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Archive for the ‘faith’ Category

In #55 of Sister Faustina Kowalska’s Diary she received spiritual counsel from Father Adrasz, S.J.  This is one of Father’s instructions for St. Faustina:

“Let God push your boat out into the deep waters, toward the unfathomable depths of the interior life.” 

 

shallowwater

shallow water

 

 

 

deepWaterCayBoatEntryShot

 

deep water

 

Are we afraid to let Jesus into the deep depths of our interior life?  Do we allow God into our lives enough so He can change us?    So the Lord is able to transform each of us into better beings?  Do we stop our boat from entering into deep waters?  Do we put limits on what we will allow God to do in each of our lives?  Do we put a shield up because we are afraid to change?

I pray, talk to God, trust in the Lord’s will for me more than I used to but. . . I find myself asking whether I allow God into the deep waters of my soul.  Do I only allow God to enter the shallow depths of my interior self?  Do I stop God from pushing my boat into deep waters?  I am guarded to a certain degree because of past events which happened in my life.  While I trust in God more than I used to I know that I need to allow Him enter the deepest depths of my soul.  I need to not push back and stop my boat from entering deeper waters.  God Bless.

 

 

H/T for images: amustard.com

integrateddigitalpublishing 

 

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This video has become an online hit – 300,000 hits in about a week. Samuel wears priestly garments as he ‘celebrates Mass.  He is adorable!! It is totally awesome to see the tremendous faith of this little one. Samuel lives in Colombia. He is an orphan who lives with his grandmother and an aunt.

From CNA:

His relatives told reporters that last Christmas, Jaramillo did not ask for toys like most kids his age. Instead, he wanted “priest’s clothes” and the objects necessary to “celebrate” Mass.

He has learned to recite the Mass from memory with the corresponding pauses, intonations and gestures of an experienced priest.

In a reflection published by El Colombiano, Father Daniel Monsalve noted Jaramillo’s “passion for what he says and the tenderness that inspires him” in the videos.

“Amid a changing world that is at times indifferent to religious matters, this child appears as a testimony of love for God and fascination for sacred celebrations, most certainly fostered by those who care for him and by the priest of his parish,” Fr. Monsalve wrote.

Cases like that of Jaramillo “should not only awaken religious fervor but also serve as an example for the promotion of priestly and religious vocations, supported always by the encouragement of parishes, seminaries and houses of formation,” he added.

Jaramillo’s aunt, Elizabeth Rojas Arango, said, “This isn’t something we taught him, and we don’t even attend church,” but Jaramillo goes to Mass every Sunday and on Tuesdays with his grandmother, Rosa Eva Arango. CONTINUED

H/T Jean’s Bistro2010′s Blog 

Matthew 18:3 

And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

 

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The trustees have chosen a new president to succeed Fr. Terence Henry at Franciscan University of Steubenville.  His name is Father Sean Sheridan.  He has a strong legal background which will help in the fight against the unjust HHS mandate which does not respect conscience rights or citizens’ religious liberty.

“I am honored to serve as the next president of Franciscan University,” Father Sheridan said in a statement. “It is inspiring and truly humbling for me to be here at Franciscan University with the students who are pouring their hearts into their education and their prayer life, falling in love with God and the Church and striving to become saints.”

Here is a little bit about Father Sheridan’s credentials:

Father Sheridan entered the Franciscan Third Order Regular in 2000, leaving behind a career as an attorney focused on health-care litigation. He made his solemn profession of vows in 2005 and was ordained to the priesthood the following year. Father Sheridan continued his legal education in the Church, earning a doctorate in canon law from Catholic University of America in 2009. He wrote his dissertation addressing seven challenges — and potential solutions — to implementing Ex Corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church), Pope John Paul II’s 1992 apostolic constitution for Catholic higher education.

Father Sheridan served as an assistant professor of canon law at CUA from 2009 until last fall, when he became a professor in Franciscan University’s theology department.

“He’s got the right mix of academic, pastoral and professional experience,” Hernon said. “He’s got the mission of the university in his heart, and he wears it on his sleeve. We know he’s going to continue to see how the university can respond to the call St. Francis received from Christ, to ‘Go, rebuild my Church.’”

We have a story of authentic courage of someone who has stuck by their beliefs even among pressure in these ever changing times of what our culture deems as acceptable.  Chris Broussard is the ESPN analyst who was asked to comment on on the NBA basketball player Jason Collins who announced that he is gay for all the world to hear.  Broussard said that homosexuality is a sin. He went onto say:

“If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever that may be,” including heterosexual sex outside of marriage, you are “walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ.”

Instead of being respectful and tolerant of his point of view some people have taken to twitter to call for ESPN to fire Chris Broussard.

It looks like the Southern Poverty Law Center has some explaining to do.  It appears that the SPLC influenced a domestic terrorist attack by labeling the Family Research Council as a “hate” group.  Seeing this information on the SPLC’s website spurred Floyd Lee Corkins to shoot at innocent workers at the Washington-based Family Research Center. Corkins has pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic terrorism and will be charged in June. Lives were spared as a result of the heroic actions of Leonardo Johnson, the security guard/building manager. 

Apparently religious freedom for Christians in the military will not be tolerated.  Here our military men and women are fighting to protect our freedoms which are outlined in the Constitution and yet their rights won’t be protected while serving.  Geesh! This is disgraceful. Totally unconscionable!  

From ChristianPost: 

President Obama’s new “religious tolerance” consultant to the Pentagon, Mikey Weinstein, wants Christian military service members who openly talk about their faith in uniform to be charged with treason, which is a crime punishable by death according to military law.

By employing his consulting services, and as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama is effectively endorsing Weinstein’s recently voiced and written views such as: “Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized [sic] and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.”

President Obama is someone who claims that he is a Christian.  If he is a Christian why would he employ a “religious tolerant” consultant that calls Christians “monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans”?  By “fundamentalist” does Weinstein mean, actually follows the Bible and adheres to timeless biblical truths?  So I guess he thinks modernism and moral relativism “true Christianity”?  This administration has been the most hostile to Christians (traditional Christians) in recent modern history.  This is not only intolerance but is persecutory in nature. And some people wonder why we a number of say that Obama is shredding the Constitution. It is obvious that he has no respect for the Constitution or citizens’ rights.  He acts as if he were king.  I do pray for his conversion of heart and soul.  

Israeli President Shimon Perez has invited Pope Francis to visit Israel.  Pope Francis has accepted the invitation “with willingness and joy” .  No date has been set for the visit. 

A Vatican statement said they discussed prospects for a resumption of negotiations for a solution that would respect “the legitimate aspirations of the two Peoples, thus decisively contributing to the peace and stability of the region.”

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This is from the book Song of the Sparrow by Fr. Murray Bodo O.F.M.

To slow down and let the healing happen.  How hard that is when the very sickness is a fear of slowing down, of not being able to function as well as we could, of paralysis of will.  Healing is most impossible when we cannot forget the sickness long enough for healing to start.

How does one forget their sickness when they are enduring extreme pain?  How does one forget their illness when the shaking in their hands and arms has gotten worse?  I certainly am unable to forget this but I am able to cope the best I can by knowing that God is with me, and by uniting my pain with Jesus on the Cross.  I can give my pain over to God and ask for His help as I go through all the various symptoms while doctors figure out what’s causing them.  I could be frustrated or angry since my health has taken a turn for the worse since my hysterectomy but I’m not.  I trust in God. I trust that Christ has a plan for me. I am going through these health issues for a reason but am waiting to find out for what purpose and where God is leading me.

I’m sure it is hard for people who have been active most of their lives to slow down as they get older.  How hard it must be to accept the symptoms associated with the developmental process of aging.  May God comfort those persons who are dealing with illness and symptoms due to aging.

Is it possible to forget your illness? Maybe during certain moments I can but after that I feel the symptoms related to my illness.  Do you really have to be able to forget your illness to be able to heal? Or is it impossible to heal when you remember your illness and feel symptoms caused by the sickness? I believe that persons can pray to God for healing and try to forget their illness as much as possible, go about living life the best they can but I doubt that persons can completely forget the symptoms they are going through which are caused by their illness.  I believe that God is the Ultimate Healer and with Him all things are possible.  God is able to heal us even of we do remember our sickness.

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I read a meditation from the book Song of the Sparrow on fear and not letting fear paralyze us to the point where we won’t do something simply because we are afraid.   There is prudence in not doing dangerous things, or things each of perceives as dangerous.  Prudence can turn into fear and a lack of courage when we let fear take over our lives and we let fear decide for us what we will and won’t do.  Do we avoid evangelizing in public for fear of offending someone or being called names or possibly having something thrown at us?  If we have a special story to give witness to such as either a conversion story, an eye-opening experience of our Lord or a reversion story that brought us back to God and/or a religion are each of us letting our fears paralyze us so we avoid giving witness to others?

Then I read this scripture passage:

Matthew 17: 1-8

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”  And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

God is calling each one of us to preach the Gospel even if it may be a bit uncomfortable for us.  We need to trust our Lord, that He will watch over us and take care of us. We need to listen and follow what Jesus said to Peter, James, and John.  We need to rise up and have no fear.  We need to conquer our fears with the help of our Lord. We need to repeatedly say Jesus I trust in You.

 

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Pope Francis and Archbishop Gomez speak about Mary’s Month

H/T XT3

 

 

Mary

 

 

From CatholicCulture:

The month of May (Overview - Calendar) is the “month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady,” and it is the occasion for a “moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God’s mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance” (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1).

This Christian custom of dedicating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin arose at the end of the 13th century. In this way, the Church was able to Christianize the secular feasts which were wont to take place at that time. In the 16th century, books appeared and fostered this devotion.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church and therefore the example, as well as the guide and inspiration, of everyone who, in and through the Church, seeks to be the servant of God and man and the obedient agent of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, as Pope Leo XIII reminded us, is the soul of the Church: All the activity and service of the members of the Church, beginning with the supreme participation of the Blessed Mother in the work of the Church, is vivified by the Holy Spirit as the body, in all its activities, is vivified by its soul. The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, Advocate, and Comforter which Christ Himself sent to be our consolation in the sorrowful mysteries of life, our source of moderation in the joyful mysteries of life, our added principle of exaltation in the glorious mysteries of life.

So He was for the Blessed Mother; so also He is for the least of us; so also He is for the rest of the Church, even for those who are its unconscious but conscientious members.

Wherever there is faith there is the example of Mary, because she lived by faith as the Scriptures remind us….

If, then, piety is the virtue which binds us to the sources of all life, to God, to our parents, to the Church, to Christ, certainly Christian piety binds us, in grateful love, to Mary — or our acceptance of Christ and of the mystery of our kinship with Him is imperfect, partial, and unfulfilled.

— Cardinal John Wright

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Today is the feast day of St. Joseph, the Worker.

CNA:

“Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the words of the Living God. He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God,” Pope John Paul II had once said.

There is very little about the life of Joseph in Scripture but still, we know that he was the chaste husband of Mary, the foster father of Jesus, a carpenter and  a man who was not wealthy. We also know that he came from the royal lineage of King David.

We can see from his actions in scripture that Joseph was a compassionate man, and obedient to the will of God. He also loved Mary and Jesus and wanted to protect and provide for them.

From CatholicCulture: 

The feast of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labor and give to all workmen a model and a protector. By the daily labor in his shop, offered to God with patience and joy, St. Joseph provided for the necessities of his holy spouse and of the Incarnate Son of God, and thus became an example to all laborers. “Workmen and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve, since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares”(Leo XIII).

Here is a sermon on Pope Pius XII’s institution of St. Joseph the Worker’s feast day on May 1.

 

 

 

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imagesSaint Faustina in her Diary described hearing Jesus say that He would leave the house because there were things that displeased Him.  Faustina had a vision where she saw the Host coming out of the tabernacle and landed in her hand.  The, she placed the Host back in the tabernacle.  This happened two more times her describing the third time how the Host transformed into the living Lord Jesus.  Jesus said “I will stay here no longer!”  A powerful love rose up in Faustina’s soul and she said to Jesus that she wouldn’t let Jesus leave this house.  Jesus disappeared.  Faustina put the Host back into the tabernacle.  Jesus stayed there and Saint Faustina did three days of adoration for the reparation of sins.

To be honest I’m not feeling the greatest today and am having a hard time thinking so please bear with my scattered thoughts.

I find it surprising that St. Faustina would hear Jesus say that He would leave a place because of there having been things that displeased Him.  Wouldn’t He stay there to try to guide persons to change that which displeased Him?  Jesus doesn’t give us any clues as to what displeased our Lord.  Was it something St. Faustina and the other Sisters did or failed to do?  Could that have been an empty threat to wake up St. Faustina, that Jesus never really intended to leave the house?  It just baffles my mind that since a few in His flock had gone astray, going by Jesus’ words, why would He have left them?

The imagery of what St. Faustina visioned has me wondering what we could have seen if a camera had been there to take pictures.  Would we have seen Jesus? Or an outline of Him?  There have been witnesses that have seen outlines and figures of ghosts so I don’t think it is far-fetched to think and hope that we could have seen our Lord in a photo.  I have seen different pictures depicting our Lord but do you have an image in your mind of what you think Jesus looks like?

In “Song of the Sparrow” Fr. Bodo talks about the love of God and how many people find it hard to believe that they are loved and lovable.  Yet God sent His only Son to die for us in the ultimate act of love.  An unbelievable act of love. Since Jesus died on the Cross for each of us in an unbelievable act of love is it so  It seems logical to me that the weak persons of little faith have trouble believing the “unbelievable.”  It takes great faith to believe the “unbelievable” so we should encourage those of little faith and try to understand why the person has trouble believing certain things.  I would ask, why wouldn’t God love us this much?  Why do you doubt that God would have sent His only Son to die that we may be saved?  God loves us and is waiting for each of us to know, feel, and show Him love in return.  God is Love.

God-love-1john410

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Isaiah 64 RSV

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains might quake at your presence—
[a] as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b]
We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in[c] the hand of our iniquities.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
    and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
    Zion has become a wilderness,
    Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful[d] house,
    where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
    Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

The words “we are the clay, and you are our potter” really spoke to me in the above scripture passage.  God is our potter.  We are created in His image.  Today I see quite a few people trying to make God in their image instead of them trying to be more like God.  Instead of rationalizing and making excuses, as children of God we need to ask Would God do this? I also like the saying What would Jesus do (WWJD)?  Would God approve of what we’re doing? Or do we just want Him to approve or think that He would in our minds so we can justify actions that go against our Catholic Christian faith?  One more thing we need to ask ourselves is how will this affect my soul and will I regret my actions or inaction later on? 

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In “Song of the Sparrow” Fr. Murray Bodo O.F.M. explained that “the Franciscan charism is intimately tied up with loving those who are seemingly unlovable or who return love with hatred and contempt.”

It is easy to love our friends, family members who are easy to get along with, and those who share our same beliefs. It can be extremely tough to love people who trust us horribly, people who are insensitive, those who are grumpy or angry, someone who holds opposite beliefs as we do, and family members who are rub you the wrong way.

Expressing our love through actions is very important.  Helping the needy, visiting the sick, being friendly to cantankerous relatives who you may not see eye-to-eye with, and teaching the Faith to kids in Faith Formation or adults in RCIA are all ways to show love for others.

We are called to follow The Golden Rule, treating others as we would want others to treat us.

Loving individuals doesn’t mean abandoning Truth to please others. It does mean loving the person as a human being while also being respectful if there is a disagreement.  We are called to teach the fullness of the Faith: from the Sacraments, Saints, the Mass, the Ten Commandments, Catechesis, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Doctrine, Morality, to Respect for Life.

 

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