It Just Takes Five Minutes

Thanks Barb!

It takes only five minutes:

To say a prayer for the suffering friend
To read a chapter in "The Following of Christ"
To stop and think of God's daily gift of mercy
To remember the cross
To thank our Blessed Mother for her care of us
To make an act of faith, hope, and love
To whisper an "Our Father" or "Hail Mary" for someone in need
To say a decade of the Rosary for the pour souls
To visit the little statue or picture on the mantleplace and tell the Savior how much you love Him
To make a spiritual communion.

Which is the better way to spend five minutes?

Saintly Quote - Purification and Expiation

Thanks Sue!

To be tormented in long pains and to be cleansed and purified from one's sins by continuous fire, is a different thing from expiating one's sins all at once by suffering (of martyrdom).

St. Cyprian; Ep. 55, 20

How To Stop Sinning

by the late Father Kilian McGowan. C.P.
Shared by Sue C. Used with permission, from the Passionist Priests

Our quest for God in this life may be summed up into two basic movements of the human spirit: First-to live unto God, and secondly-to die unto sin. Our perfection as Christians consists in a wholehearted and practical love of God; and sin is the only real obstacle to this perfection.

The Catechism tells us that sin is a thought, desire, word, deed or omission against the law of God. This cold language unfortunately fails to dramatize the betrayal of God's love that is found in mortal sin. For mortal sin is far more than a transgression of God's law; it is a rejection of God Himself. It does much more than gravely damage the soul cast in God's likeness; it actually evicts the Adorable Trinity from its residence in the human heart. It is wholesale disaster for the follower of Christ.

I believe that every sincere Christian instinctively realizes this, even though he may not be able to spell out the theological effects of mortal sin. It's not surprising, therefore, that we priests are often asked this question: "Father, why is it that no matter how much I resolve not to commit serious sin, I keep falling back into the same old sin?'

First, let's take a look at the very key world "resolve". What is a sincere resolution? It's not a half-hearted hope to do better. It's not a wishy-washy intention to do God's will. It's a firm determination!! Note those two words: FIRM and DETERMINATION. A firm determination is a demanding leader that is resolved to use every possible means to achieve victory. Here the victory is to be won by total warfare against that enemy we call "sin."

The first weapon is PRAYER. Not just morning and night prayers, or rosaries and novenas. But prayer with or without words-at ALL times and in ALL our needs. Our Lord warned us to pray without ceasing and to pray least we fall into temptation.

Under this leading may we include the thought of the Presence of God-one of the greatest bulwarks against temptation; and meditation on the life and suffering of our Blessed Lord. Many saints have said that it is impossible to meditate daily on the Passion of Jesus and still hold onto a habit of serious sin. One or the other must go!

A second means is the SACRAMENTS. Each sacrament produces a certain spiritual effect in your soul. The sacrament of Penance not only destroys sin in the soul of a well-disposed penitent; it actually and really weakens the tendencies that lead one into sin. Because it attacks the disease of sin at its source, we can quickly see how this spiritual therapy must be used to maintain or regain spiritual health.

To explain how the Eucharist helps in this warfare against sin would take volumes. Suffice to say that it heals the scars of sin, infuses new spiritual energy into the campaign, and recalls the wandering inclinations of our heart and soul to God. It does all this in a very direct way-by bringing the Savior Himself into our hearts. Of all remedies, this obviously will ever be the greatest, because It gives you ALL that God has to offer.

Now, you may pray often-you may receive the sacraments frequently-even daily, but still that is not enough. You must also avoid the OCCASIONS OF SIN. This is the third means. Without this you have no firm determination to avoid sin. Occasions are, of course, those persons, places and things which you know from past experience have been the cause of your spiritual downfall. Don't kid yourself into believing that you can still love God and hang onto these occasions of sin!

We have seen briefly what sin does to us. To see what it did to God, take up your crucifix. That's the price our Lord was willing to pay to deliver you from the slavery of sin. What are you willing to do to avoid that slavery and to show a grateful love? We should start with a firm determination to avoid mortal sin. But before you do-if you haven't already-ask our Blessed Savior for the firmness and determination!

Prayer for the Protection Against Demons

Thanks Sue!

PRAYER FOR PROTECTION AGAINST DEMONS

by Saint John Bosco

O Mary, powerful Virgin,You are the mighty and glorious Protector of the Church. You are the Marvelous Help of Christians. You are Terrible as an Army set in Battle Array. You alone have destroyed every heresy in the entire Church.In the midst of my anguish, my struggles and my distress, Defend me from the power of the enemy,and at the hour of my death, Receive my soul into Paradise. Amen

Redemptive Suffering

Tito over at CUSTOS FIDEI has an interesting and thought provoking post and reminder on redemptive suffering and the tragedy that occurred on Monday.

..."In layman's terms, when we suffer, we can offer up our suffering to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Ergo, we have the opportunity to redeem ourselves through our suffering! Hence the term redemptive suffering.

Why or how do you say this is possible? Because He died for our sins! Because He conquered death when He rose again! Jesus went to the Cross as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of man. Jesus became the sacrificial lamb for mans sins. Before Christ His chosen people would slaughter lambs or other animals to redeem themselves for their sins to God on an altar. When Jesus went to Golgotha, the place of the skull, He became the ultimate sacrifice for all of mans sins. There can be no greater sacrifice than this! That is why the Eucharist is the centerpiece of the Mass..."

It is hard for me to tell someone to "offer it up" when I have not experienced the anguish or pain that the victims and their families at Virginia Tech have. However, as Catholic Christians, we should always have it in the forefront of our minds and hearts to never waste our sufferings. For to do so, would make our sufferings all for naught.

Your Favorite Rosary

Thanks to the new Catholic Moms Online Blogroll, I am visiting some new and interesting blogs.One of them is Sharon's The Bird's Nest. Sharon posted about sharing our favorite rosary beads.

I have a few favorites like the one my mom gave me with the crucifix shaped like JPII's staff or the white rosary beads, the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth gave my DH and me as a wedding gift.

Another favorite was also given to me by my mom...pressed rose petals with the Holy Family in the center before the start of the 5 decade beads.

For every day use, I pray my rosary on a medal finger rosary.

But my favorite one is the Rosary and Chaplet of the Unborn given to me by my friends Linda and Josephine. One gave me a chaplet of the unborn and the other the rosary of the unborn. As you can see by the picture, each bead contains a tiny baby. What a wonderful way to remember to pray for the unborn! To learn more about the Rosary for the Unborn CLICK HERE

Reasons Why the Christian Overcomes Temptations

Following excerpt is from My Daily Bread by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood.

Think about this:

"May I never become so self-centered as to think I am the only one who suffers temptations. There is no more pitiful sight than to meet someone who feels that he has greater trials than everyone else. Every man has his cross and some people have to bear far more than I ever could. And yet, this is not a Christian motive for patience and perseverance in time of trial and temptation. The true follower of Christ has higher reasons for fighting temptations:

His reasons are supernatural.

He wishes to avoid hell or a loner Purgatory than he now has.

He desires to make reparation for past sins by his present efforts.

He wants to please God by overcoming his faults or increasing his virtues.

He seeks to help the holy souls in Purgatory.

He is striving to obtain a particular favor for himself or some other person on earth.

He may even be working to insure or increase his glory in Heaven.

Finally, he may have the highest motive of all...to give God an unselfish proof of love, by simply embracing his trails because they are a part of God's all-wise plan.

Another Saintly Quote - Praying for the Dead

Thanks again Sue!

I therefore encourage Catholics to pray fervently for the dead, for their family members and for all our brothers and sisters who have died, that they may obtain the remission of the punishments due to their sins and may hear the Lord's call: "Come, O my dear soul, to eternal repose in the arms of my goodness, which has prepared eternal delights for you.

Pope John Paul II

A Thought to Ponder - Loving Our Neighbor

Sue shared this from Suicide of the West's Blog post "What if No One Cared About You"

Of all the sufferings in the world, I’ve always thought that loneliness must be one of the most brutal. We spring from the womb craving human love and contact. Giving and receiving love is the emotional staple of our existence. To be deprived of it, especially later in life, is an unimaginable grief.

Pity, then, Vincenzo Ricardo, of Hampton Bays, New York, who was found dead in his home this week. A neighbor had called the police to complain about a busted water pipe at the Ricardo house. When police entered, they found Vincenzo dead, sitting in a chair in front of a blaring television. After an autopsy, it was determined that he had been dead for over one year. In all that time, no one had expressed any interest or made any inquiries. Imagine that. A person so alone in the world that he could be dead for a year, and no one noticed. The only possible grace is that the year he spent dead was likely less tortuous than some of the years he spent alive.

Click link above for the rest of the post.

Is it any wonder that God gives us two of the greatest commandments to follow: Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself.

Saintly Quote

Thanks Sue!

We have not deserved to pray;but God, in His goodness, has permitted us to speak to Him. Our prayer is an incense which He receives with extreme pleasure.

Saint John Vianney