Daily Rosary Meditations | Catholic Prayers

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Faith, Prayer, and Fasting Oct 03, 2019

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Since the 19th century this world welcomed, as though it is good news, what people call the death of God. Man, finally free, has become his own god. He can now enter on the way of progress with no inhibitions. According to those who rely completely on science, man is going to be able to resolve by himself all his problems, including the problem of war and even the problem of death. It is thought that there will be a scientific means found to overcome this final disaster which overtakes every human life. In this triumphalistic spirit the world has calmly given itself over to sin, to the most animalistic desires of the human person, which become the religion and morality of the world. From this has come the worst of slaveries, the worst of violence and the worst of despair. Mary, the Mother of God and Our Mother has been appearing at Medjugorje since June 24, 1981 until this day, Oct 2, 2019 to warn us this calm abandonment to sin has placed the world in a state of self-destruction, with no faith and no moral law, and therefore with neither order nor meaning in life, and this is occurring among Christians…Self-destruction because of sin is what Mary has come to warn the world of. This is precisely the message of the ten secrets of Medjugorje which have not yet been disclosed but are destined to be so.

The message, which started again June 24th of 1981 and continues to this day is a message of faith, prayer, fasting, conversion, and peace.

The message of the reported apparitions at Medjugorje is one of faith in God,

The official atheism of Communism in the East tried to eliminate God, and the practical atheistic materialism of the West has done this more thoroughly. God exists, he loves us, but he has created us free and will do nothing for us without us. This is the very law of creation, in fact it is the law of love. God offers Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ. God waits for our response, our yes or no. We give our yes through Faith in which we give ourselves unconditionally to the Father through Jesus; we believe all that He revealed that is handed down through the Catholic faith as it is summarized in the Catechism and we do our best to live what he revealed. If we don’t live it then we must not have believed it in the first place. The Blessed Mother says specifically in the messages that all religions are not equal and so there’s no sense of a false ecumenism. Jesus Christ is the one mediator to the Father. Our Lady has also given in the Medjugorje message a promise to leave a permanent visible sign for the “unbelievers”, something people can come and see, which will assist them in accepting the authenticity of Medjugorje.

At Medjugorje Our Lady is asking for a clearly greater quality and quantity of prayer, what she calls prayer of the heart, a greater interior prayer, and with this call of greater quality of prayer there’s also very clearly a call for more generosity in prayer.

Prayer is essential to the Message of Medjugorje because it is in prayer that we communicate with God, that our life derives its energy and is shared with God. Without prayer so many lives are distracted and dispersed for nothing because they are restricted to human solutions alone. Prayer brings us back to the very source of our existence and the goal of our life – God.

At Medjugorje, Mary has called for the fifteen decade rosary daily, and if one is quick to dismiss this as just impossible in the present world, it might be good to keep in mind that John Paul the Second got fifteen decades in each day and because he did, was inspired to do the same and therefor, Pope Francis also gets in his fifteen decades, so, they have rather packed schedules, rather significant calendars, and yet they get their prayers and so perhaps it’s not as impossible of a request as one might think at first glance.

Our Lady calls for Mass to be the “gift of the day” for the faithful.

Guardian Angels Oct 02, 2019

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Today we celebrate the reality that God has given each person a guardian Angel

St. Faustina writes: When I entered the chapel for a moment that same evening, to thank God for all the graces He had bestowed on me in this house, suddenly God’s presence enveloped me. I felt like a child in the hands of the best of fathers, and I heard these words: Do not fear anything. I am always with you. His love penetrated my whole being. I felt I was entering into such close intimacy with Him that I cannot find words to express it.

630 Then I saw one of the seven spirits near me, radiant as at other times, under a form of light. I constantly saw him beside me when I was riding on the train. I saw an angel standing on every church we passed, but surrounded by a light which was paler than that of the spirit who was accompanying me on the journey, and each of these spirits who were guarding the churches bowed his head to the spirit who was near me.

When I entered the convent gate at Warsaw, the spirit disappeared. I thanked God for His goodness, that He gives us angels for companions. Oh, how little people reflect on the fact that they always have beside them such a guest, and at the same time a witness to everything! Remember, sinners, that you likewise have a witness to all your deeds.

One day there was an assassination attempt on the life of St Josemaria Escriva the founder of “The Work of God.” As Josemaria was climbing some steps through a busy crowd a man came towards him with knife intent on killing him. Suddenly it seemed, out of nowhere, another large man passed in front of him and disarmed the man with the knife. Josemaria did not recognize either of the men but as the assailant was led away, the other tall man came over to Josemaria and whispered in his ear “you mangey donkey” Josemaria immediately knew then who this man was: it was his Guardian Angel. You see each day in his prayers to God, Josemaria would ask God to look after his “mangey donkey” referring to himself. He had done this all his adult life but had never told a living soul.

s a gift from God you have at your disposal an angel of vastly superior intellect who is not bound by space and time to help you know and do the will of God and to protect you from the devil and demons. This Angel was created at the beginning of the world, has seen everything, and is at your disposal to guide and protect you.

On May 31, 2000, the CDF approved this consecration prayer:

O Holy Angels of God, here, in the presence of the Triune God and in the love of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer, I a poor sinner, want to make a covenant with you, who are his servants, so that in union with you, I might work with humility and fortitude for the glory of God and the coming of his Kingdom. Therefore, I implore you to assist me, especially – in the adoration of God and of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar – in the contemplation of the word and the salvific works of God – in the imitation of Christ and in the love of his Cross in a spirit of expiation – in the faithful fulfillment of my mission within the Church, serving humbly after the example of Mary, my heavenly Mother, your Queen. And you, my good guardian angel, who continually behold the face of our Father in heaven, God entrusted me to you from the very beginning of my life. I thank you with all my heart for your loving care. I commit myself to you and promise you my love and fidelity. I beg you: protect me against my own weakness and against the attacks of the wicked spirits; enlighten my mind and my heart so that I may always know and accomplish the will of God; and lead me to union with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Little Way Oct 01, 2019

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We are to live in reality and not according to illusions. What is reality? God is love. What are the Implications of the fact that God is love? The nature of love is to give itself as a gift to do what is good for others. So God creates the world and gives us his life at the beginning, on the cross, and in baptism. What more could we want? He makes us his children, and he is our Father.

Our Father is All-Good: Trust him. Abandon yourself to him with audacious confidence. He can only do good for you, there is no other option. So love him in return. Do all of the little and big duties and tasks of daily life for the love of God. Accept all that you cannot change with trust and love for God. Offer it for the good of other souls. Work with God to get them to heaven. This is what Jesus lived for 30 years.

Thérèse of Lisieux was a little soul, indeed. Still, from the time of her youth, she had bold desires: She wanted to become a saint, and not just any saint, but a great saint. A story from her childhood helps us understand this — a story she calls “a summary of my whole life.” One day, Thérèse’s older sister Leonie had decided she’d outgrown some of her playthings. So she offered to her little sisters, Céline and Thérèse, a basket full of such items. Céline chose one item that pleased her. But when it came to Thérèse’s turn, the future saint suddenly exclaimed, “I choose all!” and proceeded to take the entire basket. That story expresses well how Thérèse approached the spiritual life and the path to sanctity in particular. She understood that “there were many degrees of perfection” and she wanted the highest degree, saying to the Lord, “My God, I choose all! … ‘I choose all’ that You will!”

Later, Thérèse would express her bold desires for holiness in an even more audacious way, saying that she wanted to love God even more than Teresa of Avila, the great Carmelite Doctor of the Church! However, she also realized her weakness and littleness. And so, for Thérèse, saints like the great Teresa of Avila were like eagles, soaring on the heights of holiness; whereas, she simply saw herself as a weak little bird without strength and unable to fly. In fact, she readily admitted, “I am not an eagle.” Nevertheless, she went on to explain, “but I have … an eagle’s EYES AND HEART.” Then, she continued, “[So,] in spite of my extreme littleness I still dare to gaze upon [the Lord], and my heart feels within it all the aspirations of an Eagle.”

Such is the boldness that led Thérèse to discover the Little Way. I have always wanted to be a saint....I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: “Whoever is a LITTLE ONE, let him come to me.” And so I succeeded. I felt I had found what I was looking for. … The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more."

He makes us his father. We our his children. Abandon yourself to him with audacious confidence. He can only do good for you. There is no other option. Love him in return. Do all of the little and big duties and tasks of daily life for the love of God. Accept all that you cannot change with trust and love for God. Offer it for the good of other souls. Work with God to get them to Heaven.

Our Lady and Saint Michael Sep 30, 2019

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1 Peter 5:8 Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. In this spiritual battle the is a very important alliance between Mary, the Queen of the Universe and St. Michael the Archangel. The Book of Revelation 12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown…Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron scepter, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne…And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him…Let the heavens rejoice and all who live there; but for you, earth and sea, trouble is coming - because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that his days are numbered.’ …Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, that is, all who obey God's commandments and bear witness for Jesus.

St Faustina experienced the help of St. Michael: “September 29. On the feast of St Michael the Archangel, I saw by my side that great Leader, who spoke these words to me – ‘The Lord has ordered me to take special care of you. Know that you are hated by evil; but do not fear – Who is like God!’. And he disappeared. But I feel his presence and assistance.” (Diary of St Faustina, para.706)

“O glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, defend us in battle, and in the struggle which is ours against the Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against spirits of evil in high places (Eph 6:12). Come to the aid of men, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil (Wis 2:23-24, 1 Cor 6:20).

Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. But that cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with all his angels (Rev 12:7-9).

“Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of man has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions (Lam 3:15). Arise then, O invincible prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and bring them the victory. Amen.”

Saint Michael Sep 29, 2019

Show notes

The Devil is the absolute destroyer, his goal is to divide and conquer by turning man against God and man against man. The weapons he uses is to sow doubt in us toward God the Father and to sow fear, hatred and polarization between husbands and wives, families and nations. Look around and we see precisely this at every level. There are human actors but this is first and foremost a spiritual war fought between spiritual beings, God, angels and demons. St Paul describes this in Ephesians6:10

If this was not Sunday we would be celebrating today, September 29, the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. But since we are inundated with the powers of darkness in the world and in the Church I want to reflect on the often forgotten and vital role of St. Michael the Archangel, the Prince or Leader of the Spiritual Army of Angels.

The Book of Revelation 12:7, Describes a great battle between Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, the devil and his demons. This conflict began with the creation of the angels and it rages to this day and until the end of the world. St. Basil (Hom. de angelis) and other Greek Fathers place St. Michael over all the angels; they say he is called "archangel" because he is the prince or leader of the other angels.

In 1884 Pope Leo XIII had celebrated a morning Mass, he went to a meeting with the Cardinals. Suddenly he collapsed into unconsciousness. The doctors who came to his aid found no cause for the collapse, although his pulse almost ceased. Suddenly he awoke and was fresh as ever. He reported that he had seen a terrible vision in which the Devil and his demons would be unleashed in the later half of the 20th and first part of the 21st century as a punishment for sinful humanity. He was granted to see the devil’s seductiveness and ravaging for the coming ages in all lands. In this distress St. Michael the Archangel appeared and cast Satan with all his demons back into Hell. Seeing that we needed the help of the Angelic Army and especially its leader St. Michael, Pope Leo XIII composed the Prayer to St Michael and then commanded it be prayed at the end of every Mass throughout the world perpetually.

The entire Church prayed the prayer of St. Michael after every Mass until 1968. Then for some unknown, and demonic reason we abruptly stopped, and literally all hell broke loose in the late 60’s with no-fault divorce, contraception, abortion, the sexual revolution, the breakdown of the family, rampant drug use and the rapid inculcation of Marxist ideologies in our government and education system. I think we need to turn back to St. Michael!

On Oct 13, 1973, Mary the Mother of God at the Approved apparition of Akita Japan warned of the impending dangers for the Church

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.

"The demon will be relentless against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them"

"Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamites which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."

Am I really preparing myself each day for this spiritual battle by meditation and a resolution, examination of conscience, the frequent reception of the Eucharist and Confession? What is the meaning of spiritual battle and how am I caring out my mission within my spiritual battles?

Saint Vincent de Paul and Divine Providence Sep 28, 2019

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Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Vincent DePaul. His life is a striking example of Divine Providence, the way God works all things for good for those who love him. Vincent lived from 1576-1660. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1600 but did not finish his studies until Oct 1604. When he graduated, he was saddled with a large student loan debt. Nothing changes right! In 1605 the good news reached him that a family friend had died and left him some money to pay for his debt for which he had to go ship to Marseilles through the Mediterranean. In 1605, Vincent returning to by ship and was taken captive by Barbary or Muslim pirates, who took him to Tunis. There, De Paul was auctioned off as a slave. His first master was a fisherman, but Vincent was unsuitable for this line of work due to sea-sickness and was soon sold. His next master was alchemist and inventor. Upon the Alchemists death, Vincent was sold again. His new master was a former Franciscan priest from Nice, France, who had converted to Islam in to gain his freedom from slavery and was living in the mountains with three wives. The second wife, a Muslim by birth, was drawn to and visited Vincent in the fields especially when she heard Vincent singing the Hail, Holy Queen, and she questioned him about his faith. She became convinced that his faith was true and admonished her husband for renouncing his Christianity. Her husband became remorseful and decided to escape back to France with his slave. They waited ten months, but finally they secretly boarded a small boat and crossed the Mediterranean, landing in France in June 1607, more than two years of slavery. Through all of this God was working.

After DePaul returned to France he became a Parish Priest and continued his spiritual formation under Fr. Pierre de Bérulle, who was one of the greatest Marian Mystics and Theologians at the time. Bérulle assigned Vincent to serve as a chaplain and tutor to the Gondi family. Preaching a mission to the peasants, who were slaves for all intents and purposes, reminded him of his own harsh captivity and he was inspired to direct all his efforts to the poor. In 1617, Vincent contacted the Daughters of Charity and they then introduced him to poor families. Vincent then brought them food and comfort. He organized these wealthy women of Paris to collect funds for missionary projects, founded hospitals, and gather relief funds for the victims of war and to ransom 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa.

St. Vincent DePaul founded the Confraternities of Charity, the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. St. Vincent’s work has developed into 268 charitable organizations in 132 countries, serving 100s of millions of people each year. However, without his own experience of enslavement, I wonder if Vincent would have done so much good?

The world and our lives are not governed by random chaotic forces nor are they controlled by evil and stupid people. The World and our lives are in the hands of an all good, all powerful and loving Father who is guiding all things that happen to us for our greatest good and the greatest good of our loved ones. An I emphatically mean ALL things, even our own stupid or sinful choices, as I said yesterday. God allowed or permitted St. Vincent DePaul to be captured and made a slave for two years to bring about an even greater good – that Vincent would be moved by this experience and the grace of God to serve countless poor and slaves and to inspire 400 years of charitable work in his wake.

There are two parts of the Doctrine Divine Providence: The first is that God is so All-Powerful and Good that He can work All things, and I mean everything to our greatest good. The second part is that we will only benefit from the Providence of God if we cooperate with Him and do our part – responding with Faith, Hope and Love.

Divine Providence and My Stupidity Sep 27, 2019

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Divine Providence is the way God guides all things with Wisdom, Love and Power to reach the purpose for which he designed them. CCC 321

This is so liberating – see – last night I was feeling like a caged animal because I can’t exercise with this muscular skeletal problem that causes breathing issues – but I thought – sure I can do some simple exercises – so I did and it was simple – and it was dumb as…because I cant breathe today. Idiot, idiot, idiot…Why do I do such stupid things. Then I reflected on the multiplicity of stupid and even worse sinful things I say and do: idiot, idiot, idiot. But even my stupidity and even my sin are not more powerful than the Providence of God who works all things, even my stupid choices, and my sins for my good if I love Him. Oh there are consequences, physical, moral and spiritual, but we never have cause for despair because God can even work our bad decision and even our sinful decisions for our greater good and the greater good of others and the whole world. That doesn’t give me license to do stupid or sinful things, but it does mean that I don’t have to be perfect. I can be imperfect with the will to better and God will take care of the rest.

Excessive sadness and discouragement over our bad decisions are not good and we must not view our own faults too tragically because God is able to draw good from them. Thérèse of the Child Jesus loved greatly this phrase of Saint John of the Cross: “Love is able to profit from everything, the good as well as the bad that It finds in me, and to transform it into Itself.” Our confidence in God must go at least that far: to believe that He is good enough and powerful enough to draw good from everything, including our faults and our infidelities. When he cites the phrase of Saint Paul, Everything works together for the good of those who love God, Saint Augustine adds: “even sins”! Of course, we must struggle energetically against sin and correct our imperfections. When we have been the cause of some evil, we must also try to rectify it to the extent that this is possible. But we must not distress ourselves excessively regarding our faults because God, once we return to Him with a contrite heart, is able to cause good to spring forth, if only to make us to grow in humility and to teach us to have a little less confidence in our own strength and a little more in Him alone.

So great is the mercy of the Lord that He uses our faults to our advantage! Ruysbroek, a Flemish mystic of the Middle Ages, has these words: “The Lord, in His clemency, wanted to turn our sins against themselves and in our favor; He found a way to render them useful, to convert them in our hands into instruments of salvation. This should in no way diminish our fear of sinning, nor our pain at having sinned. Rather, our sins have become for us a source of humility.” Let us add also that they can just as well become a source of tenderness and mercy toward others. I, who fall so easily, how can I permit myself to judge my brother? How can I not be merciful toward him, as the Lord has been toward me? Accordingly, after committing a fault of whatever kind, rather than withdrawing into ourselves indefinitely in discouragement and dwelling on the memory, we must immediately return to God with confidence and even thank Him for the good that His mercy will be able to draw out of this fault!

We must know that one of the weapons that the devil uses most commonly to prevent souls from advancing toward God is precisely to try to make them lose their peace and discourage them by the sight of their faults… Let us understand this: For the person of goodwill, that which is serious in sin is not so much the fault in itself as the despondency into which it places him. He who falls but immediately gets up has not lost much. He has rather gained in humility and in the experience of mercy.

Who Should You Love? Sep 26, 2019

Show notes

We have been reflecting on Charity, the virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Our standard for charity towards those around us is God’s love. In fact, Christ explicitly gave us this standard, saying, “A new commandment I give you: love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), that is, selflessly and sacrificially. Consequently, whether we have genuine charity for our neighbors depends on whether we’re willing to give selflessly and sacrificially for their sakes. Notice that Our Lord doesn’t offer this principle as advice, but as a commandment; we’re obliged to love selflessly and sacrificially. As Christians, we’re obliged to spend time with people we don’t enjoy, to be kind to our enemies, to give generously to the poor, to strive for reconciliation with estranged family members, and to show our affection for people we don’t get along with.

The Virtue of Charity means practicing the Works of Mercy, both bodily and spiritual. The seven corporeal works of mercy are those which care for the bodily wants of our brothers and sisters. They are: Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, ransoming the captive, caring for the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. The chief opportunity for us to lend material aid to those in need is in giving alms; our financial donations are a critical aspect of fraternal charity, and a work pleasing to God.

The spiritual works of mercy are those which promote the welfare of souls. They are instructing, counseling, admonishing, comforting, praying for the living and the dead, forgiving willingly, and bearing wrongs patiently. While it is necessary to do all we can to ensure that all people have the basic physical necessities there is the CCC states “another hunger from which men are perishing: "Man does not live by bread alone, but . . . by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,"…There is a famine on earth, "not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD" (CCC 2835) People come to God through other people. It is your responsibility to help your spouse, kids, and friends into a deep friendship with Jesus, and you will be held accountable for this just as we are held accountable to take care of the poor, first in our own families and then beyond. This is why it is so necessary and so fulfilling to cultivate a way life of Invitation, Hospitality, Friendship, Good Conversation and inviting others to Pray the Rosary with us.

So whom should you love? Christians are supposed to love everybody, but remember that virtue is ordered love, and there’s an order to our love of neighbor as well. When you’re prioritizing your love, the two main things to consider are a person’s need and relationship to you. After that, you go based on whatever other circumstances make you more closely connected to one person rather than another.

First we need to consider a person’s relationship to us. God has designed us to feel a greater affection for those nearest to us. We have a natural affection for our family, our friends, our coworkers. This phenomenon isn’t just some evolutionary, tribalistic, adaptive trait: it’s God’s way of encouraging us to love those around us, those with whom we’re likely to come into close contact. God doesn’t want us loving coldly, abstractly, at a distance: He wants us to love the people in front of us, with us in our lives. And so He makes it pleasing to love those to whom we’re more closely connected.

Second, consider helping others a source of joy. Because it gives joy, and it forces you to stop obsessing about your own issues, when you help people who are really in need.

What Makes God Happy? Sep 25, 2019

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If Charity is to do something for the happiness of someone else, then what would please God, what would make Him happy? What matters most to God is the salvation of souls. This is what motivated Him to become one of us, suffer and die: God loves souls and wants to save them. If we want to do something for God, something for the love of Him, then we should do all we can to help Him save souls. And there are many simple things we can do for the love of God and for the salvation of souls. Each morning in the Morning Offering I shared with you yesterday, we can offer up and unite our prayer, work, joy and suffering to Jesus to help Him save souls. In this way we become God’s fellow workers, as Paul says in 1 Cor 3:9. Did you do your morning offering today or is all that stuff going to be wasted?

The second way you can do something for the love and good of God and to make him happy is the be an apostle of friendship and the Rosary. The world is rampant with loneliness and a loss of meaning and purpose. What the world needs is: 1) Families helping families, people helping people, you help your own family, 2) Live the virtue of hospitality, friendship and the art of good conversation, 3) Have a consistent but flexible spiritual schedule and Invite others to join you, and 4) Ask the Holy Spirit for Wisdom, courage and humility.

Have a consistent but flexible spiritual schedule and invite others to join you. In the mid 90’s when my kids were very small I would begin each day praying the Rosary by myself. One day the Lord said to me clearly, ”Michael, if you pray the Rosary by yourself everyday, how will your wife and kids pray the Rosary? Change your schedule and invite them to pray it with you.” I changed, and since 1995 we have prayed the Rosary as family every night, no matter where we are or what we are doing. Xavier now lives with 4 buddies at KU and every night at 9, they pray the Rosary together. I don’t care what you do for your spiritual practices, that is up to you, but do something that is consistent with some flexibility, and then invite your wife, your kids or friends into it. For your personal family, there is the opportunity every night, or a few days a week. Try something once a week like a Sunday brunch or on a Sunday evening invite people over. But make it a consistent time and place and build a habit.

Live the virtue of hospitality, friendship and the art of good conversation. Stop making the phone, computer or tv the focus of your attention. Make God and other people the focus of your attention. Set up your house so that you can have an atmosphere of hospitality, friendship and good conversation in your kitchen, living room, deck, garage, by the pool – wherever. Invite people into this space, offer them something to drink or eat. Then be interested in their life. Ask them what they think about this or that; Ask them what they are listening to on podcast; ask them what their favorite band is currently or the last good movie or book? Ask them to share what they liked about it. Our world is dying for friendship and meaningful conversation. Be apostles of friendship and good conversation. Give the world what it needs.

Ask God for the supernatural gifts of wisdom and courage. Then pay attention to whatever God inspires in your heart and then take action. If you ask, ask with the confidence God answers and when inspirations come, do not ignore them, act on them God planted a desire in my heart. Here we are, 13 months and about 3500 people a day praying the Rosary. Then I felt inspired to take it on the Road. I threw the idea out there and here I am at someone’s house 3-4 times a week. Have the courage and the humility to start. God can work with something. But if you are unwilling to start, to take action, then God has nothing to work with. If you do nothing, then God can do nothing through you.

Hell and Charity Sep 24, 2019

Show notes

There are, St. Augustine tells us, two basic alternatives in this life: either we can love self to the point of forgetting God, or we can love God to the point of forgetting ourselves. The first choice results in the self-exclusion of heaven otherwise known as hell; the second – Heaven and eternal joy. How could a person choose hell? I mentioned this the other day but I want to build on it - Because of Original Sin we have a fallen human nature. Now, instead of our passions or feelings propelling us toward good and away from evil they do just the opposite – we have a strong attraction to sin and an aversion for the things of God. This condition puts us in great danger. God will not force us to choose him. We must freely choose friendship with him. But in our fallen state, we have this aversion to the things of God and are drawn to sin. If we do not reverse this trend it will grow stronger until death, at which time we will still have an aversion to Him and reject Him. This is why we need to practice the virtue of Charity – the virtue of choosing God for God’s sake.

There is a powerful Image of our Particular Judgment from CS Lewis book The Last Battle. Aslan the Lion, the who represents Jesus Christ, comes to Judge all the creatures of Narnia. Behind him stood all the stars so that Aslan’s huge black shadow streamed away to his left. As the creatures came rushing on, they came right up to Aslan. One of two things happened to each of them. They all looked straight in his face, and when some looked, the expression of their faces changed terribly. For some, it was fear and hatred. They did not find in Aslan what they wanted. They swerved to His left and disappeared into His huge black shadow – an image of hell. But the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him. They found in Aslan what they had always wanted loved and sought. All these swerved to His right, into the light of Heaven. If at death the soul has spent its life seeking and choosing God, loving God, then it gets what it wanted – union with God in heaven.. On the other hand, if a soul has spent its life choosing itself over and against God and neighbor, then at death it gets what it wanted: Itself and that is All! (That is Hell).

As we said before, there are two basic alternatives in this life: either we can love self to the point of forgetting God, or we can love God to the point of forgetting ourselves. We want, therefore, to build the habit of loving God to the point of forgetting ourselves - this is the virtue of Charity

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

With charity, we are saying to God, I love you; I want your good; I want to do something for you Lord. Jesus I want to offer you a gift. Now this may sound crazy because what can you give God that he does not already have? Well, there is something he does not already have fully – and that is you. God is waiting for you to give yourself totally to him.

It is hard to do it all at once, so we can begin by making the habit of giving ourselves to him in little ways each day and this builds the habit of giving ourselves to him completely.

Begin each day with the Morning Offering by which we give to God our prayer, work, joy and suffering

“O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.” Amen.

Throughout the day renew the offering of our prayer, work, joy and suffering by saying, “Jesus I offer this to you; Jesus I accept that for the love of you.”

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