Monday Musings - The "New Evangelization" Must Begin With Us And In Our Homes

Monday Musings


(If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic Monday Musings generate fruitful discussion and faithful change.)

The "New Evangelization" Must Begin With Us and In Our Homes

This letter might be a good place for the conversation to begin or to start anew:

For far too much time now, God has put it in my heart that I should write this letter.  I kept putting it off - that has become my specialty. Not a good thing to do.  

Fortunately, our God is patient and persistent.  Even I can eventually catch on and do what He asks!  There is much that I have to share, but today I will be brief (maybe not quite as you would like) and to the point. 

Ready?  I love you! I hope this is not startling news to any of you.  But I may never have clearly told you why.  It is simple - because God loved you enough to create you in His image and then to give each of you to me to love, cherish, teach and return to Him.  Just as we can reject Him, each of you could have easily rejected me.  But none of you did.  Each of you has chosen to love me – warts and all, good and bad – even at times when you may have had legitimate questions as to why you should.  No words can ever adequately express the enormity of what the gift of your love means to me. You see - each of you have loved me in the very same way that God loves you. 

 

Life here on this earth is but a temporary journey during which we have many questions.  The trials and struggles of our daily existence can sometimes weigh us down so heavily that we become despondent and wonder why our heavenly Father allows us to struggle so or permits such evil in this world.  Just as you have on occasion not understood what or why I may have asked you to do or not do something, it is okay to have the same feeling about God.   

Do You Really Want To See?

In order to see more clearly, we must sometimes close our eyes and surrender our hearts to God.

 

 

(Video credit: Michael W. Smith, YouTube)

The Presence of God - Eucharistic Reflection

"It cannot be over stressed that the presence of God in the soul by grace is a real and substantial presence. God is present in the tabernacle of the heart as really and truly and substantially as He is present in the tabernacle of the altar, although in a different manner.

Christ's Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament is a priceless gift, a pledge and prelude of that glorious presence of the Incarnate Word which will be ours eternally in Heaven. But the external pres­ence is meant to lead us to and be fused with the presence of the Word of God within our souls. So it will be in Heaven. The Son of God will be present outside us in the reality of the human nature He has assumed, the peak and glory of creation; yet that same Son of God will dwell substantially within us according to His divine nature. One presence is not opposed to the other, but complements it. That will be self-evident in Heaven. But here too devotion to the Incarnate Word present on the altar is not a hindrance to devotion to the Word of God within me; quite the reverse. All Christian experi­ence goes to show that it nourishes it as nothing else can do. On the other hand, devotion to the Second Divine Person within me will urge me to seek Him also in the human nature which makes Him my brother and which faith tells me is truly present in the tabernacle.

There is a point, however, worth bearing in mind. If I person­ally fail to honor Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, He will not remain without honor there. Other faithful Catholics will give Him the honor that is due to His presence and so compensate to some extent for my negligence. But if I fall to honor the Son of God as He is present with the Father and Holy Spirit in the tabernacle of my own heart, no man can compensate for my indifference. The inner sanctuary of my own heart is utterly and eternally inaccessible to any except myself and God. If I am in the state of grace, God is really present there in most profound silence and solitude. None but myself can hope to penetrate into that inmost sanctuary to do Him honor and hold converse with Him. It is quite possible that in fact I have never penetrated there. There are many people—dare we say most people?—who have never withdrawn themselves from the distractions of the senses to enter into that sacred shrine of the soul where they can be alone with God. Yet without devotion to the real presence of God within our souls there can be no full development of our spiritual life, which is essentially an interior life. “Let it be plainly understood that we cannot return to God unless we first enter into ourselves. God is everywhere, but not everywhere to us. There is but one point in the universe where God communicates with us, and that is the center of our own soul. There He waits for us; there He meets us; there He speaks to us. To seek Him, therefore, we must enter into our own interior" (Archbishop Ullathorne).

(Father Anselm Moynihan, O.P. from The Presence of God)

Sunday Snippets - October 28, 2012

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at RAnn’s Place for Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival where we share posts from the previous week.

Here are my posts:

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - October 25, 2012

Blessed Mother Mary - Eucharistic Reflection

The Catholic Vote - Truth Clearly Proclaimed

With your indulgence, an older but timely entry not previously shared here:
Help Me Understand! Should Not The Salvation Of Souls Be Our Primary Concern?

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Pondering Tidbits Of Truth - Ocober 25, 2012

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time.

 

Father Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

 

The primary purpose of the priestly grace is the worthy celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass…The secondary purpose of the grace which the priest receives at ordination is the sanctification of the faithful. If the priest has the care of souls, he has a special obligation to strive for holiness of life because of his duty toward the Mystical Body of Christ. In no other way will he be able to sanctify the souls committed to his charge or avoid the dangers of the world… 

(From The Priest In Union With Christ)

 

Madeleine Delbrel, Servant of  God

 

From a sand dune, dressed in white, the missionary overlooks an expanse of lands filled with unbaptized peoples. From the top of a long subway staircase, dressed in an ordinary suit or overcoat, we overlook, on each step, during this busy rush-hour time, an expanse of heads, of bustling heads, waiting for the door to open. Caps, berets, hats and hair of every color. Hundreds of heads – hundreds of souls. And there we stand, above. And above us, and everywhere is God. God is everywhere – and how many souls even take notice. 

(From We, the Ordinary People of the Street) 

 

Father Walter Farrell, O.P.

 

There is no man God does not wish to be saved; but there is no man God will save against that man’s will. It would be a poor kind of love that made us in His image and left us nothing to do for ourselves; it is a divine love that sets outs a man’s work for a man’s life and stands by a man’s own decisions. He has indeed left us something to do with our mind and our will as well as with our hands and our feet. If we do these things, we are fulfilling the divine will; if we do not, we are not thwarting God but ourselves, for our eternal happiness hangs on the condition of our activity This is not a reason for despair; rather it is a divine tribute to the nobility of the nature of man. 

(From My Way of Life)

The Catholic Vote - Truth Clearly Proclaimed

Aggie Catholics featured the following video posted by Patrick Madrid. I am passing it on to you. Please take the time to view this astounding homily and to share it with others. It is well worth your time. This priest may very well have saved many souls.

Blessed Mother Mary - Eucharistic Reflection

"...Mary continues to stand alongside her Redeemer-Son in the sacrament of the altar. It is consoling to recall that she who bears the title 'Mother of Fair Hope' keeps perpetual vigil before the Blessed Sacrament, ever ready to encourage her pilgrim children en route to the glorious world of the resurrection. In the Salve Regina we 'poor banished children of Eve' hail the New Eve, mother of the Eucharist, as 'our life, our sweetness and our hope.' And we implore her to 'show us, after this exile, the blessed fruit' of her womb.

 

 

"This our heavenly mother will certainly do, lovingly and graciously. But already here and now, that is, during our exile in this 'vale of tears,' she untiringly shows us the blessed fruit of her womb integrally present in the sacrament of the altar. As his handmaid and herald she urges us to draw ever closer to him. For not only is He the source of life and holiness; He is the pledge and pattern of our bodily resurrection when the new world finally dawns."

(Fr. Richard Foley, S.J. from Mary and the Eucharist)

 

Sunday Snippets - October 21, 2012

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at RAnn's Place for Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival where we share posts from the previous week.

Here are my posts:

What Do You See?

On The Feast Day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

A Sampling of St. Teresa of Avila's Spiritual Wisdom

The Best Date Ever! - You Got That Right!

Via 25000DayProductions,com and YouTube

Thanks to Mary Lou for sharing it.

Getting Old Can Be A Laughing Matter!

Sit back and enjoy a good laugh!

(Video credit to Homeinsteadinc, YouTube and Karen Susko)

Can I Hear AMEN?

What Do You See?

After reciting the Chaplet of Mercy and Sorrowful Mysteries outside the local Planned Parenthood abortion mill this morning as part of the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil, one of the men in our group excitedly told us to look up in the sky. This is what we saw in two different locations:

Can We Pray?

Via CatholicVote.org

On The Feast Day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

 

[Today's feast day is the perfect time to republish an earlier post].                               

 

 

When God created us, He inserted a heart within our chest, the mechanism that He made to pump blood and oxygen throughout our bodies. We all have one. Most of us rarely take notice of its rhythmic beats. It’s there but we pay little or no conscious attention to it –much like many of us have done to God – we know He’s “there” but ignore Him. We take Him for granted.

Of course in the case of our physical heart that situation changes if something happens to it. In that instance, you bet we become much more attentive to and aware of it. We can’t live without it.

So where am I going with this? Let me explain.

The daily readings one summer day in 2008 included a passage from Ezekiel (3:23-28), in which God promised to transform the prophet and to give him a new heart and a new spirit so that Ezekiel would be able to lead others to Him. Through this Scripture passage, the Lord let me recognize how frequently my words and actions may have caused others to walk away from the God I professed to love.

I asked Him right then and there for the grace to surrender my entire being to Him and to allow Him to use me as He willed. The very next day, I had a heart attack. He spared my life, opened three blocked arteries and gave me the new heart and spirit He promised Ezekiel and for which I had prayed the previous day. From time to time since then, I have asked myself: “What have I done with this new heart? Has anyone seen a difference in the way I have lived my life?” I am not always pleased with the answers these questions evoke.

Each of us also has a spiritual heart – one which God provides and sustains as well and which He intends we use to love Him and others on His behalf. This heart too is one often ignored and inadequately exercised. We cannot live eternally without it.

God had opened the blockages that impeded blood from reaching my physical heart, but knew my spiritual heart also needed some mending. Some time after my heart attack, through the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, He reminded me, of two often forgotten truths: that His Sacred Heart is the source of all love and that He hungers to be loved in return:

“Behold this heart, which has loved men so much, that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself in order to testify to them its love; and in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show me in the sacrament of love…”

Had I adequately expressed my gratitude to this loving God who had chosen to spare my earthly life? I knew that He wanted more than mere words. He wanted me to love Him and all whom He has created as I had never before loved Him or them. But how was I to do this?“Teach me to love,” I prayed. His response: repeated promptings to consecrate myself and my family to His Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of His Blessed Mother Mary. And, like I have done so many times in my life, I kept putting Him off. I knew He Who is Love deserved this. I knew my family and I would benefit from it. So why procrastinate? I had no valid answer. But our God is persistent and patient!

After much too long a delay, I did what God had requested me to do – my wife and I consecrated ourselves, our home and family to His Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of His Mother. This consecration is still a work in progress. But we have begun. We try to make our daily offering together and to renew our pledge of love and loyalty to Him everyday. The Lord of Lords and Kings of Kings and His Mother are now prominently enthroned in a place of honor in our home, immediately visible to all who enter – a constant and permanent reminder of the promises we made to Him and to Her.

Finally, I had obeyed! I was headed in the right direction. But He was not done with me.

The very day of this act of consecration, I went to spend some time before the Blessed Sacrament. As I was leaving my house, I was prompted to pick up a book I had not read in some time– Holy Hours by Concepcion Cabrera de Armida.

Instead of reciting a rosary after arriving at church as I had planned, I opened that book to a page I had never viewed and where several weeks earlier I had left a bookmark. What follows is (in part) what I read:

“Do you want to give Me what I ask you for today?...I want you to enter into My Heart…I want you to be there, hidden…silent…anonymous…drinking…absorbing its substance…living from its life…That is the waiting room to heaven…that is heaven itself…that is infinite LOVE…O Yes…tell me you are willing…tell me that from now on and without delay, you are going to learn to be humble…to be pure…to be crucified so as to assimilate yourself to Me. What do you answer Me? …”

I was dumbstruck. A tear or two fell down my cheeks. How could I say No? But how would I ever be able to do what He was asking of me? I had been unable or unwilling to do far less. How? I am going to rely on Him and try.

How about you? Do you hear His promptings as well? Isn’t this the perfect time to check out your heart and enter His?

(One of many places for more information about Sacred Heart Enthronement is the National Sacred Heart Enthronement Center.

A Sampling of St. Teresa of Avila's Spiritual Wisdom

Today we remember St. Teresa of Avila, a 16^th century Carmelite nun, mystic, reformer and spiritual teacher par excellence. She and St. Catherine of Siena were the first two women named as Doctors of the Catholic Church.

 

One way of honoring this great saint this day would to be spend a few minutes reading and meditating on the great wisdom she has offered the Church and its members. The following gems, which are among the 1200 quotations included in my book, Forgotten Truths To Set Faith Afire! Words to Challenge, Inspire and Instruct, should provide much nourishment for fruitful meditation and reflection.

 

 

I am consoled to hear the clock strike, for at the passing away of that hour of life it seems to me I am drawing a little closer to the vision of God.

 

The Lord knows what he is doing better than [the soul] knows what it is desiring.
 

The person who knows God better does God’s work more easily.  
 

Love increases in the measure the soul discovers how much this great God and Lord deserves to be loved. 
 

The smallest thing when done for the love of God is priceless.  
 

Doing our own will is usually what harms us. 
 

Since He doesn’t force our will, He takes what we give Him; but He doesn’t give Himself completely until we give ourselves completely.
 

Look at these wounds my daughter; your pains will never be as great as Mine.
 

Consider seriously how quickly people change, and how little trust is to be had in them; and hold fast to God, Who does not change.
 

He always gives us more than we ask Him for.

His Majesty knows best what is suitable for us; it is not for us to advise Him what to give us for He can rightly reply that we know not what we ask.
 

The devil does a great deal to incapacitate us when he sees a little fear.
 

To suppose that He would admit to His close friendship pleasure-loving people who want to be free from all trials is ridiculous. 

 

Want more then this “baker’s dozen” sampling? Consider reading  Story of a Soul, The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection.

 

Heaven On Earth - Eucharistic Reflection

"It has been said, and rightly so, that between contemplation and adoration there is so close a union, so mutual a relationship, that they cannot be separated. We adore while contemplating and we contemplate while adoring. The saints in heaven live in perpetual adoration, because their joy is derived from eternal contemplation. On earth, where in some manner we must imitate the life of heaven, Christian devotion has striven to make the Sacred Host the center of perpetual contemplation and adoration, as far as human frailty permits. And both adoration and contemplation have called for perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

 

 

"The Sacred Host perpetually exposed on its Eucharistic throne, and, before it, day and night, loving souls in adoration and contemplation! Is this not truly heaven on earth?"

                      (From "The Holy Eucharist" by Jose Guadalupe Trevino)

 

Sunday Snippets - October 14, 2012

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at RAnn’s Place for Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival where we share posts from the previous week.

Here are my posts:

Eucharistic Reflection

No Good Samaritan Here!

A Glimpse of St. Louis Bertrand

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - October 11, 2012

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - October 11, 2012

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time.

 

 

 

 

Mary Comm

“We (the church) have been an unintentional accomplice to the millions of lives lost and to the multiplied millions of lives devastated by abortion. We didn’t want them to abort. We didn’t mean for them to abort. But, because of our lack of knowledge, because of our fear, we have continued to stand by and do nothing. We, God’s hands and feet in this dark and hurting world, have been unintentional, unknowledgeable accomplices, but an accomplice nonetheless.”

 

                                       (From In Our Midst Ministries, Inc.)

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“In New York, they preach about virtually everything; only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin and forgiveness, life and death.”

(From description of what he found at Union Theological Seminary in the early 1930s)

 

Father Frederick Faber

"We lack devotion to truth as truth, as God's truth. Our zeal for souls is puny, because we have no zeal for God's honor. We act as if God were complimented by conversions, instead of trembling souls rescued by a stretch of mercy. We tell men half the truth, the half that best suits our own pusillanimity and their conceit; and then we wonder that so few are converted, and that of those few so many apostatize. We are so weak as to be surprised that our half-truth has not succeeded so well as God's whole truth."     

(From The Precious Blood)       

 

A Glimpse of St. Louis Bertrand

St. Louis Bertrand, O.P. (1526-1581)

            His early years – On January 1, 1526, one hundred and seven years after the death of St. Vincent Ferrer, another Dominican saint was born in Valencia – St. Louis Bertrand.  He was actually baptized in the same Church and font in which St. Vincent had been baptized. Louis’s father, John, was related to and had an ardent devotion to Saint Vincent. He passed that devotion to his son – one which Louis treasured throughout his life.

            Louis has been described as “a fretful child and nothing seemed to comfort him except the sight of the holy images in the churches”. (Wilberforce 15)  However, at an early age, he dedicated himself to the service of God and his studies. He learned to read and recite the Office of Our Lady before he was eight years old. As he grew older, he seldom spoke “unless the conversation turned upon spiritual matters”. (Wilberforce 17)

            His entry into the Dominican Order – Louis was certain he would save his soul as a Dominican, but his father objected to his joining the Order, believing he was better suited for the Carthusians. His father acquiesced only after Louis told him he would rather die than leave the Order.  He made his Dominican profession on August 27, 1545.

            Prayer and fasting for Louis, as it must be for all Dominicans, was an essential part of his life.  He devoted two hours every morning and two hours every evening to mental prayer.  After dinner he spent a half hour with the Blessed Mother.  He especially loved the Eucharist and often remained prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament for extended periods of time.  He “languished with weakness whenever he was prevented from celebrating the holy sacrifice.” (Wilberforce 91)

            When not actually praying in these ways, Louis was always conscious of the Divine Presence.  He frequently meditated on our Lord’s Passion. The crucifix was his constant companion. In it our Saint insisted “you will find whatever you need”. (Wilberforce 73)

            He also loved the Rosary, constantly reciting its mysteries.  He taught it to his converts and depended on the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary for the success of his preaching. “Many miraculous favors,” we are told, “were granted to those who devoutly used rosaries that had been blessed” by Louis. (Wilberforce 173)

            Novice Master – At the age of twenty-six and after having only been a priest for four years, Louis was appointed Master of Novices, serving with distinction in that capacity at six different times in his life and for a total of thirty years. He frequently referred to St. Vincent’s Treatise on the Spiritual Life, challenging his novices to see “which one of us shall be the imitator of this great man, whose equal is not to be found in this world”. (Pradel 184)

          

No Good Samaritan Here!

 
Monday Musings
 

(If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic Monday Musings generate fruitful discussion and faithful change.)

 

                 

The parable of the Good Samaritan was the subject of today’s Gospel. I read it before leaving for early morning Mass.

 

 

As I was walking down the street, I thought I heard a voice. I heard it again and glanced toward the roadway. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a disheveled gray hair man carrying a plastic garbage bag over his shoulder and heard him say something – not sure what he said or to whom his comments were directed. I avoided any eye contact with him. He made me feel uncomfortable. All I could think was to get to the other side of the street. As I hurriedly did so, I gave a quick glance over my shoulder but no longer saw the man from whom I fled. Where did he go? Like the priest and Levite in today’s parable, I ignored the need of a neighbor and crossed the street to get away from him. Had I just walked away from Christ?

 

After arriving at Church, I glanced up and saw another gray haired and obvious homeless man stop in front of the altar and devoutly bow before the tabernacle. He then proceeded with his shopping cart, plastic bags and knapsack filled with his few earthly possessions and left the building. He didn’t ask anyone for anything. He received what He had come for – some time in the presence of His Lord and the grace to face another day.  Did I just see Christ again?

 

 

Two times this morning, I failed to recognize and love my Lord.

 

 

Will anyone recognize Christ in these men today as they walk the streets of this large impersonal city looking for some evidence of living faith among those who pass them by or will they avoid them and pass them by as did I, the priest and the Levite?

It is not often that one's failure to love is the specific subject of a homily.  May it never happen to me again! God have mercy on me a sinner.

 

Eucharistic Reflection

My children, I am working through you. I am using you

as healing instruments. Your world is sick and suffers

from a disease far worse than any disease of the body.

The very soul of your world struggles to find the source

of healing it requires.

 

And I am here. I intend to heal your world. I want you

to be joyful representatives of your Eucharistic Jesus.

The Eucharistic Jesus calls out to His children in firmness.

I call you each by name and I say to you, “It is time to

return to Me.” Come to Me, waiting in the tabernacle, and

I will reveal Myself to you in such a way that you will have

no doubts. You will be glad in your heart and peaceful in

your soul. Rest near the Eucharistic heart of your Savior

and you will be granted everything you need.

 

 

Faith is a gift, My dear one. I wish to give this gift to you.

But you must turn to Me so that I may. My heart beats only

with love for you. I can promise you that I will not reproach you.

I will help you understand that only joy and light is suitable

for a child of God. You will return to Us one day. Let Us make

that the most joyful day of your life. Come to Me, My child,

and I will show you how. You say, “Jesus, I forget how to pray.”

My child, does a small one forget how to cry when he is hurt?

Of course not. Come before Me and cry out your pain, your

hurt, and your fear. We need not do it all in one day, but take

the first step to Me by coming in front of Me.

 

Put yourself in My Eucharistic presence and I will do the rest.

The work will come from Me. I will move you back swiftly to

that place that has been reserved for only you in My Sacred Heart.

You see, My child, if you have been away from Me, that place has

been empty. I, your Jesus, have felt the emptiness terribly as

I waited for your return. My heart aches waiting for you, so

do not let Me suffer another moment. Do you begin to understand?

I love you totally. You were meant to be with Me. Do not let

anything hinder your return. I am your God, the God of All.

The world wants to trick you out of your inheritance, but I hold

it for you. It is safe with Me, My child, so return to Me now,

that I may begin to heal you.

 

(Excerpts from entry dated 8/22/2003, Directions for Our Times (Vol. 2)

Conversations with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus,

 http://www.directionforourtimes.org Used with permission)

 

Reparation

 

In his blog entry this morning, Father Mark shares a report from an Irish parish where someone broke in and stole the Blessed Sacrament and all the sacred vessels. Father suggested we pray for those who committed this sinful act and to offer the following act of reparation:

 

Act of Reparation

 

Beloved Lord Jesus Christ,
hidden in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar;
silent, humble, defenseless,
and motionless in the Sacred Species;
handled by the faithless
and, alas, even by those
who having received the faith,
have fallen into darkness and spiritual perversion;
we offer ourselves to Thee in adoration,
to make reparation
for every sin of irreverence, sacrilege,
blasphemy, and hatred of Thy Divine Person
in the Sacrament of Thy Love.
We further offer ourselves to Thee in adoration,
believing for those who do not believe in Thee,
hoping for those who have lost hope in Thee,
loving for those who do not love Thee.
Avenge this act of sacrilege, we pray Thee,
by a triumph of Thy merciful love
in the hearts of those who have so offended Thee,
and, by sending forth Thy Holy Angels,
restore the Sacred and Adorable Species
into the hands of Thy priests,
and into guardianship of Thy grieving Church.
Amen.

In a subsequent post today, Father also set forth a Litany of Reparation, one, I suggest that we offer not only for this Irish parish struggling to understand such a disturbing, senseless sinful and sacrilegious act, but for any acts of disrespect and irreverence demonstrated to the Blessed Sacrament that may be occurring in our own parishes and in other parishes throughout the world. You can find that complete Litany here.