repose of his soul.

Many people refer to the souls in Purgatory as the "poor souls." I hear that, and I think, no, not "poor souls," holy souls.  Yes, they need to make reparation for their sins, and, yes, they suffer, but their next stop is heaven.  They are not poor, they are rich!

Robin, you will be missed.  We will pray for you and for the other souls who have died.

I remember a story about St. Padre Pio.  He would often pray for his grandparents, that they might have a holy death.  They had died many years before he began this practice.  Think of what our prayers can do for our family members who have already died.  We might be blessing them through our prayers with the gift of a very holy death.  We won't know until we reach heaven, but we do know that we can pray for anyone who has ever died, at any time.

Read more at:  His Unending Love

Fragile Faith

How would you describe your Faith?

Strong and unwavering?

Weak and hesitant?

READ HERE

Less of Me, More of You

Less of Me, More of You

Lord, I see You.
You in Your goodness.
You in Your holiness,
You in Your love.
You, my God, are love.

Jesus Christ is Lord,
Now and forever!

I look in my mirror, and I see me.
I don't see much of You in me.
I am a sinful person
Who stumbles and falls
Even in the light of Your graces
Falling on my wounded soul. 

Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof,
Only say the word, and my soul will be healed.

Read More at:: His Unending Love

LET HIM DIE

LET HIM DIE

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Who do you think I am?

A personal reality check.

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55 Reasons Why I need God

I need to know Your presence here, Lord.
I need to know You are here with me, especially in moments when I feel rejected, disappointed.
I need to know I can trust You, Lord.
I need Your graces to strengthen and fortify me.
I need the sweetness of Your healing balm in my soul.
I need healing, strength, and compassion.
I need to know where I fit in this scheme of Yours.
I need the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
I need to feel Your love.
I need to trust You, Lord.
I need to feel the strength of Your armor around me, Lord.
I need reassurance that, no matter what, all will be well.
I need to know that You are with me in the trials and storms.
I need to know that You trust me in my mission on earth.
I need to know your glory and strength.

Read more at:: His Unending Love

Father Ignatius Remembers

Father Ignatius remembers something from his past.

This story will strike a chord with many readers.

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Rescue Drive

A Father Ignatius story based on a true event.

Click HERE to read.

Advocate? What Advocate?

What Advocate is that?

Click HERE to find out.

Getting In Touch With Yourself

Today, you often see "memes" that talk about the wonder of you.  These memes talk about getting in touch with yourself, learning to like yourself, learning to love yourself.  These themes are often preached by secular speakers as they tour the country selling their books or appearing on TV shows espousing their philosophies of life, wealth and happiness. 

"You are amazing!"
"Like a snowflake, there is no one else like you."
"If you don't like yourself, neither will anyone else."
"You choose to be happy or not."
"Don't believe it when someone tells you that you are not perfect."

While all these statements have truth in them, (remember, we are made from the stuff that made the stars, according to the late Carl Sagan,) these philosophies that promise us happiness, fall short of the entire truth.  When we love only ourselves, we cannot be happy.  Self love is only a part of love, and without the rest of the story, we are really incomplete. 

Jesus tells us that we must first Love God with all our hearts and souls because this is the first and greatest commandment.  He then tells us that we must love our neighbors as ourselves.  In these statements are the two greatest commandments.  They are the completion of love. 

Read more at:: His Unending Love.

Quick Bytes #83: Memorial Day

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For those of you in the US, Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

For those of you outside the US, you should know that Memorial Day is a National Holiday to remember those that sacrificed their lives for our freedoms.  You should also know that for most, it is nothing more than the unofficial start of summer.  For many others, it is simply a day off of work.  You see, the majority of our population has forgotten the true meaning of the day here.

Kind of reminds me of Christmas and Easter in that respect.
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Quick Bytes #82: A Kindly Word

Letter to Mary, Our Mother and the Mother of God

Dearest Mother,

It's May, and it's your month.  We honor you as the Mother of God!  Thank you for listening to the angel's words and saying yes.  You are our advocate before Your Son, Jesus, our God and our brother.  For this, we thank you, and we praise God. 

St. Therese said that we, your children, are like flowers in a garden.  Each one is special and unique.  Each one of us has a purpose in life.  Each one of us was born with a mission that will glorify God.  How do you keep track of all your children dearest Mother?  It must have been easier with only one Son.

Dearest Mother, I often wonder about your life.  What was it like raising the King of Kings?  Did you and Joseph stand by His cradle and look at Him as He slept?  Did you wonder if He would fit in with the other children in your village?  Did you wonder how The Father would accomplish His gift of salvation through your Son?  Did you talk about this in your family as Jesus grew? 

Did Jesus help you in the kitchen when He was too young to work with Joseph?  Did you teach Him to cook and to clean?  When Joseph died, did you hold Jesus close and tell Him that all would be well?

Read more at His Unending Love.

If you don't believe ... leave ...

The choice is simple

Choose HERE

Forgiveness YES Reconciliation No

Father Ignatius teaches about forgiveness.

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Quick Bytes #81: Recognize

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One of the questions I hear most often this time of year is, "How is it possible that Jesus' followers did not recognize Him after the Resurrection?"

My response is usually another question:  "How is it possible that, even today, we do not see Him in our neighbors or the poor?"
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Is Our Camino Really Over? 12 Ways to Continue Your Walk with Our King

Yes, Lent has ended.  Jesus, our brother and Savior, has risen from the grave.  He defeated satan and death.  He came that we might be saved.  We now look forward to Pentecost.

Is our Camino finished?

If the goal of walking a camino is to grow closer to God, then, our camino will never be over. So, what must we do next?  Here are 12 easy ways to continue our walk.

1) Let us strive to be saints, not sinners.


2)  Although grateful for the gift of Purgatory, let our goal be heaven not purgatory.

3) Let us set the example and preach the Gospel daily, and, if necessary, "use words."


Read More at:  His Unending Love.

The LIES about the Resurrection

READ ALL ABOUT IT

THE LIES ABOUT THE RESURRECTION

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Tantum Ergo

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et iubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.
Amen.

V. Panem de caelo praestitisti eis.
R. Omne delectamentum in se habentem.

Oremus: Deus, qui nobis sub sacramento mirabili, passionis tuae memoriam reliquisti: tribue, quaesumus, ita nos corporis et sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari, ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis iugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.
R. Amen.

English Translation
Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail,
Lo! oe'r ancient forms departing
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,
And the Son Who reigns on high
With the Holy Spirit proceeding
Forth from each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen.

R. Thou hast given them bread from heaven.
V. Having within it all sweetness.
Let us pray: O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament left us a memorial of Thy Passion: grant, we implore Thee, that we may so venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, as always to be conscious of the fruit of Thy Redemption. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever.
R. Amen.

What is the meaning of feet washing?

This week, many churches re-enact the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet before the Last Supper. The priest washes the feet of 12 people representing the disciples. You can bet that the chosen 12 have ensured that their feet, (or foot, because usually one foot is washed to speed the whole procedure), are/is as clean as could be, to avoid embarrassment during the re-enactment.

Please continue reading  HERE 

Quick Bytes #80: Pain

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As we enter Holy Week, we'll spend a lot of time talking about the pain that Jesus suffered.

The whippings.

The crown of thorns.

The nails.

The carrying of the cross.

But I wonder if the most painful part of our Lord's sacrifice was being abandoned by those closest to Him.

If so, my heart is saddened even more.

Because it continues today.
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Homage to Christ

Saints Peter and Paul Church, Honolulu

"In paying homage to Christ I would rather go too far than not far enough to give Him

the praise that is due to Him."

- Blessed John Duns Scotus

Who is this Man?

Who is this Man?

Consider the evidence in this short recording and make up your own mind.

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De Profundis

Today's homily was the third in our parish retreat. After Divine Liturgy the priest blessed us with blessed oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.  This church also plays prominently in the conversion of today's saint, Saint Mary of Egypt.  The scent of the oil was exquisite.  I imagine it is similar to the aroma that was said to have been given off by St. Teresa of Avila.  I think I am saying that wrong, "given off", but forgive me.  It smelled like a mix between the Balsam of Holy Chrism mixed with the delicate fragrance of roses.

The De Profundis takes its name from the first two words of the psalm in Latin. It is a penitential psalm that is sung as part of vespers (evening prayer) and in commemorations of the dead. It is also a good psalm to express our sorrow as we prepare for the Sacrament of Confession.

Every time you recite the De Profundis, you can receive a partial indulgence (the remission of a portion of punishment for sin). 

Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice.  Let Your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.  If You, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand?  But with You is forgiveness, that You may be revered.I trust in the Lord; my soul trusts in His word.  My soul waits for the Lord more than sentinels wait for the dawn.  More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the Lord.  For with the Lord is kindness and with Him is plenteous redemption; And He will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.

From the source:

Psalm 130

A Song of Ascents.
¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. 
²   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications! 

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand? 
⁴ But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered. 

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope; 
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning. 

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem. 
⁸ It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

Mary of Egypt left a life of sin and lived a life of repentance.  Here is synopsis of her life from a book I recently read, The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris 

Mary of Egypt lived in the fifth century, but her story is all too familiar in the twentieth. Running away from home at the age of twelve, she became a prostitute in Alexandria. At the age of twenty-nine, she grew curious about Jerusalem and joined a boatload of pilgrims by offering the crew her sexual services for the duration of the journey. She continued to work as a prostitute in Jerusalem. On hearing that a relic of the true cross was to be displayed at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, her curiosity was aroused again, and she joined the feast-day crowds. But at the threshold of the church some invisible force held her back. Suddenly ashamed of the life she’d led, she began to weep. Kneeling before an icon of the Virgin Mary, she begged forgiveness and asked for help. A voice said to her, “If you cross over the Jordan, you will find rest.” Mary spent the rest of her life, forty-seven years, as a hermit in the desert. Late in her life, Mary encounters a monk who had come to the desert for a period of fasting, and she tells him her story. . . . The monk is amazed to discover that Mary knows many Bible verses by heart, for in the desert she has had no one but God to teach her. She asks him to bring communion to her, when next he comes to the desert, and this he does. On his third visit, however, he finds that Mary has died. . . . 
Monks have always told the story of Mary of Egypt to remind themselves not to grow complacent in their monastic observances, mistaking them for the salvation that comes from God alone. And in the Eastern Orthodox churches, Mary’s life is read on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, presented, as the scholar Benedicta Ward tells us, “as an icon in words of the theological truths about repentance.” . . . . Repentance is not a popular word these days, but I believe that any of us recognize it when it strikes us in the gut. Repentance is coming to our senses, seeing, suddenly, what we’ve done that we might not have done, or recognizing, as Oscar Wilde says in his great religious meditation De Profundis, that the problem is not in what we do but in what we become. Repentance is valuable because it opens in us the idea of change. I’ve known several young women who’ve worked in the sex trade, and one of the worst problems they encounter is the sense that change isn’t possible. They’re in a business that will discard them as useless once they’re past thirty, but they come to feel that this work is all they can do. Many, in fact, do not like what they become.

The story of Mary of Egypt opens the floodgates of change. . . . The monk who encounters Mary still has a lot to learn; his understanding of the spiritual life is facile in comparison to hers, and he knows it. Mary, for all her trials, is like one of those fortunate souls in the gospels to whom Jesus says , “Your faith has made you whole.” Benedicta Ward has said that these stories are about deliverance from “despair of the soul, from the risk of the tragedy of refusing life, of calling death life,” which may be one function of the slang term for prostitution: it is called “the life.” But the story of Mary of Egypt is one any of us might turn to when we’re frozen up inside, when we’re in need of remorse, in need of the tears that will melt what Ward terms “the ultimate block within [us]; that deep and cold conviction that [we] cannot love or be loved.” In this tradition, Ward says, virginity, defined as being whole, at one in oneself, and with God, can be restored by tears.

from Norris, Kathleen (1997-04-01). The Cloister Walk (pp. 164-166). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition. 

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The kindly Father Ignatius faces yet another parishioner with a problem we are all familiar with ...

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