"Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Reflecting on Advent

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, for extending a weekly invitation to Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on "Worth Revisiting” Wednesday.

Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday).

During the rest of each week. be sure to visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. 

May you find something of value in what follows:

Reflecting On Advent

(Originally posted December 6, 2011)

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

As we travel through this earthly sphere and are confronted with many challenges and obstacles to our spiritual and eternal well-being, the prophet Isaiah reminds us to take comfort knowing that there is a loving God, who sent His only Son to take on human flesh, to live among us, to suffer and die a cruel and painful death on our behalf, and to rise from the dead in order to restore life – all of this to atone for our sins and to reinstate the opportunity for each of us to reclaim our heavenly inheritance – one we do not deserve and could never earn.

He is our good Shepherd who when we stumble and fall, is ever present and ready to forgive us, to pick us up, to hold us in His arms, and to lead and welcome us home  - if we but humble ourselves and ask.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Relying on God’s grace, may we use the rest of Advent to prepare a place in our hearts for the infant King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our loving Savior, Jesus Christ! He has already saved space in His Sacred Heart for each of us.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Suffer the Little Children (and Sinful Prisoners Too)

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, for inviting your fellow Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and enjoy what these authors have to offer.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb.

Here is what I am sharing this week: 

Suffer The Little Children (and Sinful Prisoners Too)

(Originally posted on July 8, 2013)

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I was prompted a few weeks back to go through and empty out my desk drawer. It had been far too long since I had de-cluttered it. I had forgotten the hidden treasures it contained. Then I saw them – about 15 of them. Suddenly, I realized how long it had been since I last went to prison.

Odd, isn’t it. The one place I visited where I was always immensely blessed is filled with men and women whom the majority of us would never voluntarily choose to have anything to do with - no matter that our Faith teaches that all of us, including the greatest sinners among us, were created in the image and likeness of God and that each of us, without exception, by and through the unearned and undeserved grace of Almighty God, can, despite what we might have done in the past,  become new creations in Him who made us. Every one of us – no exceptions! We must, of course, humble ourselves, acknowledge our sins, ask for God’s forgiveness, resolve not to sin again and perform the proscribed penance.

A difficult concept for many of us adults to accept but one which little children are more readily open to hear and understand. How do I know?

 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesdays - Is It Time To Change?

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on It’s "Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor: Come here every Wednesday and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

Be sure to visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of the week.  

Here is my contribution this week: 

Is It Time To Change?

(Originally posted November 11, 2012)

[Spend a few minutes reflecting on these fundamental Truths of your Catholic Faith:]

God loves you!

He made you in His image and likeness.

He wants to spend eternity with you! 

But He will not force Himself or His plan on you.

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Musings Of An Aging Sibling

Another week has gone by and it is time to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on It’s "Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor: Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

Be sure to visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of the week.  

Here is my contribution this week:

Musings of An Aging Sibling 

(Originally posted May 6, 2011)

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I have wondered occasionally what you must have thought when you first saw two little bodies squirming around in their cribs, squawking and demanding so much attention from others.  Joseph, you were certainly old enough to understand who these two little runts were and why they required so much attention.  But John, you were still in diapers and barely able to walk.  You must have had some difficulty sizing up your new brother and sister and accepting your sudden relegation from king of the roost to third in line. 

Jane and I certainly had no idea who you were or what kind of future we would all have together. I am sure my primary and sole focus at the time was to get fed and to be the center of attention.  From family stories that I have heard, Jane had the same idea and the upper hand.

It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday - Good Night Lord - Thank You For My Life and My Dominican Vocation

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor: go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb.  You will be pleased with what they share.

I hope you find something of value in what follows:

Good Night Lord: Thank You For My Life and My Dominican Vocation

(Originally posted:  April 25, 2011)

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

There are two reasons why I may have some difficulty falling asleep tonight.

On my way to Mass this morning at a Church near where my son and his wife live, I was awestruck by a life size portrait of Our Risen Lord that was on display immediately in front of the Church's main entrance.  It was the most astonishing portrait that I had ever seen. I could not keep my eyes off of it. While gazing at it, I began to make a left hand turn down a side street and to a nearby parking area.  So distracted were my mind and eyes that I turned directly into the path of an on-coming vehicle.

It's Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - May More of Our Priests Accept God's Invitation to Come Before His Eucharistic Face and Enter His Sacred Heart

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor: go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb.  You will be pleased with what they share.

Here is what I am sharing this week:

May More of Our Priests Accept God's Invitation to Come Before His Eucharistic Face and Enter His Sacred Heart

(Originally posted July 9, 2012) 

In case you have not recently read Vultus Christi, Father Mark’s blog, make sure you read what follows and then share it with everyone you know, especially with as many priests as you can.  Recommend  Vultus Christi to your priests. 

We need to challenge our priests and they us. We must pray for their sanctification, as they pray for our holiness as well. 

The Friendship of Christ for His Priests

How it grieves My Heart when the unique love I offer a soul
is spurned, or ignored, or regarded with indifference.
I tell you this so that you may make reparation to My Heart
by accepting the love I have for you
and by living in My friendship.
Receive My gifts, My kindnesses, My attention, My mercies
for the sake of those who refuse what I so desire to give them.
Do this especially for My priests, your brothers.

I would fill each one of My priests with My merciful love,
I would take each one into the shelter of My wounded Side,
I would give to each one the delights of My Divine Friendship,
but so few of My priests accept what I desire to give them.
They flee from before My Face.
They remain at a distance from My open Heart.
They keep themselves apart from Me.
Their lives are compartmentalized.
They treat with Me only when duty obliges them to do so.
There is no gratuitous love,
no desire to be with Me for My own sake,
simply because I am there in the Sacrament of My Love,
waiting for the companionship and friendship of those
whom I have chosen and called from among millions of souls
to be My priests
and to be the special friends of My Sacred Heart.

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Who Was That Man?

My continued thanks to Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting Catholic bloggers re-post their favorite articles on It’s "Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays!

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey. 

During the rest of the week, visit Allison at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb.   

 

I WANT TO APOLOGIZE for the link I posted last week.  I deleted it accidentally and could not retrieve it. Consequently most of you were unable to read the post.  

 

After praying to St. Anthony for the past week, he allowed me to find a copy yesterday. I am re-posting it below or if you prefer as a podcast here. I hope you find it worthy of your time. 

 

Who Was That Man? 

(Originally posted Mach 3, 2014) 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I’ve walked these few blocks countless times over the past twelve years during my visits to see my ailing sister. Although I have seen homeless individuals soliciting money many times, I had never seen anyone quite like the gentleman I saw this day as I headed toward confession.  

 

There he was sitting with folded legs on the cold dirty icy cement sidewalk in front of the Catholic Church I was about to enter - sitting right next to the little tree where neighborhood animals defecate and urinate. His presence there caught me my surprise and made me uncomfortable.

He had a thick white beard. He wore several layers of dirty clothing hoping I am sure to stave off the bitter cold. He just sat there staring at the concrete slab and passing feet that rushed past him, holding the smallest of Dixie cups in his outstretched hand - his head bowed down conveying a sense of shame and utter despair. The paltry size of his cup suggested he was not anticipating any sizable donations from the hundreds that would pass him by.  In the few moments I watched him, no one stopped. No one said anything to him. No one put any money in his cup. No one seemed to care.

Who was this man?

It's "Worth Revisiting Wednesday - Do You Really Want To Get Well?

Our continued thanks to Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting Catholic bloggers re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays!

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey. 

  During the rest of the week, visit Allison at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb.  

This is my offering for the week: 

Reflection on John’s Gospel – Do You Really Want To Get Well?

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Did you notice in [today’s] Gospel (John 5:1-16) that the paralytic did not answer Jesus’ question: “Do you want to get well?” Instead, he complained and whined about the injustice of not having anyone to put him into the healing waters of the pool once they were “stirred up”.

In not answering the specific question posed to him, this paralyzed man was much like many of us. One of the most difficult things I could get my clients to understand when I practiced law was the necessity to just answer the specific question they were asked. It is shocking how few of them and us actually do that. We are all over the place, either because we didn’t listen carefully enough to what was asked or because we want to avoid answering that question at all costs – to do so might make us uncomfortable or suggest changes we should, but are unwilling, to make in our lives.

It's "Worth Revisiting Wednesday" - St. John Marie Vianney and our Priests

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting Catholic bloggers re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.  

 

Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey. 

 

During the rest of each week visit Allison at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. You will enjoy your time there.

 

 St. John Marie Vianney and Our Priests

(Originally posted on 8/14/14)

(Image Source: Wikipedia)

Yesterday, we commemorated the feast day of St. John Marie Vianney - the patron Saint for parish priests.

This holy priest loved the Eucharist. He knew that all of us - priests, religious and laity - had to make It the center of our daily existence.  Here are samples of his wisdom.

"There is nothing, so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us."

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Where Is He?

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting Catholic bloggers re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays. 


Do yourself a favor and  go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey. 

 

During the rest of each week visit Allison at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. You will enjoy your time there.

Where Is He?

It happened again I don't want to play hide and seek!

(IMage Source: Wikimedia Commons)

We arrived early to the only Catholic Church in the town we were passing through on our way to be with family. We were looking forward for a few minutes to adore our waiting Lord, to spend time in His Presence, and to silently pray and prepare for the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Little in this mammoth structure would lead anyone to sense they were entering a sacred place and holy ground. Two thirds of this structure had nothing to do with adoration, prayer and worship. The majority of this structure was dedicated to a huge cafeteria/auditorium area and a cavernous vestibule/library/lounge area.  

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Follow His Promptings

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays. 

 

Do yourself a favor and go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. You will be pleased with what they share.

This is my contribution this week:

Follow His Promptings

(Originally posted September 13, 2013)

I stopped in Church for a visit, intending to spend some time in the Presence of our Lord, to pray the rosary and recite the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Midway through my recitation of the rosary, a woman came in quietly and almost unnoticeably. She sat in the very last pew, knelt down and pulled out her rosary beads. I did not know who she was.

We were just two simple souls drawn to the silent sacredness that palpably files this holy place.  

Shortly after finishing my rosary and as I was about to begin the Divine Mercy Chaplet, another woman entered the Church in tears, wailing in obvious despair.  I do not think she even knew two other people were there.  

She walked toward the sanctuary, entered a pew not far from the tabernacle, knelt down and cried ever more loudly. Her heaving shoulders evidenced the depth of her sorrow and despair. Her loud painful wailing shattered the sacred silence and penetrated the center of my heart.  “Dear God,” I prayed, “please, please help this poor woman!” I remained standing in the back of the Church, looking at and praying for her.  

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Suffer the Little Children (and Sinful Prisoners Too)

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. You will be pleased with what they share.

Here is what I chose to share this week:

 

Suffer the Little Children (and Sinful Prisoners Too) 

(Originally posted July 8, 2013)

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I was prompted a few weeks back to go through and empty out my desk drawer. It had been far too long since I had de-cluttered it. I had forgotten the hidden treasures it contained. Then I saw them – about 15 of them. Suddenly, I realized how long it had been since I last went to prison. 

 

Odd, isn’t it. The one place I visited where I was always immensely blessed is filled with men and women whom the majority of us would never voluntarily choose to have anything to do with - no matter that our Faith teaches that all of us, including the greatest sinners among us, were created in the image and likeness of God and that each of us, without exception, by and through the unearned and undeserved grace of Almighty God, can, despite what we might have done in the past,  become new creations in Him who made us. Every one of us – no exceptions! We must, of course, humble ourselves, acknowledge our sins, ask for God’s forgiveness, resolve not to sin again and perform the proscribed penance.

A difficult concept for many of us adults to accept but one which little children are more readily open to hear and understand. How do I know?

For years, we would deliver hand written notes and drawings from young children and distribute them to the inmates attending our prison retreats - men separated from their own families because of their criminal conduct.

There were no names on these sheets of paper. No way for anyone to identify who sent them or from whence they came. It would be impossible for anyone to trace and find the child who took the time to reach out to an unknown, sinful and often forgotten human being.

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - The Price For Our Ingratitude

(Locked Church Doors - Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, a  group of Catholic bloggers takes the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. You will be pleased with what they share.

Just a few brief thoughts this week:

The Price For Our Ingratitude

(Originally posted April 3, 2013)

I went to my parish yesterday for morning Mass after having just returned from an extended family visit over Easter. When I arrived, I discovered there would be no weekday Masses as our pastor was on retreat. Good for Father; unfortunate for me. Had I known in advance, I would have attended Mass elsewhere. It was too late to drive to any of the other nearby parishes.

In preparation for Mass today, I read the Gospel (one of my favorite passages) and thought to myself: “How many of us who attend Mass regularly have the same experience the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus had - not recognizing Jesus until the breaking of the bread?” 

I was looking forward to welcoming Jesus into this tarnished unworthy fleshly tabernacle and hearing the morning’s homily. I went to another parish only to find their pastor was also on retreat. I had time to drive to yet another Church – the same result – no priest – no Mass.

In all the years I have lived in this area, there is the very first time that weekday Mass was not available in at least one of these three parishes. What a stark reality check!

Jesus promised that He would remain with us to the end of time. For decades we have had easy and ready access to Him in this country. Despite this great gift, some of us have ignored Him and many others have taken Him and His Presence among us for granted.  

We are about to pay an increasingly steep price for such ingratitude.

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - The Eucharist and the Rosary - Our Spiritual Armament

Grotto at Notre Dame

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb. You will be pleased with what they share.

I share the following with you this week::

The Eucharist and the Rosary - Our Spiritual Armament

[What follows is a modification of an article I posted nearly two years ago. It seemed appropriate and timely to share it again.]

There are two devotions close to my heart and vital for the future of our Church and for the salvation of our souls - The Eucharist and the Rosary. May we rediscover each day a deeper and more abiding reverence and love for the Blessed Sacrament. May we also use this month - one which the Church dedicates each year to the Blessed Mother - to experience and/or re-experience the power and efficacy of this most beautiful prayer, for as Saint John Paul II taught us: "To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ."

(Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center, Norwod,,OH)

One would be hard pressed to find a better example of the life-changing power of these two devotions than through the following story of one man's love for both.

From the inception of the Adoration Chapel in our parish and without interruption for nearly five years until a few days before his death, this gentleman came every Saturday morning... He learned to pray the Rosary there.  Oh, how he enjoyed praying the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament!...He spent his last hour before the Blessed Sacrament with his wife five days before he passed away.  He died at home surrounded by his loving family and on the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary... 

God does not promise those who love him a life here free of trials and tribulations.  Time before Him in the Blessed Sacrament or praying the Rosary do not guaranty a struggle free life. But He does promise sufficient graces to carry our daily crosses and eternity with Him for those who love Him.

Visits before the Blessed Sacrament and frequent contemplative recitation of the Rosary are joyful preludes to our face to face encounter with Our Lord and His Blessed Mother in heaven.  They are vehicles through which we make reparation to Him, His Sacred Heart, His Mother and her Immaculate Heart, for all those who have rejected Him, do not love Him and who have mocked His most beloved Mother. Through these devotions, He will transform us and use us to transform others.  

Through Adoration we will gain a greater appreciation and love for the Mass, for the reception of His Body and His Blood, and a clearer recognition of our need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through the daily recitation of the mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary and the assistance of our heavenly Mother, we will draw closer to her Son.

May I ask you the same question Father Francis Hudson, S.C.J. once posed to his parishioners in a one sentence homily he gave:  “What if God loved you only as much as you loved Him?”  Or maybe we should reflect on a challenge issued by Leon Bloy, a French novelist, essayist and poet:  “If you will look into your own heart in utter honesty, you must admit that there is one and only one reason why you are not, even now, as saintly as the primitive Christians: you do not wholly want to be.”

We are each called to be saints. Only saints get into heaven. Don’t panic! God will mold us into saints if we desire it.  All things are possible for Him. Start or restart the journey. Use and love the tools He has given us – the Eucharist and the Rosary.

It's "Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - I Don't Get It! I Will Never Get It!

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on the site they host: “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

Here is my contribution:

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

I Don't Get It! I Will Never Get It!

[I will admit it - I am an appeaser, a  coward, failing more often than not,  to stand up for the Truth for fear of offending others. May God be merciful to me a sinner. But today, there is a kernel of gumption that has popped through this fearful man's being, so I will yield to its prompting.

While I have been criticized before and no doubt will be attacked again, silence is not an option. Misguided contemporary thought notwithstanding, the supreme law of the Catholic Church - and its primary mission - is, has been, and always must be - the sanctification and salvation of souls - not such secular and nebulous concepts as social justice, universal health care, immigration reform, income or marriage equality, global warming, etc.  - eternal souls - yours and mine.

I will not apologize if that forgotten Truth and this post makes anyone uncomfortable]

I understand that in a democratic society, the Catholic Church and its members must try to shape social and political policies and to have their voices heard on the pressing moral issues of the day. There is no doubt that an increasing number of recent actions (beyond the HHS contraception and sterilization mandates) taken by the current administration pose real and imminent threats to our God given and constitutionally recognized fundamental right - freedom of religion. Freedom loving people of all religious persuasions and those of no religious affiliation must stand up and defend this fundamental principle – one which no man, no government, no nation has the right to restrict.