by Father Rawley Myers
Our noisy, rush-around world badly needs silence. We need to kneel silently before the silent Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
When Jesus was born there was a hush of silence all around. And then there was heard the quiet cooing of a little Baby. And the angel said, "Peace on earth to those who are of good will."
In our busy, busy society we need peace of soul - the peace of that first Christmas night.
The first thirty years of the life of Jesus are wrapped in silence. Silence is more profound than words, especially idle chatter.
During His fake trial, Jesus stood silent. As the prophet said, "Like a sheep led away to the slaughterhouse, a lamb that stands dumb while it is shorn, no word from him."
In the Eucharist Jesus remains with us in silence. The noise, confusion, and endless running around in our society are pulling many people apart.
We need silence so that we can pray. The grain in the fieldl grows in silence.
Why did Jesus live in silence most of His life? In order to pray, Jesus now awaits us to come to Him in church where He remains with us in the tabernacle. Jesus our Lord and Savior remains with us in silence, so we can visit Him and receive His blessing.
From Hearts Aflame Catholic Youth Magazine
Jubilee 2000: No. 4
Hat tip to Michael for posting this.
Photo and source courtesy of Saint Charbel
Figures, I would have to miss daily mass today.
Today I found out that St. Charbel was from Lebanon. How appropriate that his feast day falls during the fighting going in that country.
Saint Charbel was born in 1828
at Beqa-Kafra, Lebanon
May he make us understand, in a world largely fascinated by wealth and comfort, the paramount value of poverty,
penance and asceticism, to liberate the soul in its ascent to God..."
Pope Paul VI, October 9, 1977
"O God,
who are glorified in your saints,
and who inspired the monk
and hermit Charbel
to follow Jesus
heroically in poverty,
chastity, and obedience:
we beg you the grace
to love and serve you
as he did.
And as you have already shown
the power of his intercession
by many miracles and favors,
graciously grant us the favor
that we ask, if it be your will.
Amen."
For more information
on Saint Charbel.
Official website of the Saint Maron-Annaya monastery (Tomb of Saint Charbel)
Today is the feast of Saint Charbel... a saint from Lebanon. Let us pray for his intercession in these very hard times for the people of Lebanon and Israel.
Source: 2 Hearts Network
Remember, O most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord.
Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares. Keep them then, O Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You. Amen.
Today my son and I were discussing whether or not God blesses people who don't believe in Him. He made the observation that there are people with lots of money and other material wealth that are not practicing their faith or have any faith at all, yet they seem happy. That let to a discussion on why some people who love God so much, also suffer so much. Well, I found the following in my files. It was originally shared by Sue.
Source: Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament
John of God - Three Reasons why God allows SUFFERING
Copyright, Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament
Meditation on Psalm 119 SUFFERING
Suffering, like fire-tried gold, transforms us into the Heart of Christ. God never intended nor wanted man to suffer. Man fell through disobedience from the paradise God created. Christ's sufferings on the cross give our sufferings value, purpose, and meaning until the day when paradise is restored.
We unite our sufferings now, no matter how great or small, to Jesus truly present before us in the Blessed Sacrament. He takes them and offers them to His Heavenly Father in union with those He suffered for us on Calvary. He purifies them with His Blood and gives them unspeakable beauty by offering them with the love with which He endured His Passion.
God uses sufferings for three purposes. One is to purify us from self-love, ego, and pride so that our disposition may always be that of the psalmist: "I bind myself to do Your Will." The freedom of heart is given when we "run the way" of God's Holy Will. Otherwise we are enslaved by our own selfishness.
Just before he died, Bishop Sheen was asked by a television reporter what the difference was between the young Father Fulton Sheen, just ordained, and the eighty-year-old Bishop with whom he was talking. The answer was "wisdom acquired through suffering."
The second purpose of suffering is that it creates a compassionate heart. Through suffering, one becomes sensitive to the cries and needs of others.
The third purpose is that it has a redemptive value when we accept it and offer it to God in union with the Passion of our Lord. The Will of God is that all His children be saved. For this end, He allows human suffering in order that one man may merit necessary graces for another who otherwise would be lost. Like St. Paul, through our suffering we make up for what is wanting in the Mystical Body of Christ.
The word that revives us is the Person of Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, continuing His saving mysteries in the Blessed Sacrament.
The threefold purpose of suffering therefore is: purification of self, creates a compassionate heart and is redemptive in that it causes propitiation for sins in union with Christ's passion and thereby enables another soul to gain the graces necessary for salvation - purification, compassion, salvation.
Psalm 119:25-32
Keep me from the way of error and teach me Your law.
I have chosen the way of truth with Your decrees before me.
I bind myself to do Your Will; Lord, do not disappoint me.
I will run the way of Your commands; You give freedom to my heart.
My soul lies in the dust; by Your word revive me.
I declared my ways and You answered me; teach me Your statues.
Make me grasp the way of Your precepts and I will muse on Your wonders.
My soul pines away with grief; by Your word raise me up.
Photo Courtesy of Google Images. However, if you are the owner of this one, please let me know so I can give you full credit.
Source: Catholc Nerd Blog
Okay, I have to admit to you that this blog is just my all-time favorite. Too bad it hasn't been updated in a while.
However, I have found other sources that list more indications of being a Catholic Nerd. One place is Catholic Answers Forum The following are some of my favorites. Please feel free to add to the list.
..your biggest turn on is a man wearing a scapular!
...you know what things Father Hardon says every Catholic should have on them at all times. Actually you get Catholic Nerd status just by knowing who Father Hardon is.
...you feel guilty for missing daily Mass.
...you have a special place for all of your religious art overflow, since there are only so many images of the Virgin Mary one room can handle.
... you get momentarily confused when you hear the word "discernment" referring to something besides trying to determine God's will.
...you know which Eucharistic prayer is being used in 5 words or less.
...BVM and OLOG mean something to you.
...you pick dates for significant events by looking up feast days.
...you have more pictures of saints than of relatives on your walls.
...the only reading material you bring with you on a plane trip is Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla and Triumph: The Power and Glory of the Catholic Church- A 2000 Year History by H.W. Crocker III
...when problems at work (or in life in general) get out of hand, you go looking for a good novena.
...somebody tells you they want to be a saint and you take them seriously.
...your daily planner is a "Liturgical Desk Calendar."
...when getting lost while driving, you don't get mad, you say, "well, at least we got to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet."
...you have images of saints or Jesus stuck to your dash board, or your visor, or hanging from your rear view mirror.
...you own one or more t-shirts that reference the Eucharist, the pope, the Rosary, Confession, or all of the above.
...your children can pronounce and define hypo-static union, ditto for transubstantiation.
....your gauge your movie pix based on their ratings: A-I, A-II, A-III, A-IV and O.
...your emergency kit contains not just duct tape and food bars, but a bottle of holy water, rosaries all around, and medals and prayer cards.
...knowing that a guy or girl goes to daily Mass is a big turn-on.
...the Angelus, rosary, Mass, and/or the liturgy of the hours makes a daily appearance in your life.
...you stereotype people by their apostolate, i.e. Opus Dei, Regnum Christi, etc.
..."offer it up" is in your vocabulary (extra nerdiness if you add "for the good of the Mother Church")
...you still sing "saved a wretch like me" and other un-PC lyrics (if you are actually singing you already knew you are an odd Catholic.)
...you own one or more of the following, Witness to Hope, Canon Law, Daily Roman Missal, a Latin hymnal, Theology of the Body, the Suma, Confessions, Commentary of St. Jerome, an Ignatius Bible, Reed of God, This Tremendous Lover, umm well, I could spend the next hour cataloging my shelves on this blog, but I should get back to work, and I think you get the idea;)
...you receive a invitation to dinner that warns you that it will violate your Friday fast, and so you may wish to choose an alternate fast for that day if you attend.
...you and your friends break out a calendar, (one of the free ones that your Parish gives away) and go through it to see whose feast days are when. (I suppose if you are a true Catholic nerd, you would already know :)
...you know the words to Tantum Ergo, Salve Regina, Ave Maria, Panis Angelicus, ____________ (fill in you favorite Latin Hymn)
I also visited St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Exchange Blog today and found another interesting entry. This one dealt with the topic of silence.
The following is an excerpt:
"But, in the midst of the novel, there is solid spiritual advice good for all of us today. It's obvious that Gironella is Catholic. Here is the advice in the confessional that one of the priests in the novel gives the young man, a bank clerk, who is one of the main characters in the book:
I would advise you to do one thing that may seem to you irrelevant: a silence cure. Try it, and tell me how it works out. Manage to go a few days, a couple of weeks, talking as little as possible. Work silently at the bank, study in silence, and economize on words as much as possible. You will see the effects. Almost immediately you will feel a greater serenity. You will find that you pay attention and see things much more clearly. Words distract a great deal, you can't imagine. You come across men who, to hear them talk, you would say were enemies. And basically they are in agreement without knowing it. Others, on the contrary, talk, thinking that they understand one another, and basically, they continue poles apart.
Above all, remember this that I tell you: pay attention. Give your full attention to everything you do, everything you hear. You will discover new worlds. . . . There is no thing or person that cannot teach you something. The same thing is happening to you now that happens to most people: they don't fix their attention. We move like automatons. That is a mistake. There must be reflection. When you hear some new theory, don't say: False! Think that there are thousands who have thought about it before you. But, at the same time, don't say: the Gospel! There is only one gospel: love God and your neighbor.
If you pay attention--and don't think that all these theories are mine--they are St. Augustine's--you will without fail discover something very important: harmony. You will realize that there is harmony in everything, that everything forms part of a harmonious whole. Those very events that at first sight seem startling, you will come to understand as logical, as contributing to something harmonious and great. You will find harmony in the smallest details. This will assist you in no end in ordering your daily life. Your spirit will feel itself strengthened by forming part of that harmonious whole."
Gironella, pp. 415-16 (emphasis added).
Don't waste energy on things that generate worry, anxiety and anguish.
Only one thing is necessary:
Lift up your spirit and love God.
Padre Pio
Hat tip to Sue.
"For Catholics to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in Holy
Communion while in the state of mortal sin (having committed a mortal or
grave sin which has not been confessed and forgiven in Sacramental
Confession) is itself a mortal sin --- a mortal sin of Sacrilege." So writes Fr. Stefano Manelli.
What is there to say about the great purity of soul with which the saints approached to receive the bread of Angels? We know that they had a great delicacy of conscience which was truly angelic. Aware of their own misery, they tried to present themselves to Jesus "holy and immaculate," (Eph. 1:4) repeating with the Republican , "O God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13), and having recourse with great care to the cleansing of Confession.
To read what other saints have to say about this CLICK HERE
Book cover courtesy of Theotokos
In a previous post CLICK HERE TO READ, I shared with you Francis Phillips' review of the Donal Foley book Understanding Medjugorje
When I received the book, which Mr. Foley helped me obtain in the United States and a big mahalo to him for that, I was determined to read the book with an open mind.
Prior to learning of this particular book, there were times I believed in the apparitions I say that because, although I have never felt any draw to the Gospa's appearances there, I personally knew many people, including a priest who is very orthodox when it comes to church teachings, and friends who were brought back to the fold because of Medjugorje. All of these people "reverted" back to the Catholic faith because of Medjugorje. Even my own dear mom was a devotee of these apparitions and every since the 80's, she was determined to bring one of my brothers there to help his conversion.
So you see, I had no reason to doubt the apparitions. Yet I didn't believe wholeheartedly.
Donal Foley's book is written in a matter of fact way. He was not a harsh critic nor did he condemn the apparitions. He laid out the facts for the reader step-by-step. The followers and supporters have certain arguments as to why they believe these apparitions to be genuine. Mr. Foley counters each one of these arguments with logical explanations and questions.
Another way of presenting the argument against these apparitions was by comparing Mary's messages and the behavior of these visionaries to a true and church approved apparition such as that of Fatima and the seers there, the little shepherd children.
The book Understanding Medjugorge is highly recommended reading.
For another commentary of the Medjugorje apparitions, please see Mary Ann Kreitzer's article which can be FOUND HERE
Poster courtesy of Olivia Hussey Online
Recently a friend emailed me a lovely powerpoint presentation of Mother Teresa. It was full of her beautiful and thought provoking quotes. If you would like to see it, please feel free to emai me and I will be glad to send it to you.
Which brings me to a wonderful movie my family and I watched tonight. It was a story on the life of Mother Teresa starting from her life as a schoolteacher in India to the end of her life.
She is portrayed in the movie by actress Olivia Hussey. Some of you may remember her as the Mother of Jesus in the movie Jesus of Nazareth.
Ms. Hussey does an incredible job of bringing Mother Teresa to life for us. She somehow captured Mother's mannerisms and with a little help of make-up, she looked a little like dear Mother Teresa...but not quite.
My family strongly recommends that if you have an opportunity to watch this movie, do so with your entire family. The only fault we found with the movie was the it went along very well from beginning, capturing the viewers attention. However, during the end, it is rushed to conclude. Still , worthwhile to see.
