To Set This One Truth Before Their Eyes

Oh, I love this from today's Office of Readings!  It's from a sermon on the Ascension by Pope St. Leo the Great:

Beloved, the days which passed between the Lord’s resurrection and his ascension were by no means uneventful; during them great sacramental mysteries were confirmed, great truths revealed. In those days the fear of death with all its horrors was taken away, and the immortality of both body and soul affirmed. It was then that the Lord breathed on all his apostles and filled them with the Holy Spirit; and after giving the keys of the kingdom to blessed Peter, whom he had chosen and set above all the others, he entrusted him with the care of his flock.   

During these days the Lord joined two of his disciples as their companion on the road, and by chiding them for their timidity and hesitant fears he swept away all the clouds of our uncertainty. Their lukewarm hearts were fired by the light of faith and began to burn within them as the Lord opened up the Scriptures. And as they shared their meal with him, their eyes were opened in the breaking of bread, opened far more happily to the sight of their own glorified humanity than were the eyes of our first parents to the shame of their sin.  

Throughout the whole period between the resurrection and ascension, God’s providence was at work to instill this one lesson into the hearts of the disciples, to set this one truth before their eyes, that our Lord Jesus Christ, who was truly born, truly suffered and truly died, should be recognized as truly risen from the dead. The blessed apostles together with all the others had been intimidated by the catastrophe of the cross, and their faith in the resurrection had been uncertain; but now they were so strengthened by the evident truth that when their Lord ascended into heaven, far from feeling any sadness, they were filled with great joy.  

Indeed that blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it saw man’s nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Nor would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand of the eternal Father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the person of the Son.

A Great Talk from Sr. Bethany Madonna

Love this Lighthouse Catholic Media talk from Sr. Bethany Madonna:

Desires of the Heart: Receiving the Gifts of the Father

Stir Up Our Hearts, and Sanctify this Day

Love this from Morning Prayer today! I think it ties in with what I posted last week from +Archbishop Luis Martinez from The Sanctifier.

Christ our Savior, in conquering death you brought us joy, in rising again you raised us up and filled us with the abundance of your gifts, 
-stir up our hearts, and sanctify this day through the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Amen! Alleluia!

To Reach the End for Which We Were Made

From +Archbishop Luis Martinez, The Sanctifier, on the virtue of fortitude aided by the gift of fortitude, a gift given us by the Holy Spirit at our baptism:

"We need the Holy Spirit to moderate our affections, to regulate our lives, and to unite us intimately with God, so that no earthly attraction, no worldly enchantment, can pull us away from his loving embrace...

"In the spiritual life, there are difficulties and there are also dangers: occasions of sin and obstacles to good...We need extraordinary strength to help us bear these difficulties, avoid these dangers, strive toward the accomplishment of the will of God, and finally to reach the end for which we were made...

"That we may overcome the difficulties and escape the dangers, God has provided us with a set of virtues grouped around the cardinal virtue of fortitude. These are patience, perseverance, fidelity, magnanimity, and a number of others, which, like an army in battle array, stand ready to help us. They are very efficacious, yet they are not sufficient...although virtues are supernatural, they receive in our practice of them our own stamp: the human character, narrow, limited, and very weak. 

"...If we are to attain salvation, fortitude with its companion virtues is not enough. A gift is needed, the gift of the Holy Spirit that bears the same name as the virtue: the gift of fortitude. The Holy Spirit moves us by this gift so that we are able to overcome difficulties, to avoid dangers, and to have confidence. 'I can do all things,' exclaimed the Apostle St. Paul, 'in Him who strengthens me' (Philippians 4:13).

"...In the supernatural order, under the movement of the Holy Spirit, creatures are actually clothed with the strength of God... In fact, we often observe how obstacles become a means to some good end in the all-powerful hands of God.

"Not only does the gift of fortitude help us overcome difficulties and avoid dangers, but it also gives us confidence like that which the Apostle Paul describes in the passage just cited. It is a confidence, a security, that produces peace in our souls in the midst of dangers, in struggles, in all our tribulations."

Father in Heaven, increase in us the gift of fortitude to aid our virtue and give us confidence of our life in You! +Amen!

Just a reminder.

Just a reminder for anyone else who needs it:

You are not disposable to God.

You are not replaceable.

It is good you exist.

Remain Firm in the Unity of Christ's Body through the Enduring Bond of Love

From St. Fulgentius of Ruspe in the Office of Readings for today:

"The spiritual building up of the body of Christ is achieved through love. As Saint Peter says: Like living stones you are built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And there can be no more effective way to pray for this spiritual growth than for the Church, itself Christ’s body, to make the offering of his body and blood in the sacramental form of bread and wine. For the cup we drink is a participation in the blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ. Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, since we all share the same bread. And so we pray that, by the same grace which made the Church Christ’s body, all its members may remain firm in the unity of that body through the enduring bond of love.

"We are right to pray that this may be brought about in us through the gift of the one Spirit of the Father and the Son. The holy Trinity, the one true God, is of its nature unity, equality and love, and by one divine activity sanctifies its adopted sons. That is why Scripture says that God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he has given us. The Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, produces in those to whom he gives the grace of divine adoption the same effect as he produced among those whom the Acts of the Apostles describes as having received the Holy Spirit. We are told that the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, because the one Spirit of the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is one God, had created a single heart and soul in all those who believed.

"This is why Saint Paul in his exhortation to the Ephesians says that this spiritual unity in the bond of peace must be carefully preserved. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, he writes, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, with all humility and meekness and with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit.

"God makes the Church itself a sacrifice pleasing in his sight by preserving within it the love which his Holy Spirit has poured out. Thus the grace of that spiritual love is always available to us, enabling us continually to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to him for ever."

Mary, Ark of the Covenant, Pray for Us

This is a great podcast from Dr. Edward Sri to listen to today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation:

Mary and the Lost Ark

 "We want to draw near to Mary, just like the Israelites had the Ark of the Covenant lead them around Jericho. We want to turn near to Mary and have her help us fight the battles that we need God's help in... so think about those walls that keep you from a closer relationship with God... Ask Mary to go before you like the Ark of the Covenant, and may those walls fall down like they did in Jericho." Edward Sri

And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God..." Luke 1:35 

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle....Whenever the cloud rose from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journey... The cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire in the cloud at night, in the sight of the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey.         Exodus 40: 34,36,38

Mary, Ark of the Covenant, pray for us!

In What Font, In Whose Spirit, In Whose Blood

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Love the Collect for today!

God of everlasting mercy,
who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast
kindle the faith of the people you have made your own,
increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed,
that all may grasp and rightly understand
in what font they have been washed,
by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

AMEN!

Walking Alone with Christ

So, yeah. I read something the other day, and I continue to think about it and thought I'd share it here.  It's from Fr. Mike Schmitz, Following God. Alone.

This is what struck me the most:

"One task we all have to accomplish is to learn how to walk alone with Christ...the Christian does not have to seek out isolation, but we must learn how to embrace it when it finds us."

Because, yes, it finds us. Sometimes quite unexpectedly, and other times you can see it coming a long way off.  Either way, Jesus does not leave us orphans. He is with us. Community is wonderful, and God provides when we need it most, yet there are times in life when community eludes us. And it is these times when our hearts are stretched to trust that Jesus continues to be with us and for us. Jesus does not abandon us. The interior suffering that finds us is painful, yet can be fruitful if we open ourselves to the grace God pours out to us in our loneliness and solitude.

One of the most beautiful books I have read is When God is Silent by +Archbishop Luis Martinez.  Here is a passage from that short and helpful book:

"Let faith and love sustain you while Jesus sleeps.  

The grace of purifying and fruitful sorrow is assured by the sleep of Jesus in the soul.  As the tempest on Tiberias coincided with the sleep of the Master, so in souls the hurricane rages when Jesus sleeps.  Souls need to be tempered in the clamor of the storm. They must be shaken by the seething waves to learn the stability of love. The sky must be overcast so that in the midst of shadows they may catch sight of  the mysterious light of faith.  The very depths must be opened beneath their fragile bark, so they may know how to hope against all hope."

During times of isolation or loneliness, we may be tempted in the interior suffering to try to alleviate our sadness in ways leading us away from God.  Instead, let us trust that He is with us, and though in our sadness, His presence may seem impossible to awaken, let us trust the fruitful labor of His love in our hearts, teaching us to hope against all hope.

A blessed last day of the Easter Octave to you!

I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:18

From The Breadbox Letters

The Sparrow's Nest

 
 The Sparrow's Nest
by William Wordsworth

Behold, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight.
I started--seeming to espy
The home and sheltered bed,
The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by
My Father's house, in wet and dry
My sister Emmeline and I
Together visited.

She looked at it and seemed to fear it;
Dreading, tho' wishing, to be near it:
Such heart was in her, being then
A little Prattler among men.
The Blessing of my later years
Was with me when a boy:
She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;
And humble cares, and delicate fears;
A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;
And love, and thought, and joy.

"There is something new that Mary must step back and behold."

Love this from Msgr. Pope at Community in Mission:

"Mary Magdalene has made a journey from fear to faith."

Where Charity and Truth Prevail

"Only when truth and love are in harmony can man know joy.

For it is truth that makes man free."

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI

The children of the Bridegroom cannot mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them

The children of the Bridegroom cannot mourn,

as long as the Bridegroom is with them.

Matt 9:15

"These sweet and consoling words must be our Easter text: 'The children of the Bridegroom cannot mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them.' They are the key to the whole Liturgy of this Holy Season. We must have them ever before us, and we shall find by experience that the joy of Easter is as salutary as the contrition and penance of Lent." 

Dom Prosper Gueranger

St. Philip Neri, Light of Holy Joy, pray for us

One of my favorite spiritual writers, Philip Kosloski, has a great prayer to Saint Philip Neri here: 

Want to Be More Joyful? Pray this Prayer to St. Philip Neri

Check out Philip's website! 

An Ennobled Existence

"A happy death is a masterpiece and no masterpiece was ever perfected in a day...our death at the end of our natural existence must appear as a ravishing perfection of the many years of labor we have given over to it's mold by dying daily...Most of us die only once when we should have died a thousand times-- aye when we should have died daily. Death is a terrible thing for him who dies only when he dies; but it is a beautiful thing for him who dies before he dies...There is no other way of entering into a higher life except by dying to the lower; there is no possibility of man's enjoying an ennobled existence in Christ unless he is torn up from the old Adam."

+Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Let no one grieve over his poverty...

"Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh." St. John Chrysostom, Easter Paschal Homily

Anyone there?

Thinking about possibly writing here again...
Stay tuned!

Happy Easter! Christ is risen, Alleluia!

Comforter of the Afflicted and the Refuge of Sinners

Venerable Fulton Sheen+, The Mystical Body of Christ

Our Lord did not make His earthly life one prolonged transfiguration. In those few, brief moments He did reveal the glory which was really His, but at all other times He appealed through the humanity which was like unto ours. His fatigue at Jacob's well, His tears over Jerusalem, His agony in the garden, His sufferings on the Cross - all the "weakness" of His human nature - have won more souls to Him than the blazing garments and the Heavenly Voice of Thabor.

In like manner, if the life of the Church had been one triumphant, blazing transfiguration on a mountain top, apart from the woes and ills of man, she would never have been the Comforter of the Afflicted and the Refuge of Sinners. She has been called, like her Divine Head, to be a redemptress, lifting men from the shadows of sin to the tabernacles of grace where Saints are made. She is not a far-off, abstract ideal, but a Mother; and though she has been stained with dust in her long journey through the centuries, though some of her children have left her and saddened her soul, yet there is joy in her heart because of the children she has nourished; there is gladness in her eyes because of the faith she has preserved; there is understanding in her soul for she has known the frailty of our flesh, and how to nourish us back to life. And in these qualities one divines the reason why Our Blessed Lord chose, not a sinless man like John, but a weak, frail, fallen man like Peter as His first vicar, in order that, through his weakness, he and the Church of which he is the head might sympathize with the weakness of his brethren, be their Apostle of Mercy and, in the truest sense of the term, the Vicar of the Saviour and Redeemer of the world who came not to save the just, but the sinner.

"There are certain things in life which are too beautiful to be forgotten.."

Praise be Jesus Christ! What a gem... Calvary and the Mass by Venerable Fulton Sheen+

From the prologue:

Each word is a part of the Mass. The First Word, "Forgive," is the Confiteor; the Second Word, "This Day in Paradise," is the Offertory; the Third Word, "Behold Thy Mother," is the Sanctus; the Fourth Word, "Why hast Thou abandoned Me," is the Consecration; the Fifth Word, "I thirst," is the Communion; the Sixth Word, "It is finished," is the Ite, Missa Est; the Seventh Word, "Father, into Thy Hands," is the Last Gospel.

The Abiding Presence of the Centuries

This. From +Venerable Fulton Sheen, The Mystical Body of Christ:

When therefore we in this twentieth century wish to know about Christ, about His early Church, about history, we go not only to the written records, but to the living Church which began with Christ. That Church, or that Mystical Person who has been living all these centuries and is the basis of our faith, says to us:

"I live with Christ. I saw His Mother and I know her to be a Virgin and the loveliest and purest of all women in heaven or on earth; I saw Christ at Caesarea-Philippi, when, after changing Simon's name to Rock, He told him he was the rock upon which the Church would be built and that it would endure unto the consummation of the world. I saw Christ hanging on a cross and I saw Him rise from His tomb; I saw Magdalene rush to His feet; I saw the angels clad in white beside the great stone; I was in the Cenacle room when doubting Thomas put fingers into His hands; I was on Olivet when He ascended into heaven and promised to send His Spirit to the apostles to make them the foundation of His new Mystical Body on earth. I was at the stoning of Stephen, saw Saul hold the garments of those who slew him, and later I heard Saul, as Paul, preach Christ and Him crucified; I witnessed the beheading of Peter and Paul in Rome, and with my very eyes saw tens of thousands of martyrs crimson the sands with their blood, rather than deny the faith Peter and Paul had preached unto them; I was living when Boniface was sent to Germany, when Augustine when to England, Cyril and Methodius to the Poles, and Patrick to Ireland; at the beginning of the ninth century I recall seeing Charlemagne crowned as king in matters temporal as Peter's vicar was recognized as supreme in matters spiritual; in the thirteenth century I saw the great stones cry out in tribute to me, and burst into Gothic Cathedrals; in the shadows of those same walls I saw great Cathedrals of thought arise in the prose of Aquinas and Bonaventure, and in the poetry of Dante; in the sixteenth century I saw my children softened by the spirit of the world leave the Father's house and reform the faith instead of reforming discipline which would have brought them back again into my embrace; in the last century and at the beginning of this I heard the world say it could not accept me because I was behind the times. I am not behind the times, I am only behind the scenes. I have adapted myself to every form of government the world has ever known; I have lived with Caesars and kings, tyrants and dictators, parliaments and presidents, monarchies and republics. I have welcomed every advance of science, and were it not for me the great records of the pagan world would not have been preserved. It is true I have not changed my doctrine, but that is because the ‘doctrine is not mine but His who sent Me.’ I change my garments which belong to time, but not my Spirit which belongs to eternity. In the course of my long life I have seen so many modern ideas become unmodern, that I know I shall live to chant a requiem over the modern ideas of this day, as I chanted it over the modern ideas of the last century. I celebrated the nineteen-hundredth anniversary of the death of my Redeemer and yet I am no older now than then, for my Spirit is Eternal, and the Eternal never ages. I am the abiding Personage of the centuries. I am the contemporary of all civilizations. I am never out of date, because the dateless; never out of time, because the timeless. I have four great marks: I am One, because I have the same Soul I had in the beginning; I am Holy, because that Soul is the Spirit of Holiness; I am Catholic, because that Spirit pervades every living cell of my Body; I am Apostolic, because my origin is identical with Nazareth, Galilee and Jerusalem. I shall grow weak when my members become rich and cease to pray, but I shall never die. I shall be persecuted as I am persecuted now in Mexico and Russia; I shall be crucified as I was on Calvary, but I shall rise again, and finally when time shall be no more, and I shall have grown to my full stature, then shall I be taken into heaven as the bride of my Head, Christ, where the celestial nuptials shall be celebrated, and God shall be all in all, because His Spirit is Love and Love is Heaven."