Quick Bytes #63: The Lord's Prayer

.

... and forgive us our trespasses, 

as we forgive those who trespass against us...

The way I see it, we have two choices:

1) Stop saying the Lord's prayer, lest we get what we ask for

2) Start actually forgiving those who trespass against us

.

When ...

- When you are sad, call on John 14
- When you don’t feel loved, call on Romans 8:38-39
- When you have sinned, call on 1 John 1:8-9
- When you are facing danger, call on Psalm 91
- When people have failed you, call on Psalm 27
- When God feel far from you, call on Psalm 139
- When your faith needs encouraging, call on Hebrews 11
- When you are scared, call on Psalm 23
- When you are worried, call on Matthew 6:25-34
- When you are hurt, call on Colossians 3:12-17
- When you feel no one is on your side, call on Romans 8:31-39
- When you are seeking rest, call on Matthew 11:25-30
- When you are suffering, call on Romans 8:18-30
- When you feel you’re failing, call on Psalm 121
- When you pray, call on Matthew 6:9-13
- When you need courage, call on Joshua 1
- When you are in need, call on Philippians 4:19
- When you are hated because of your faith, call on John 15
- When you are losing hope, call on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
- When you are seeking peace, call on John 14:27
- When you want to do good works, call on John 15
- When you want to live a happy life, call on Colossians 3:12-17
- When you don’t understand what God is doing, call on Isaiah 55:8-9
- When you want to get along with others, call on Romans 12:9-21

The Three Most Important Virtues

St. Augustine can be said to be the first Catholic novelist with his "Confessions". Some people have claimed that his story is boring, but I find it real and engaging. In fact, what makes St. Augustine so accessible in all his writings is his simplicity, a mark of the great spiritual directors who always manage to get to the heart of the matter without numerous twists and turns. Where else can you find something this deep in so few words?

"...the three most important Virtues are Humility, Humility, and Humility." 

-Augustine of Hippo, 354-386

This brings to mind the final phrase in the Divine Praises:

Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints. 

July: Devoted to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Praise be to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, by whose precious blood we know and will know the love, generosity and protection of Our Father forever.  In the past the Litany of the Precious Blood was recited after every Mass in July.  It is a beautiful litany that reminds us of the love of Jesus and reinforces in us the awe and reverence we should have at the power of his precious blood.

1 Peter 1:18-19

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

Revelation 7

⁹After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 

From Father John Hardon, December 26, 1987:

Devotion to the Precious Blood is not a spiritual option, it is a spiritual obligation, and that not only for priests, but for every follower of Christ. I really believe, and I hesitate even saying this, but I really believe that one of the symptoms of modern society (and I would even include, sadly, modern Catholic society) one of the symptoms of a growing, gnawing secularism is the lessening and the weakening of devotion to the Precious Blood. Devotion, as we know, is a composite of three elements: It is first- veneration, it is secondly- invocation, and it is thirdly- imitation. In other words, devotion to the Precious Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God who was slain, is first of all to be veneration on our part, which is a composite of knowledge, love and adoration. We are to study to come to a deeper understanding of what those two - I am afraid for many people - casual words, Precious Blood, really mean.
 
I found this passage in the oldest document, outside of sacred scripture, from the first century of the Christian era - to be exact, from Pope St. Clement I, dated about 96 A.D. Says Pope Clement:

"Let us fix our gaze on the Blood of Christ and realize how truly precious It is, seeing that it was poured out for our salvation and brought the grace of conversion to the whole world."

To understand the meaning of the Precious Blood we must (otherwise the mystery will be lost on us), we must get some comprehension of the gravity of sin, of the awfulness of offending God, because it required the Blood of the Son of God to forgive that sin. We are living in an age in which to sin has become fashionable. But we believe that we are here for only a very short time. We further believe that Christ when He told us the way that leads to damnation is broad and many there are who walk that way, that the way that leads to eternal life is narrow and there are few who walk that way. I am watching every syllable I am saying. The Church has never pronounced infallibly on the number lost and the number saved, but she has canonized St. John of the Cross and made him a Doctor of the Church. Says John of the Cross: "I believe that the majority of the human race will be lost."
 
This veneration of the Precious Blood, which is the first element in our devotion to the Precious Blood means that we have a deep sensitivity to the awfulness of sin. Sin must be terrible. It must be awful. It must be the most dreadful thing in the universe. Why? Because it cost the living God in human form the shedding of His Blood.
 
Devotion to the Precious Blood means - beyond veneration which means understanding, grasping and loving, loving Jesus Christ in the shedding of His Blood - it further means that we invoke Christ under the attribute of His Precious Blood. . . . . I thought I would read a few invocations from the Litany of the Precious Blood;

"Blood of Christ, Only-Begotten Son of the eternal Father."

What are we saying? Are we saying that that Blood was the Only Begotten Son of the Eternal Father? Frankly, yes. Because we know that term, Precious Blood, is not just a symbol, not just a title. It identifies that quality of the Only-Begotten Son of the Eternal Father which Christ wants us to constantly have in mind, namely, that the Only-Begotten Son of the Eternal Father suffered. Suffered for us.

"Blood of Christ falling upon the earth in the Agony."

. . . . (T)he Church infallibly defined: Every drop of Christ's Blood in the Agony in the Garden, every drop He shed on Calvary, every drop was united hypostatically with the Second Person of the Trinity. Every drop of that Blood was adorable.

"Blood of Christ, Price of our salvation."

The more I lecture, the more I teach, the more people I deal with, the more I have come to identify two words: love and pain. If one person claims to love someone else, the one who claims to love, infallibly - if there is genuine love - is not only resigned to enduring pain -- pain is the proof of love, pain is the price of love. That's why God became Man: that He might be able to endure pain, especially the pain of draining His Blood out of love for us. May I recommend to all of you to promote the recitation of the litany of the Precious Blood?
Finally, devotion means imitation. In other words, if Christ showed His love for us by the shedding of His Blood, we are to show our love for Him - I mean everything I am saying - we are to show our love for Him by the shedding of our blood. That is what the Church means when she has us say that when Christ offers Himself daily on the altar in the Sacrifice of the Mass, we are told to identify that as our sacrifice - His and ours. He, the Head of the Mystical Body, can no longer suffer, but thank God, we can! . . . . And I don't hesitate recommending praying for the gift of martyrdom. But even if it is not God's Will that we shed our blood for Christ, to manifest our love for Him physically, let's make sure, absolutely sure, that we let no opportunity go by without shedding our blood spiritually. And that, my friends, no matter what our state of life, no matter what our vocation may be, if we are Christians, we are meant to shed our blood!

 

Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

V/ Lord, have mercy.
R/ Lord, have mercy.
V/ Christ, have mercy.
R/ Christ, have mercy.
V/ Lord, have mercy.
R/ Lord, have mercy.
V/ Jesus, hear us.
R/ Jesus, graciously hear us.
V/ God, the Father of Heaven,
R/ have mercy on us.
V/ God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
R/ have mercy on us.
V/ God, the Holy Spirit,
R/ have mercy on us.
V/ Holy Trinity, One God, 
R/ have mercy on us.

R/ for the following the response is: "Save us."
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father,
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world.
R/ spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
R/ graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
R/ have mercy on us.
You have redeemed us, O Lord, in your Blood.
R/ And made us, for our God, a kingdom.

Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, you have appointed your only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by his Blood. Grant we beg of you, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord.
R/ Amen.

No Trivialities

As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ.

- Saint Gregory of Nyssa (335-395)
 

Quick Bytes #62: Handling Jesus

.
(This post was inspired by Victor's excellent post here.)

If Jesus was in front of you, would you take him and toss Him carelessly over your shoulder?

Would you grab at Him, nearly crushing Him with your hand?

Would you reach for Him mindlessly while thinking about the traffic you'd face leaving?

Would you hold out your hand with nonchalance, with the other hand in your pocket?

Would you mutter something under your breath out of habit?

Of course not.

You would welcome him with full attention, thanks, reverence and humility.

You would cradle him with hands like a throne ... fit for the King that He is.

And you would shout Amen! so the world really believed that you really believed.

You would treat Him just like you do every time you receive the Eucharist...

...right?
.

The Name of the Lord

Jesus taught, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life . . . but seek first his (your heavenly Father's) kingdom and his righteousness . . . . Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you will get. . . . Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."  (Matthew 6:25a, 33, 7:1-2, 24-27)

This past Sunday the Lord impressed upon me the need to get to know him and his name more and to make that name of his known.  The scripture he led me to seemed to indicate to me that talking, writing on this blog, in any way that causes hearers, readers to forget God's name is a way of leading people astray.  The scriptures I was reading were from Jeremiah.  It was God's word towards self-declared prophets, but still I found some food for thought in these.

How many times had I read something in the Bible about God's name, wondered: what is up with God's name?; what is God's name?; and then did nothing to seek for the answers.  So first the convicting readings, and then the answers.  Emphasis added by me.

"I did not send these prophets, yet they ran!  I did not speak to them, yet they prophesized!  How long are there to be those among the prophets who prophesy lies and are in fact prophets of their own delusions.  They are doing their best, by means of the dreams they keep telling each other, to make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name in favor of Baal.  I have a quarrel with prophets who make prophecies out of lying dreams, Yahweh declares, who recount them, and lead my people astray by their lies and their bragging. I certainly never sent them, or commissioned them, and they serve no purpose for this people, Yahweh declares."  (Jeremiah 23:26-27, 21, 32)

"And let him who receives a word from me, deliver my word accurately!  Had they been present in my council, they could have proclaimed my words to my people, and turned them from their evil way and from the wickedness of their deeds!"  (Jeremiah 23:28b, 22)

Humility is something that we can learn from the Lord and only grow in by the grace of God.  After all pride, which in essence is idolatry, was the cause of the original sin, and its residual is still strong part of our human nature now.  I think the way the Holy Spirit preserved Mary as sinless was to teach her early about the primacy of being humble, and clothing her in grace to perfectly grow in this virtue! 

Some of us, me for example, require more of God's grace to grow in the virtue of humility than others.  Many saints have mentioned how humility is primary in order to grow in intimacy with God.  I think humility is also necessary in order to hear and be led by God in whatever way he chooses to communicate with us.  Studying and meditating on the name of the Lord gave me a peacefulness in my soul.  I started a Bible study on the name of the Lord Sunday, and I'll probably be still in that study until the day when I can no longer read or listen to the Bible.

Just reading the passages on the name of God turned into praising God.  Praising God and humbling oneself before God in praise is unfailing way of defeating anxiousness, and any efforts by the unseen evil spirits to distract me from my God-given purpose in this life and the next.  Before I go to those verses, I want to relay what happened last Saturday at the Witness to Life at an abortion clinic in downtown Chicago.

I was blessed to actually get to talk with one of the young women that was brought to the abortion clinic for a surgical abortion.  I've been going twice a month for over 1.5 years and this was the first time I've had such a conversation.  I totally missed her, and was distracted by some other dramas that were occurring around the clinic.  Another counselor noticed her standing alone under a tree and went up to talk with her.  She needed a phone to call for her step mother, because her mother had brought her to the clinic demanding that she have an abortion.  It was an iphone 5 that I particularly like, so I told her, "I am not going to listen to your conversation, but I need to stay close you know, because it is my phone."

I didn't try to listen, but I did hear a few things and in general was hearing the emotion in the call.  The girl was upset and on brink of tears several times.  She mentioned that her mom was calling her names as part of the pressure to have the surgery.  She needed someone to get her out of there.  After she was done she stepped over to return my phone.  Neither of us moved.

I found out that she was homeless, just graduated, played small forward in basketball, and was pregnant.  Her mom was pressuring her to do this, and she didn't want to.  I said many things to try to connect with her, and I was very nervous the entire time.  Some things I said were probably unhelpful "Oh, I played guard because I was considerably shorter than you."  Something I said that I think was helpful was, "You are God's Beloved child, and you do not need to dwell on anyone calling you a slut or saying mean things in order to get you do this.  Your baby within you is God's Beloved child too.  You are beautiful, and I am sure this baby is going to be beautiful too."

She said, "I hope it is going to be a boy."

Me, very encouraged, "Trust God to provide for you and this baby.  God's providence is like a parachute.  Until you pull the string you have no idea how well it works.  I think you know God, and I encourage you to call this number (pointing to the center address and phone number on the sheet).  They have residential care, and funds to provide for you during your pregnancy and for caring for the baby after.  Also, please find a Bible read, and pray.  Trust God." 

I noticed I was nervous up until the time I mentioned the unseen, but most important reality, "You are God's Beloved child."

Now for the scriptures -

"God is both refuge and strength for us,
a help always ready in trouble;
Yahweh Sabaoth is with us,
our citadel, the God of Jacob.
Be still and acknowledge that I am God,
supreme over nations,
supreme over the world." (Psalms 46:1, 7, 10)

* citadel:  fortress, stronghold; Sabaoth:  of Hosts, as in angelic army inclusive of powers, principalities and all the other orders of angels.

"Blessed are you, Yahweh our God
from everlasting to everlasting,
and blessed be your glorious name
surpassing all blessing and praise!

You, Yahweh, are the one, only Yahweh,
you have created the heavens,
the heaven of heavens and all their array,
the earth and all it bears,
the seas and all they hold.
To all of them you give life,
and the array of heaven worships you." (Nehemiah 9:5b-6)

"Alleluia!

Praise, servants of Yahweh,
praise the name of Yahweh.

Blessed be the name of Yahweh,
henceforth and for ever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
praised be the name of Yahweh!

Supreme over all nations is Yahweh,
supreme over the heavens his glory.
Who is like Yahweh our God?
His throne is set on high" (Psalms 113:1-5)

"But from farthest east to farthest west my name is great among the nations, and everywhere incense and a pure gift are offered to my name, since my name is great among the nations, says Yahweh Sabaoth." (Malachi 1:11) 

St. Irenaeus of Lyons (130?-200?) explains that this is the Eucharistic sacrifice foretold (The New Jerusalem Bible, Saints Devotional Edition, p. 1197).  For indeed when the pure, immaculate and holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are offered from the farthest east, to the farthest west, incense and a pure gift are offered to God's name.

What is God's name?  The Blue Letter Bible has a great page on the Old Testament names of God.  Yahweh Sabaoth is used over 285 times in the Old Testament and especially in Malachi.  Over 43.6% of the verses in Malachi reference the name of God as Yahweh Sabaoth.  Why?

From the English Standard Version Study Bible, p. 1775:
There is no greater comfort than the fact that the Lord has his invincible heavenly armies standing at the ready.  It is like the comfort that Elisha prayed for his servant at Dothan when they were surrounded by the Syrian armies: 

"'O Lord (Adonai), please open his eyes that he may see.' So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17).  Perhaps it is like the comfort felt by Jesus before the cross:  "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matt. 26:53). 

Have you ever read 2 Maccabees?  It is an exciting book of the Bible.  In it Judas Maccabeus leads a rebellion against the Hellenists that were oppressing the Israelites, he said, "They may put their trust in their weapons and their exploits . . . but our confidence is in almighty God, who is able with a single nod to overthrow both those marching on us and the whole world with them." (2 Maccabees 8:18)  Judas and his followers humbled themselves before God, prostrating themselves in the Temple, and begging for his mercy and kindness, "they and the populace with them begged the Lord with lamentation and tears to send a good angel to save Israel." (2 Maccabees 11:6)  What happened? 

"They were still near Jerusalem when a rider attired in white appeared at their head, brandishing golden weapons.  With one accord they all blessed the God of mercy, and found themselves filled with such courage . . . " (2 Maccabees 11:8-9a)

I found this beautiful explanation of God's name of Yahweh Sabaoth:

The name of God is "the God of Hosts".

"Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of hosts" is one of the frequent titles or names of God in the Old Testament. It is cited 260 times according to one scholar, 285 times according to another (cf. Theol. Dictionary of the OT [German edition], 6, 876-892). Though used less in the historical books, it is found very frequently in the prophets.

"It is the most sublime and magnificent proper name of God" (ibid., 692). 

Every day at Holy Mass we call upon God by this name, uniting ourselves with the holy angels when we sing: "Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth–Lord God of hosts", as it was formerly translated.

I pray this mediation on God's name was a blessing to you as it was to me.

Three more scriptures, for the road:

"Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us."  John 17:11b

"The name of Yahweh is a strong tower;

the upright runs to it and is secure." Proverbs 18:10

"And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael (God's champion whose name means 'who is like God') with his angels attacked the dragon.  The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven.  The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all the world astray, was hurled down to the earth and his angles hurled down with him.  Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, 'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.  They have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness, because even in the face of death they did not cling to life."  (Revelation 12: 7-11)



The Determination of the Saint

Nothing will be able to separate me from the will of God, neither anxieties, nor sorrows nor toil nor contempt nor temptation nor creatures nor demons nor darkness, not even death itself, because, in life and in death, I want all, and in all things, the will of God.

- Saint Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727)

Quick Bytes #61: Seventy-Two

.
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others 
whom He sent ahead of Him in pairs.
                           - Luke 10:1


And the seventy-two said to the Lord, "Lord, we will 
go proclaim your word ... as soon as we get a chance.  
We're really busy, with work, the kids practices, 
John's birthday party, etc.  We should have more free
time next year.  Can you check back with us then?"
                           - Humans 20:13
.

Quick Bytes #60: Independence

.
Today, in the United States, we celebrate our Independence as a country.

It is important, however, to remember that God was the first one to give us the gift of independence.  The freedom to do as we wish - whether right or wrong.

Which, ironically, means we need to be even more dependent, on God.
.

Peter, Thomas and Paul - The Connection

Sometimes, God allows some bad things to happen. At the time we don't understand why; but sometimes, in time, God allows us to see the reason behind His will.

Peter knew Jesus for about three years. He had heard Him teach and preach and had witnessed many of His miracles. Yet, at the most important time, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times.

How bad is that? Terrible you might say. God allowed it to happen.

But let us consider the alternative. When Jesus was arrested the crowd was ugly and distrustful of Christ. Some may have even been frightened of what was happening. Had Peter not denied Christ and claimed to have known Him as a follower the chances are he would have been arrested and hung from the nearest tree. The same fate would have awaited the other Disciples who fled.

So ... who would have built the Church after this?

God allowed the denial to happen so that Peter survived the original upheaval which followed Christ's arrest and Crucifixion. Peter and the Disciples had to survive to build the Church.
 
Thomas too knew Jesus well. Yet he disbelieved the Resurrection. Just as bad as Peter's denial, some might say.

As a result, Jesus appeared to the Disciples a second time and gave Thomas the chance to put his finger in the wounds of Christ. The event was witnessed by the other Disciples and recorded in history.

Unwittingly, by his action Thomas did us all a favour. Had he not doubted we would have lost a valuable piece of evidence of Christ's Resurrection. By doubting, Christ's re-appearance to the Disciples and what He said to Thomas has been recorded for us to read and believe. 

Paul's job was easy. He had to seek out and persecute the early Christians. He witnessed and approved of Stephen's death and was eager to follow on with more arrests and deaths in order to stifle the Good News of Christ. Now how bad is that? And God allowed it to happen.

Yet God had other plans. He could use the energy and eagerness of such a zealot. There's no better spokesman for a cause than a person who has been converted. So God literally shook the man off his horse and made him blind in the process. The result, as they say, is history.

In all three cases God allowed bad to happen and turned it for the good.

A great reminder when things don't go so smoothly for us at times.

God bless.

Hot Summer Nights

Source

Starting on July 1st and for each day of the month of July, you can head on over to Jen's blog,  Enter Under My Roof to read up on inspirational and christian ways to strengthen your marriage.
Here's the scoop:

IGNITES ON JULY 1, 2013

Marriage. One of the greatest gifts we've been given, yet - sometimes - one of the things we take most for granted. This July, spend 30 days with us as we bring you a different article each day focused on real life marriages, passion, love, and faith. We've pulled together some of the best in the business, including Marriage & Family therapists, published authors, counselors, clergy, and everyday people just like you and me to share experiences (both good and bad), talk openly about passion and sex, discuss how God sets the example for us in our marriages, and more. We'll be sharing our amazing line-up of authors beginning on July 1 and will publish a different article each day from a new author on marriage.

We'll be exploring things like: Keeping the passion alive (or where to go looking if it's missing) • Making it through tough times • The natural stages & progression of marriage • Including God in your marriage • Ideas for alone time • Being married to a non-Christian • Celebrating anniversaries • Falling back in love with each other • The intimacy of spending every night with “the one” • What the Bible says about marriage • ...and more. We'll be updating this page with the amazing contributors on July 1 and linking, each day, to their article.

Here's how to stay updated:

Like Us on Facebook'

Follow on Twitter

Follow on pinterest

Suscribe via email

Starting July 1st, you can also check out the Date Night Link Up for ideas or add your own posts.

May God bless your marriage and make it holy!

Blessings,

Noreen

Christ the carpenter.

Can you imagine Jesus as a carpenter making a wobbly table with a shorter leg than the others?

No?

Then why should we make a wobbly job of whatever tasks we are asked to do?

Beautiful Words from St. Maximus of Turin

We Catholics are so lucky, blessed, and completely fortunate in our saints. Every time I read a quote from one of them I want to jump for joy. How good of God to let us hear the Gospel repeated through His saints for every day and age!

Today's feast is that of St. Maximus of Turin (380-466):

The celestial day is perpetually bright and shining with brilliant light; clouds can never darken its skies. In the same way, the light of Christ is eternally glowing with luminous radiance and can never be extinguished by the darkness of sin.

What a great reminder for us to go about our business of doing His will, regardless of the effects of sin in and around us. Jesus cannot be overcome and neither can we if we walk in His steps. No matter how dark the world is, we always have the light of Christ to show us the way. St. Maximus also reminds us of our final destination: life in the celestial day.

Quick Bytes #59: Father's Day

.
How many of you remembered to wish our Heavenly Father
a Happy Father's Day today?
.

Obstacles to Holiness: Discouragement and Exaggerated Anxiety

From St. Faustina's Diary, 1488:

Conversation of the Merciful God with a Soul Striving after Perfection

Jesus: I am pleased with your efforts, O soul aspiring for perfection, but why do I see you so often sad and depressed? Tell Me, My child, what is the meaning of this sadness, and what is its cause?

Soul: Lord, the reason for my sadness is that, in spite of my sincere resolutions, I fall again into the same faults. I make resolutions in the morning, but in the evening I see how much I have departed from them.

Jesus: You see, My child, what you are of yourself. The cause of your falls is that you rely too much upon yourself and too little on Me. But let this not sadden you so much. You are dealing with the God of mercy, which your misery cannot exhaust. Remember, I did not allot only a certain number of pardons.

Soul: Yes, I know all that, but great temptations assail me, and various doubts awaken within me and, moreover, everything irritates and discourages me.

Jesus: My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. All temptations united together ought not disturb your interior peace, not even momentarily. Sensitiveness and discouragement are the fruits of self-love. You should not become discouraged, but strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love. Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy.

Soul: I understand what is the better thing to do, what pleases You more, but I encounter great obstacles in acting on this understanding.

Jesus: My child, life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for My kingdom.

But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing. Take the vessel of trust and draw from the fountain of life-for yourself, but also for other souls, especially such as are distrustful of My goodness.

Soul: O Lord, I feel my heart being filled with Your love and the rays of Your mercy and love piercing my soul. I go, Lord, at Your command. I go to conquer souls. Sustained by Your grace, I am ready to follow You, Lord, not only to Tabor, but also to Calvary. I desire to lead souls to the fount of Your mercy so that the splendor of Your mercy may be reflected in all souls, and the home of our Father be filled to overflowing. And when the enemy begins to attack me, I shall take refuge behind the shield of Your mercy. (1488, Diary of St. Faustina)

An E-book Review: Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life

Navigating the interior life is not always easy and many of us can use a bit of help on our journeys. With this in mind, Connie Rossini , a Catholic writer who blogs at Contemplative Homeschool  (and the administrator of Catholic Spirituality Blogs Network) has authored an illuminating new e-book called Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life. This short e-book is broken up into 5 chapters, or lessons, with each lesson focusing on an important aspect of the spiritual life.

In a clear, engaging manner, the author guides her readers through  lessons based on the teachings of the Carmelite saints. Each chapter begins with a  reflection and finishes with practical applications for living the lesson out in your daily spiritual walk. If you are searching for concrete advice on how to navigate the waters of  the spiritual life this book is for you.  The e-book also provides links to articles on her blog where you can find more information on prayer and Carmelite spirituality.

This is an excellent book for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life  will be available for download at no cost on June 11th at Connie's  faith-based education and Carmelite spirituality blog, Contemplative Homeschool.

 I highly recommend this little spiritual gem!

Quick Bytes #58: Know

Trinity? What Trinity?

For years many people have tried to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

I offer a simple attempt to explain it HERE.

Excellent prayers: "Loving desire of our heart towards God, and . . . .

 . . . .suffering of things that displease us."  St. Jane de Chantal, 1572-1641

St. Jane had several great reflections captured in my copy of The New Jerusalem Bible: Saints Devotional Edition.  This one comes from a counsel of hers on dealing with distractions while praying, that was put alongside of Matthew 6:1-14. 

(Jesus taught them) "When you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father."  --Matthew 6:6

The rest of this post is written by St. Jane to counsel us in the way of prayer.  Emphasis was added in places by me.

"BLESSED DISTRACTIONS"

Prayer is the channel that unites our heart to the heart of God.  It draws waters from heaven that descend and rise from us to God and from God to us.  Prayer is the first act of our faith, and consequently what the apostle says of faith--that it is impossible to please God without it (see Hebrews 11:6)--we must say of prayer.  By it we ask God and Jesus Christ, who is our deliverer, to save us.  We feel so despoiled by our weakness that we should perish unless he sustained us every moment with new graces.
When we place ourselves in the presence of his divine goodness to speak to him alone, then our prayer consists in the presence of our spirit before his and of his Spirit before ours.  That's the case whether we have good thoughts and good sentiments or not.  We need only with all simplicity and without any violent spiritual effort to keep ourselves before him.  We should express our love for him and focus our attention on him without entertaining any voluntary distractions.

Then God will view the whole time we are on our knees as prayer.  He loves our humbly enduring the vain and involuntary thoughts that attack us as much as the best thoughts we have had at other times.  One of the most excellent prayers is the loving desire of our heart towards God, and the suffering of things that displease us.  Prayer is then united to patience, which is the premier virture.  And the soul that rises humbly from its distractions may believe that it has prayed as well as if it had not suffered from them at all.

Collect for Pentecost - Extraordinary Form - Ah Hah!

Used under Creative Commons License from striatic at Flickr

Preparing for Mass by reading commentary on the Sacred Liturgy helps me get a lot more out of being there. On Pentecost we find a very familiar prayer in the Mass that ends the "Come Holy Ghost" invocation often said before meetings or retreats. This Collect and Dom Prosper Gueranger's short comments knocked me over. After all the years of reading and saying this prayer, today turned into a "Wow!" experience. A thoughtless dullard woke up.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Ghost, didst this day instruct the hearts of the faithful: grant that, by the same Spirit, we may relish what is right, and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through our Lord…

Gueranger says:

The Collect tells us what favors we should petition for from our heavenly Father on such a day as this. It also tells us that the Holy Ghost brings us two principal graces: a relish for the things of God and consolation of heart. Let us pray that we may receive both the one and the other, that we may thus become perfect Christians.

After learning about the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and the twelve fruits, memorizing them and studying their meaning, I still didn't realize what's behind it all. We are supposed to delight in, to savor our Faith. Our Faith encompasses all the things of God. We are not oddballs if every time we turn around we are seeing God in the ordinary. We are not crazy, as the world would have us believe, if we are eagerly listening to hear God's will for us. We are not off the wall if we share our Faith with others and speak enthusiastically and indefatigably of the great things God has done for us. This is normal for the Christian. This is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This irrepressible relishing is what Peter and the others did on the first Pentecost Sunday when some scoffers accused them of being drunk.

The second grace, consolation of heart, flows naturally from the first. The lies and pressures of the world cannot shake up the heart of one relishing the things of God. We can discover the hand of God even though experiencing evil. It's all in our spiritual orientation. Truth is our true North on God's compass. To know it and carry it in our hearts is the greatest consolation and cause for rejoicing.

How can we develop a habit of relishing the things of God? The simple answer is, structure in our spiritual life. The Ignatian Daily Examen is only one method. Set times for prayer and set prayers help. Even in times of dryness in prayer we can do our daily duties out of love of God and they become a structure conducive to relishing the things of God. Living according to a Rule such as that of St. Benedict can be part of our structure, or imbibing the spirituality of the Carmelites, Franciscans, Dominicans, Passionists, et al.  Everything is there for us. All we need do is commit.  In today's Collect we have already asked for the grace. God will not refuse. Amen. Alleluia.

Father Francis Maple - 50th Anniversary

 

Father Francis Maple

Father Francis Maple is an occasional guest writer on this Blog. He lives in England and has recently celebrated his 50th Anniversary as a priest. He re-visited the Church where he was ordained and this is his homily which will hopefully inspire someone somewhere to consider joining the priesthood.

 

Welcome everyone!  I would like to welcome particularly Bishop George of Kerala in India who just happens to be passing through Bedford and has asked to concelebrate Mass with us this morning.  I would like to thank my family and parishioners for coming today to celebrate and help me thank God for being His priest for 50 years.

On the day of my ordination I gave my mother my memorial card.  She read it.  I also gave her the memorial card of another priest who was ordained with me the same day.  Very gently my Mum said, “Son, I wish you had written on your card what he had written.”  He wrote, “I thank the Lord for choosing me to be His priest.  I wrote on mine, “I thank the Lord for the gift of the priesthood.”  Mum was right, his was more personal.

I am standing here today because I owe my vocation to my saintly parents.  I think of them today and thank God for the parents He gave me.

HOMILY

I invited Canon Seamus Keenan, the parish priest, to say these words.  He declined saying, “I am sure your family would like to hear you speak.  So if you don’t like what I have to say, you know whom to blame!”

Every priest, like St. Matthias whose feast we keep today, is chosen by Christ.  No priest can say, “I chose to be a priest.”  Rather it is Jesus who says, “I chose you.”  It is Jesus who leads us to the priesthood in different ways.

The majority of priests come from good Catholic homes.  I was blessed with saintly parents.  I was one of twelve children, eight girls and four boys.  If God had called all of us to be priests and nuns I am sure my Dad and Mum would have been extremely happy.  That says something about the holiness of my parents.  One girl became a nun and one boy a priest.  The rest married and I can proudly say that not one lapsed and all happily married.  We owe this to the strong faith of our parents and the good example they gave us.

We owe so much to our ancestors.  One day when I was a deacon, well on the way to the priesthood, my grandmother said to me, “Do you know Marcy God is calling you to be a priest.  It will be you who will lead us all to Heaven.”  I said, “Mamma, please don’t place that responsibility on my shoulders.

What inspired me to be a priest?  It was hearing my father say, “If one of my sons becomes a priest it will be the happiest day of my life.”  I think I was about six at the time, but those words made a deep impression on me that I, who loved my Dad so much, was going to be the one who would bring about the happiest day of his life.  Someone could make the case that my motive wasn’t the right one, but it was God who eventually channelled that motive to please Him first before pleasing my father.

Now what sort of priest was I going to be?  A strange circumstance in life brought this about.  I was now eight years old, an altar server in a Corpus Christi procession in New Delhi.  There I was a young lad of eight, with a huge quiff of hair like Elvis Presley, carrying a lighted candle.  I could hear a burning noise.  Suddenly from nowhere a Capuchin priest rushed over to me and started patting my head.  The candle I carried had set my hair on fire.  There was a bald patch there for a few weeks.  That priest was Fr. Luke.  I got to like him and decided when I grew up I would become a priest like him, wearing a brown habit, a black beard and a pair of sandals. 

It was now my ninth birthday, and on our birthdays, our father used to tell us to go the priest and get his blessing.  I was shy at that time and I didn’t want to do it, but you could not say no to Dad.  It was to Fr. Luke I went.  When I told him my Dad had sent me to get his blessing as it was my birthday, he said, “Fancy that!  It’s my birthday too!”  So he was the one who inspired me to be a Capuchin friar and priest.

Fifty years ago on 31 March 1963 I said my first Mass in this Church.  Sadly my father had died two years before I was ordained a priest.  He did not see me a priest, but knew I was well on the road to becoming one.  My mother and all my family were present at my ordination and first Mass.  Canon Anthony Hulme was the parish priest at that time; also present were Fr. Tom McConville from Northern Ireland, who served for many years as a curate here and for whom I had great respect and Fr. Tony Philpot a fellow altar server of mine in this church.  I remember that day so well.

I can’t believe that 50 years has gone by since that day.  A man wrote to me the other day congratulating me on being a priest for 50 years.  He said, “How many people’s lives as a priest have you touched in those 50 years?”  It made me wonder and start to think.  At all stages of people’s lives a priest is there to administer to all their needs.  I would love to know how many babies I have baptised and set on the road leading to Heaven.  Several times as a hospital chaplain I was called out in the early hours of a morning to baptise babies weighing just over 2 lbs.  One of these babies lives in Chester.  He is now 14 and comes regularly to me for Confession. 

Then there is the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.  In 50 years every priest would give as much a million Holy Communions.  What an honour that is.

A bishop is the ordinary minister of the Sacrament of Confirmation, but one Pentecost day I was privileged to administer this Sacrament to 62 children.  The week before the parish priest was due to confirm these children he broke his leg and he asked me if I would confirm them.

On average every year I hear 900 confessions.  That means in 50 years I have heard 45.000 confessions.  I can recall the happiness I have brought to many people by hearing their confessions.  Only recently I heard the confession of a lady whose marriage had broken down, she remarried outside the church.  Her husband died and after being away from confession for nearly forty years she made her confession to me.  She told me, “I can’t describe the joy and peace you have given me by going to confession.  I shed tears of joy throughout the whole of Mass and when you placed the consecrated host on my hand I just wanted to gaze at It forever.”

Here is another story about a confession I heard as a young priest.  The doorbell of the confessional rang.  I entered the confessional.  By the sounds on the other side of the confessional I knew it was an old person who was the penitent.  She began, “Father, I don’t know where to begin.  The last time I went to confession was the day before my wedding when I was 18 and now I am 82.”  All I could say to her was, “Congratulations!  It must have been very hard for you to come here.”  She replied, “If only you knew how many years I have just wanted to do this!”  After her confession her daughter who had brought her to church rang our doorbell and told me, “Father, you will never know how happy you have made my mother.  May I bring my mother, who is house bound, along again to confession to you outside the appointed hours of hearing confession.”  I told her, “Bring her along any time.  That’s what we are here for.”  I could tell you dozen of stories of this nature where through this sacrament people have experienced the peace of Christ.  No doubt those people have now died and I feel sure are in heaven.  They are there because it was that moment of their turning back to the Lord and hearing from my lips those wonderful words, “And I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Countless times I have administered the Sacrament of the Sick.  I remember the occasion I was visiting the sick in hospital.  I don’t know what made me to be drawn to this particular man lying in a bed.  I never even knew he was a Catholic.  We chatted.  It turned out he was a Catholic, married outside the Church and had left the church for years.  He told me he had just days to live.  I encouraged him to make his peace with God.  He accepted my invitation.  The result was that I heard his confession, regularised his marriage and administered the Sacrament of the dying and in two weeks’ time gave him a Catholic burial.  I wish I could convey to you the happiness I brought to him, his wife and his family.  What a wonderful way God has in using His priests to bring the lost sheep back into His fold.  How can I ever thank God for that honour?

A priest doesn’t administer the Sacrament of Matrimony.  It is the husband and wife who do so.  The priest is the chief witness of the church.  I like doing marriages.  They are happy family occasions.  I like to make it personal by singing two songs, one for the bride on behalf of the bridegroom and the other for the bridegroom on behalf of the bride.  I know how much these songs are appreciated.  I wonder how many children those marriages have produced because you were the priest who helped to tie the knot.  I shall never forget the first wedding at which I ever officiated.  It was that of my younger sister Francesca.  She told her husband Gordon of happy memory, “We are not going to get married until my brother is a priest and he will marry us.”  And they were married in this church.

What is the chief duty of a priest?  It is to offer sacrifice.  Every morning as he stands at the altar he takes bread into his hands and holds the chalice of wine and says over them those beautiful words, “This is My Body…This is My Blood”.  At that solemn moment he performs the greatest miracle that takes place in our world every day, when bread and wine are changed into the risen Lord Jesus.  On behalf of the church he offers this sacrifice of Jesus to God the Father for the salvation of the world.  Is there any greater thing a human person can do?  Is there any greater power and honour God can confer upon a man?   How can a sinful man ever thank God for bestowing such a gift upon him?  It is now that I can appreciate the words of my father, “The day one of my sons becomes a priest will be the happiest day of my life.”

Singing has a played an important and enjoyable part of my life.  How pleased I am to relate to you the fact that I sing a pro-Life song called “Cry from the heart” and as far as I know that song has influenced at least twenty two mothers who were contemplating abortion not to have one.  In fact the twenty second life it saved was a boy of ten who wrote to me.  He said, “Father Francis, I want to thank you for that song, ‘Cry from the heart’.  My mother was about to abort me when she heard it and said, ‘I can’t do it.’  And because of that I am living today.  I can’t thank you enough.”

Every priest must be very near to the heart of Our Blessed Lady, the mother of the High Priest Jesus.  I would like to thank her for all the love and care she has given to me over these fifty years and I would like to place the rest of my life in her hands.  I long for the day to be in heaven and embraced by our loving mother.

The Golden Jubilee of a priest is what we are celebrating today.  I thank all of you, but particularly my family, for coming to celebrate this occasion and helping me to thank God for the many graces he has bestowed on me the last 50 years of my life.  I thank Canon Seamus Keenan for allowing this happy event to take place in his Church.  May God reward you all.

Self-Righteousness and Self-Esteem

  

Our guest writer today is Jose D Pinell.

I encourage you to visit him HERE.

Two weeks before Lent was over, God was calling me into a deeper intimacy with Him.

I can't tell you exactly how it started, but I remember a thirst growing inside of me to learn more about contemplative prayer, and even the monastic life.

There was also a desire to pray. I saw how minutes flied in prayer, and many times even hours in prayer felt short.

I started praying the divine office with more diligence. I started to attend mass more frequently.

I felt more at peace. I felt more joyful. I also felt more self-righteous.

Slowly these nagging voices started to come into my head. Look at all these people, they don't pray as you do. Why they don't come to mass as frequently as you do? Look at this neighbor, trying to be a show off with his 3 huge cars and look how simply you live.

These voices kept coming almost inadvertently into my mind. I tried fighting them, but many times the thoughts and its feelings were difficult to shake off.

Then one morning during prayer, I had this vision of me as a toddler struggling and learning to walk. I saw Jesus with His arms stretched, smiling, encouraging me to keep walking.

And then He told me "Don't think of yourself as an adult in this, but as a baby who is barely learning how to walk in my steps. Walk my son, for I am guiding you".

It was a humbling vision. I haven't even learned to walk and I think myself as spiritually superior to others.

And then came the fall. Sin is always chasing us around.

The voices turned sour this time. You are not a true follower of Jesus. You are not worthy to be a missionary. You are probably the most sinful and worthless of all the missionaries here.

How to believe this voice in my head? At one point it exalts me and canonizes me before dying, at in the same breath it condemns me to hell and tells me I'm not a true christian!

I have wondered whether there is a connection between having a low self-esteem and being self-righteous.

I have been told that bullies love put downs because of their own lack of confidence and self-esteem.

Can something similar be happening here with self-righteousness?  How is that after discovering my sinful nature I am so quickly prone to think of myself as worthless? Why do I feel so spiritually powerful and then, in the middle of my weakness, the most hideous heathen?

I can come out from the whole of low self-esteem, see a glimpse of spiritual growth, and then hold on to that moment in time, allowing my self-esteem to rest on it. The result are self-righteous thoughts, feelings and attitudes.

When that moment in time is gone, my self esteem, seeing no base to rest on, falls to the floor.

Pride and self-righteousness then, seems to come not from high self-esteem, but from a low self-esteem.

And maybe self-loathing and self-deprecation leads not to humility but self-righteousness.

How different it would be to truly see my sinfulness and yet, at the same time, the immense grace of God that adopts me into His family?

How different it would be if all of us would find our identity and worth in God, and not in our jobs, careers and degrees, or even worse, our spiritual growth.