Priest hearing confessions, Philipp Schumacher (1866-1940) via Wikimedia

This post is linked to Sunday Snippets at This That and the Other Thing.

Do you want to be a saint?  I do.  I mean that I want to end up in heaven with God and all the others He created who are one with Him in charity.  Becoming a saint is impossible, though, if we depend on ourselves. Moreover, we must leave this world a saint in order to be one in the next.  Fortunately, nothing is impossible to God and His magnanimous love for each of His creatures.  All we have to do is cooperate with Him.

At the Last Supper Jesus consecrated all the apostles as priests.  In that event He set them apart so that they were no longer men like other men, but were instead to stand in His place in a special way.  That’s why we describe the priest as an alter Christus – another Christ.

Just hours after instituting the sacrament of the sacred priesthood Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified thanks to the help of Judas. His remaining apostles, except for St. John, ran off and hid themselves behind locked doors.  Confusion, despair, grief and shame must have enveloped the souls of these newly ordained priests.  But inside of three days Jesus rose from the dead and came to where ten of the remaining eleven, including St. John, had gathered.  He didn’t knock.  He just came right through those doors as if they weren’t even there.

John 20:19-23 is a passage I love for many reasons, but especially because it tells of the institution behind those locked doors of the sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation), one of the ways we cooperate with God’s work in making us saints.

Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad [I think this is an understatement.  They must have been jumping up and down and hollering with joy], when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

And so it was that Jesus gave the apostles the power through the Spirit of Charity to stand in His place and forgive our sins, bringing us peace of heart.  Another aspect of the sacred priesthood where the priest acts as alter Christus.

This is why I look at every confession as an appointment with Jesus. Jesus is sitting behind the screen focusing His full attention on me and what I’m saying.  He hears not only the words but the language of the heart.  He gives the priest the grace to offer me useful guidance for amending my life just as He gives me the grace to confess what I’ve done that offended Him.

Jesus, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the one who forgives my sins. The Roman rite Church gives the priest these theologically perfect words to remind me that my sins are forgiven in His name (1962 Extraordinary Form):

May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and lead you to everlasting life. R.: Amen.

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, + and remission of your sins. R.: Amen.

May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release you from every bond of excommunication (suspension) and interdict, in so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from your sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.

The priest may add, time permitting:

May the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints, whatever good you have done, and whatever evil you have endured, achieve for you the forgiveness of your sins, an increase of grace and the reward to eternal life. Amen.

In the Ordinary Form (1969 liturgical books) the priest says:

God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Every confession sincerely done is an act of humility and trust in God’s mercy.  Every confession is a source of joy and of real peace, of resolution and of greater clarity and cooperation with God in ridding myself of rust. By looking at confession as an appointment with Jesus, I look forward to going.  I don’t worry so much any more about accusing myself of the same sins and faults repeatedly.  Nothing makes Jesus happier than to have somebody He died for coming to visit Him and giving Him an opportunity through free will to apply His healing grace.

Love is like that.  Love wants to bring peace and well-being to the tortured and stricken.  We are all tortured and stricken.  Love wants to heal, to rejoice, to pour Itself out on the beloved.  But Love forces itself on no one.

The beloved are you and I.  If we really love Him back, how can we not give Jesus the opportunity to love us through the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of all that afflicts our spirit? How can we refuse to cooperate with Him in making us a saint to live with Him forever?  How can we not make and keep regular appointments with Jesus in the sacrament of Confession?

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever!

(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.

Awareness of God

Welcome to our weekly meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. Visit her to read other bloggers’ Sabbath Moments and join in or comment.

Death of a friend

A couple of weeks ago my friend Shirley passed away at age 98.  I have had many Sabbath Moments thinking about her last few weeks as related by her daughters and the pastor.  “Jesus, I love you,” was constantly on her lips.  She lost no opportunity to tell her family she loved them, and her friends, too.  One day the pastor came and sat next to her on the bed and asked, “Shirley, how do you feel about meeting Jesus?”  She answered, “I’m ready.”  She said it often in that last week.

At age 88 Shirley decided to become a third order Carmelite.  She was using a walker by then because of hip degeneration that left her bone-on-bone.  From my own experience I know how painful that was. Thinking of her physical issues, her daughter asked her in some dismay, “What are you going to do, Mom?”  Shirley looked at her and answered, “Pray.”

As I have been contemplating St. Catherine of Genoa’s writings on purgatory and the need for souls to be in perfect charity with God to enter heaven, Shirley comes to mind as an example I should follow.  I cannot know what hidden stains from faults God might have to cleanse away before she enters heaven, but I do know that she died in the most perfect charity of anyone I have personally known.  Detached from everything and every person in this world, but bound by that golden filament of charity to all of us, living and dead, she shows me both how far I’ve come and how far I need to go to begin in this life the way of being in total unity with God that St. Paul speaks of in 1 Cor. 13:13.

A conversion story

Tanks in Tianamen Square, 1989 uprising

This week the Rome-based Dignitatis Humanitae Institute received a guest whose remarkable history and conversion provided me with unexpected Sabbath Moments.  Chai Ling, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was a key leader of the pro-democracy movement in China that drew over 100,000 students to Tianamen Square in 1989.  You can read more at Zenit’s Ongoing Tianamen, but I want to focus on her retrospective of the events the day the world saw Chinese military tanks and soldiers violently suppressing their own people.

Twenty years after her Tianamen Square experience, Ling converted to Christianity and in 2010 was baptized.  She says (quoting Zenit):

“I had faced death, looked it into the eye, but I didn’t overcome it — in other words I didn’t have the peace nor the joy, just sadness, sorrow and fear,” she recalls. “But we had a duty, we knew we had to confront whatever we were confronting.

“Then, after I’d given my speech, I felt this huge warm sensation come into my heart — a sense of love toward the leaders of China, toward the soldiers, the people who were about to kill us. It was the most amazing feeling and I wished they had known how much we’d loved them.”

“Now I know that this must be how Jesus felt on the cross,” Ling says.

She remembers witnessing “a power, an amazing spirit” at Tiananmen Square, but at the time she didn’t know how to articulate it.

“I’ve since come to know that it’s the spirit of Jesus,” she says. “Then everything started to makes sense.”

I cannot help but wonder what the outcome would have been for China had all those students been Christian.  What if all of them at once would have fallen to their knees and prayed the Our Father together?  Would China be a force for good today rather than a force for death?

Every day 35,000 forced abortions take place in China.  Every day a large portion of those killed are girls.  Today in China 120 boys are born for every 100 girls.  That’s just the abortion angle of their culture of death.  Greed and corruption lead to shoddy construction that results in many deaths every time there is a natural disaster.  We could go on and on here.

As I observe the “Occupy Wall Street” partisan political movement I again wonder, what if everyone who has a grievance against the government fell to his knees and prayed the Our Father?  What if everyone did it daily and in public in groups?  Could we not be delivered from the forces of darkness in this country and in the world that are choking the life out of people and destroying souls?

The Roman Coliseum was the site of public mass martyrdom of Christians.  Because of those and many other lives freely given as Christ gave His on the cross, Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor saw a rising tide of Christianity that eventually overcame the worst cruelties of their times.  Today we have the wonderful 40 Days for Life movement that involves small groups praying in front of abortion mills all over our country. Many lives are saved through this effort and many souls are won for God.

The love of Christ seeks to envelop the world and govern our actions.  It alone heals.  It alone converts those in darkness.  Even if it takes 20 years to bring about conversion as it did in Chai Ling’s case, His light shines no less brightly.  We are His apostles of love and light.  We cannot hide it under a bushel and call ourselves real Christians.  So many are waiting to put a name, as Chai Ling did, to the longing in their hearts.  How long shall we keep them waiting?

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V. Praised be Jesus Christ!

R. Now and forever. Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Last night Missouri was hit by the worst tornado in its recorded history.  A funnel ¾ of a mile wide and six miles long tore through Joplin, ripping the roof off St. John’s hospital, blowing out its windows, and piling up mashed cars three deep.  A 300 lb. man was sucked out a hospital window.  X-rays were found in backyards of Springfield, Bolivar and Willard, all towns about an hour or so away from the scene. Large trees were twisted and shredded and steel beams took the shape of pretzels.  At least 90 people have died in this storm and entire neighborhoods destroyed.  Rangeline, the main drag, is unrecognizable.

St. Michael the Archangel Defeats Satan

We live in southwest Missouri in a house of less than 800 square feet.  We have no place to go on our property should we encounter such a storm.  All we can do is pray for God’s protection in these times.  Fortunately, the system that devastated so much of this area skirted the small town we live in, but I assure you I was asking God to send plenty of angels to guard us.  And not those effeminate looking ones depicted everywhere.  We needed St. Michael’s mighty muscle and we got it.

Perhaps most remarkable last evening was something that happened between the two major storms that passed through.  I looked up to see a strange pale yellow orange light through the window.  It was as if someone had put a colored filter in front of a camera lens.  Roger and I went outside to discover that the entire world was bathed in that light.  The sky from the north and west was full of this soft color and it affected everything it touched.  I’ve only seen this phenomenon a couple of other times and it’s always been evening storm related.  Amid the destruction great beauty shone.

Today I’ve tried to reach friends that live just a few miles south of Joplin but the phone calls won’t go through.  Many cell towers are down and land lines have been affected.  I will keep trying.

With last evening’s events fresh in my mind, I was struck by today’s Lauds psalm 28:7-9  where we pray:

The voice of the Lord strikes fiery flames; the voice of the Lord shakes the desert, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Cades.  The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests, and in his temple all say “Glory!”

God did plenty of that yesterday.  When will all men glorify Him?

The next reading was 1 Chron. 29:10-13:

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of Israel, our father from eternity to eternity.  Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to Thee is praise.  For all that is in heaven and in earth is Thine.  Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art above all princes.

Thine are riches, and Thine is glory: Thou hast dominion over all. In Thy hand is power and might: in Thy hand greatmess, and the empire of all things.

Now therefore, our God, we give thanks to Thee: and we praise Thy glorious name.

We often forget that everything belongs to God.  Even things we make, plant, or raise, because none of it can be done without His power.  Our conceit seems to know no end in today’s world.

I believe that God is visiting chastisements like these upon all the earth to wake us up.  Or rather, His permissive will is holding back very little of what He has set in motion because, as the conversation went between God and Abraham over Sodom, we have not enough just men among us. I wrote about God’s permissive will in Lent, the “Why?” of Suffering, and the Japanese Tragedy.

The state of the world today is why I personally am often praying Bible verses like the ones here and in my Three Favorite Scripture Verses, along with the ending of the Divine Mercy chaplet.  I believe God is not calling just me, but as many as will do so, to keep Him first and foremost in thought, word, and deed, praising Him.  This is the right relationship we must see restored for the good of man.

Remember the many people who started attending church after 9/11?  A lot of them quit after awhile.  Meanwhile, the good  along with the bad suffer, and we know that we do not know the day or the hour of our passing so we must always be ready.

Please pray for those who died or were injured in last night’s storm, and for consolation for their families.  May conversions result from this tragedy. Rescue efforts continue in Joplin where 50% of the area is ruined.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

This past Divine Mercy Sunday is a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life.  Not just because of the beatification of Pope John Paul II, either.

While we were pleading for God’s mercy on the whole world, Navy SEALS pulled a job as expertly as any Israeli force and as gutsy.  In forty minutes Osama bin Laden was dead in Pakistan and shortly thereafter buried at sea.

I am very, very proud of our SEALS. They train for this kind of work daily.  And all over the world jihadist leaders got a strong message: No matter who you are or where you try to hide, eventually we will get you if you attack this country.

As for bin Laden, I prayed for his soul even though I didn’t much want to.  I only did it because Jesus died for him, too, and it is sad that he never opened himself up to know Our Lord.

The mercy God showed us by allowing his death is an incentive to keep praying for the end of wars, the conversion of sinners – including ourselves, and to continue to plead for God’s mercy on the world.  What mercy God may have shown bin Laden we cannot know.  But his death is a lesson to us to live the Gospel and always be prepared to meet Jesus as we surely will the moment our soul leaves the body.

For myself, I felt relief and gratitude to God first, and second, to our fine military. For awhile Al Qaeda will be in confusion, making attacks by them more difficult.  In the never ending war between the Palestinians and Jews, the terrorists have lost an icon of militancy.  As for the United States, now is a time for increased vigilance by the ordinary man, living in ordinary neighborhoods.  Revenge is a key component of jihadists everywhere and no doubt jihadists are in our midst.  Just look at Ft. Hood.

For the Christians living in Muslim dominated lands, we must pray that they remain steadfast in the faith and if God wills it, to continue to suffer martyrdom for the sake of Jesus.  This, too, is a cause to plead for Divine Mercy, especially on them.

Islam is the enemy of all mankind and the enemy of God Himself.  It thrives on death, destruction, violence and lies.  For now, at least, let us rejoice and glorify God that one terrorist leader can do no more harm.  Let us also pray that the families who lost loved ones on 9-11 will find some measure of peace.  The architect of that day is dead.

With the victory over bin Laden fresh in my mind, as I prayed Lauds from the Divine Office Monday morning these psalm verses jumped out at me:

Psalm 46

All you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness,

For the Lord, the Most High, the awesome is the great king over all the earth…

For king of all the earth is God; sing hymns of praise.

God reigns over the nations, God sits upon His holy throne…

For God’s are the guardians of the earth; He is supreme.

Psalm 28

Give to the Lord, you sons of God, give to the Lord glory and praise.

Give to the Lord the glory due His name; adore the Lord in holy attire.

The Lord is enthroned above the flood; the Lord is enthroned as king forever.

May the Lord give strength to His people; may the Lord bless His people with peace!

Canticle of David (1 Par. 29)

Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our Father, from eternity to eternity.

Yours, O Lord, are grandeur and power, majesty, splendor and glory.

For all in heaven and on earth is Yours; Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; Yours the prince supreme over all.

Riches and honor are from You; You govern all things.

In Your hand are power and might; Yours it is to give everything grandeur and strength.

And now, our God, we give You thanks and we praise the majesty of Your name.

Psalm 116

Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify Him, all you peoples!

For steadfast is His kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

My Lent this year is more focused that ever because of the disaster in Japan.  The lessons of detachment from things, from life, from my own will are gripping.  The responsibility to pray for the conversion of sinners looms before me as never before.  Something about tens of thousands of people dying in minutes is overwhelming.  I ask myself, how many might not have made it to heaven because I did not sacrifice and pray enough?

Weeping Woman of Natori, Reuters/Asahi Shimbun

In a way, this photo is a metaphor for the soul, grief-stricken in its emptiness, and overcome with sin as Natori is weighed down with jumbled rubble. Is this what our sinful souls look like to God?

The people of Japan will clear the leavings of the tsunami.  The chaos will subside.  Will we clear our souls of sin through the mercy of Confession?  Will we detach ourselves from the things of this earth, using them only as necessary on our journey to heaven? These are the lessons this picture brings to mind.

I want to wipe away the woman’s tears, but I can’t.  Only God can do that through other people who follow the Beatitudes and the Commandments and who will personally touch her.

We ask, if He loves us, why does He allow such tragedies?  Yet the greatest tragedy of all is that the majority of Japanese people are not Christian. They do not know Jesus.  They do not know God.  They do not know they are loved as a priceless treasure with a home in heaven just for them.

This natural disaster occurred as a natural event in a fallen world.  God’s permissive will does not interfere with the creation He set in motion and that creation has been affected by the sin of Adam. Yet God in His goodness always uses the evil that befalls us for our good.  What looks like a curse is really a blessing – a way that God says, “Look at Me.  See my love for you.  Pay attention.  I want you with Me forever.  The things of this world are as nothing before Me.  But you are my beloved children and I died for you.  In earthly terms, your value is incalculable.”

We may not understand it at the time we are enduring grave suffering.  Maybe we will never see the why of an event in this life, but we will see and understand all in the next. God can do only good.  Doing evil is not part of His nature. It is supernatural Faith from Baptism that tells us in our hearts that God allows tragedy to bring us to Himself.

Many Christians are coming to the aid of the Japanese people.  They are like Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, seeing Christ in the suffering survivors and bringing the love of Christ to them.  Many more of us who can do nothing materially are praying for the conversion of Japan.  A life-changing event like the tsunami is a door to Baptism, but only grace can bring someone through it.

God alone knows the multitude of prayers that have been said for them that would not otherwise have been said.  The aftermath of the quake and tsunami remind us once again that we are all members of the human family and we are all creatures of God, loved by Him with an unimaginable strength.  Now, I must be about making this Lent really count for the salvation of my own soul and that of my brothers and sisters everywhere in the world.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Lately I’ve been working on The Nazarene : Studies in New Testament Exegesis, a scholarly work by the former chief  Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, who became Catholic after World War II and took the baptismal name “Eugenio” after Pope Pius XII.  Zolli was one of the most learned Jews of his time, and his conversion resulted in his being declared anathema and cast out of the Synogogue.

We can never have a deep enough understanding of the Old Testament and the meaning of Christ’s words and actions. Who better than a former rabbi steeped in its four thousand year old teachings can unlock the sublime, supreme mysteries?  My faith has been greatly enriched by Roy Shoeman’s works, and Zolli’s bear similar promise.

A snippet from his conversion story, Before the Dawn, speaks of being a Hebrew Catholic and offers insights into how important the Jewish underpinnings of our Faith really are.  From the foreword:

“I was a Catholic at heart before the war broke out; and I promised God in 1943 that I should become a Christian if I should survive the war.  No one in the world ever tried to convert me.  My conversion was a slow evolution, altogether internal. Years ago, unknown to myself, I gave such an intimately Christian form and character to my writings that an Archbishop of Rome said of my book, The Nazarene, ‘Everyone is susceptible to errors, but so far as I can see, as a bishop, I could sign my name to this book.’  I am beginning to understand that for many years I was a natural Christian.  If I had noticed that fact 20 years ago, what has happened now would have happened then.”

“…I shall never stop loving the Jews.  I did not abandon the Jews by becoming a Catholic.”

“Once a Jew, always a Jew” is a shibboleth too often quoted by well-meaning Jews as a sort of proof that a Jew cannot in his heart of hearts ever become a Christian.  When Israel Zolli was asked whether he still considered himself a Jew he answered it with the same expression, but explained it in its deeply expressive significance.  “Did Peter, James, John, Matthew, Paul, and hundreds of Hebrews like them cease to be Jews when they followed the Messias, and became Christians?  Emphatically, no.”

A Jew who accepts a Messias today remains just as much a Jew as he would expect to remain if he were to accept a Messias at some distant future coming.  In other words, a Jew who accepts Jesus as his Messias accepts a Jew and himself remains a Jew. Has any Messias ever done the like: could any Jew do anything greater to put the seal of God on His teachings? This may sound strange and even heterodox to Catholics who have only a surface knowledge of Jewish prophetic history and Catholic teaching concerning it. A Jewish-convert takes as his Messias the Jew-Jesus who traces his ancestry back to King David without a break: can anyone be more Jewish than that?  The convert accepts the Jewish Messias who proved His mission was from God by doing the hundreds of things the prophet said He would do; chief among them His unquestionable and numerous miracles and His resurrection from the dead. His miracles are continued and multiplied in His Church even up to the present moment.

…If there is any notion that must be stressed both for Christians and Jews it is that Jesus did not give to the world a new religion, but only a new covenant or testament concerning the Old Religion which He Himself had given to the Jews.  God’s very nature forbids Him giving to the world, at any time, more than one religion or more than one way of life and worship.

Christ in Glory, 1597-98, oil on canvas, Annibale Carracci (b.1560, Bologna, d. 1609, Roma), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

Zolli’s story is a lesson in the workings of God in the soul – of how deeply exploring the word of God in Sacred Scripture with a pure heart leads unerringly to the Word Himself. (“Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.”)

As I read The Nazarene, I am gaining a much greater understanding of the sacred liturgy we have today.  We often speak of certain parts of the Mass as dating from apostolic times.  In reality, I am seeing that important parts of our Holy Mass and Divine Office came to us from the Old Testament Jews – from the Hebrew Bible itself. I don’t mean just the Psalms and various readings, but more about how the liturgy is celebrated and why in both the Eastern and Roman rites certain things are desirable..  I will be writing more about this later.

In the meantime, I recommend reading RAnn’s review of a contemporary book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, at This That and the Other Thing.  This book could be excellent for Lent.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

Father Lovasik’s book, The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time, contains so many gems of spiritual advice that I can read it repeatedly and learn something new every time.  In the chapter, “Found your thoughts on virtue” he talks about the duty of forgiving. From pp. 117-119:

If you desire to obtain from God the pardon of the sins you have committed against Him, you must forgive from your heart those who have offended you. What is more, you must pray for them even as Jesus did.  This is the greatest act of charity.

For me, this is a tall order.  The more I have sunk my time, energy, and commitment to something or someone, the harder it is to forgive people who have done their best to obstruct my work or attacked me personally.  Also, as I look at people like certain of our political leaders who so arrogantly advance the culture of death, I really struggle with the act of praying for them. I know that to them I am disposable, and so are others like me.  I resent how they strip me of my human dignity, just as they do to every aborted child and every euthanized adult or child.  How difficult it is to pray for someone we are angry with!

Father Lovasik reduces overcoming this problem to simple steps we can actually accomplish.  It doesn’t mean that conquering our resentment will be an easy fight; we can work something over for years.  The important thing is that regardless of our feelings, we do the right thing.  That’s what heroic virtue is made of.

Here are his suggestions for developing virtue when we most want to retaliate.

Bear injustice patiently. [This is one of the seven spiritual works of mercy.] When it pleases God to permit you to labor under the cloud of false suspicion, false judgment, calumny, or detraction, try to remember the following suggestions:

Try to see God’s permission of the happening. St.  Francis de Sales gives this advice: “We must have patience not only to be ill, but to be ill with the illness which God wills, in the place where He wills, and among such persons as He wills; and so of our tribulations.”  Try to avoid thinking of the grievance. “Love is patient.” (1 Cor. 13:14)  Concentrating on wrongs done to you generally impresses the undesirable facts more deeply on your memory and does not obviate the evil.  Complete abandonment to God and trust in His Providence form the most worthy procedure for your soul.

St. Francis de Sales in His Study, 1760, Peter Anton Lorenzoni, Saint Sigismund parish church in Strobl, Salzburg, Austria, Wikimedia

Do not talk the matter over with others [This is extraordinarily difficult for some of us.  I want to blab the injustice to everybody I know.] except for the purpose of getting direction to make virtue out of necessity.  Other persons seldom understand adequately…. Learn to bear snubs, setbacks, and sharp tongues nobly with Christ at Herod’s court. Justice will prevail.  God will right all wrongs, if not in this life, then surely at the Last Judgment.

Pray for the grace of conversion for failing ones.  Unless the erring ones are incorrigibly obstinate or hopelessly blind [Planned Parenthood?] they will, by the grace of God [Abby Johnson] be brought to a salutary realization of their wrongdoing through patience on your part.

Let this cross be a source of self-sanctification rather than torture for your soul.  Offer the pain you must suffer in expiation for sin — your own as well as those of others — and also for blessings upon those who have been unfair to you.

Find strength and consolation in prayer. You need God’s grace to make any difficulty a means of greater personal holiness.  Prayer secures that grace.  You can conquer anything with God’s grace, but nothing without it. Your prayer need not be long, but brief and definite…. Pray for the checking of the moral evils so prevalent even among Catholics.

Cultivate the devotion of reparation to the Sacred Heart. Ask Jesus, the forbearing and long-suffering Savior, for a tolerant frame of mind regarding the actions of others.  Ask Him for the power to influence others, especially through your example, to put aside their undesirable habits.  Ask for the grace to remember that others exercise much patience with you. [My husband comes to mind here.  He is very patient with me!] Especially, ask Jesus crucified for a practical and more perfect understanding of His great example in forgiving, so that you may learn to bear with others.

Father Lovasik’s words make me think that maybe this Lent would best be spent by me concentrating on this one spiritual work of mercy.  We have been given the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost at Confirmation.  Two of the twelve fruits of this indwelling are “long-suffering” and “mildness.” It isn’t easy to harvest these fruits, but striving to do so creates great adventures on the road to perfection.

Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.

V.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

R.  Now and forever.  Amen.

(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)

On Saturdays we join Colleen at Thoughts on Grace to share those moments we rested quietly in God. Sometimes I may not be resting physically, but I am with God.  My Sabbath Moments for this week:

First, the asparagus beans have been producing prolifically and every morning I collect the ripe ones.  The next step is to chop them in lengths suitable for steaming and freezing or cooking fresh.  As I was chopping the beans at the counter, I thought of how lovingly Our Lady must have prepared food for her family and that she probably shared with neighbors or those less fortunate than she.

These ideas led me to search for information on how people lived in Nazareth and I found some interesting facts about the manner of living, the houses, clothing, agriculture, politics, etc. in the article: Life of Jesus – First Century Context of Palestine (Israel).  Outside of the fact that the article makes the erroneous claim that Mary and Joseph had other children after Jesus, it gave me enough information to imagine well how Mary’s typical day went. I spend many lovely Sabbath Moments researching things like this which help me in my meditations which are also Sabbath Moments.

Second, thanks to a dear friend, I had some great quiet time reading Our Lady of Kibeho, which I reviewed and commented on.  This is an inspiring story, but a very sad one, too, because just as people did not heed her calls for repentance and sacrifice at Fatima and the world was thrown into yet another terrible war, neither did the Rwandans heed Mary and Jesus who urged conversion of heart. A million people died in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 while the world shrugged its shoulders and the UN “peacekeeping forces” didn’t keep the peace.

I remember being appalled at the slaughter and wondered how people could do such terrible things to their very neighbors.  It was as if an entire nation became possessed by the devil, going about in a blind rage screaming and hacking and slicing whoever came into their paths for 100 days of hell.  I wonder if we will soon see the same here.

Does it seem to you that enough people are in love with the truth (I am the Way, the Truth and the Life) or are most people in love with their own limited definitions of truth? Most of us cannot do big things to resolve the evils in this world, but we can do many little things every day, conforming ourselves to the will of God, transforming the ordinary into the invisible extraordinary. What looks like somebody chopping beans is really somebody loving God and neighbor the best she can at that moment.  Thank you Blessed Mother, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Josemaria Escriva for your example!

During a recent trip to the Dallas area I had occasion to purchase Roy Shoeman’s excellent book, Salvation Is from the Jews: The Role of Judaism in Salvation History. In another post I will write a review, but today I want to bring you some words of St. Edith Stein he highlighted that have special significance for those seeking to understand suffering and death in today’s world.

As many contemplatives do, Carmelite nun Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (what a prescient choice of name in religion that was!) kept notes on insights she obtained during prayer.  As a Jewish convert to Catholicism, she saw what the Nazis were doing to the Jews in light of the Cross. She wrote of a prayer she made during a holy hour in the convent:

I spoke with the Savior to tell him that I realized it was His Cross that was now being laid upon the Jewish people, that the few who understood this had the responsibility of carrying it in the name of all, and that I myself was willing to do this, if He would only show me how.  I left the service with the inner conviction that I had been heard, but uncertain as ever as to what “carrying the Cross” might mean for me.

Later she wrote:

I understood the Cross as the destiny of God’s people, which was beginning to be apparent at the time (1933).  I felt that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take it upon themselves on everybody’s behalf…. Beneath the Cross I understood the destiny of God’s people.

St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) 1938 passport photo

All religious write a final testament and St. Teresa Benedicta’s spirituality is evident in hers, penned in 1939:

I joyfully accept in advance the death God has appointed for me, in perfect submission to His most holy will.  May the Lord accept my life and death for the honor and glory of His name, for the needs of His holy Church — especially for the preservation, sanctification, and final perfecting of our holy Order, and in particular for the Carmel of Cologne and Echt — for the Jewish people, that the Lord may be received by His own and His Kingdom come in glory, for the deliverance of Germany and peace throughout the world, and finally for all my relatives living and dead and all whom God has given me; may none of them be lost.

She was, with her sister Rosa and a train transport composed entirely of baptized Jews, murdered at Auschwitz.

When reading her words I could not help thinking of the condition of our nation today – the blatant attacks on human life by those in power, the war on marriage and the family waged by perverted souls and government bureaucrats, the corruption of the power elite, and all those who become co-operators in the various evils designed to separate man from God, for that is the final goal of the Enemy. The similarities between the leaders and supporters of Nazi Germany and America’s leaders and their supporters today are much too close in spite of the vigorous denials given voice by the press.

As St. Edith Stein did in her day, do we understand what our society is doing and becoming in the light of the Cross? Underneath all the ideologies of the day, the war is between man and the principalities and powers as St. Paul wrote in Eph. 6:12. A reversal of the path our most powerful leaders are currently on calls for extreme sacrifice. Are we ready as St. Edith Stein was to “joyfully accept in advance” what God has chosen for us to suffer, even death, for the salvation of souls, for our country, for the conversion of sinners?

Holy Trinity, 1430, Master of the Votive Picture of Sankt Lambrecht, Museum mittelalterlicher österreichischer Kunst, Vienna

“O Lord,” I prayed, “Help me to grow more patient and trust You more.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yes, Lord.”

“Okay, I’ll give you fibromyalgia and everything that goes with it,” He said.

“Whoa!  What is that, Lord?” I asked.

“You’ll find out, and I’ll be with you every step of the way,” He replied.

Six years or so ago when I was diagnosed my body was burning from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.  I couldn’t stand to wear my glasses and couldn’t see without them.  Every morning I got up, dressed, had breakfast and promptly collapsed into bed again.  After awhile I gave up on dressing and stayed in my nightgown.  My mind was in a stupor such that I could hardly pray and I lay there simply clutching my rosary.  When I had a conversation with my husband I forgot what I wanted to say after three words were out of my mouth.  I gave up driving and stopped going anywhere except to church, which finished me off for the rest of the day.

A couple of years went by and I found myself completely discouraged and wanting to go to bed never to wake again.  It seemed that everything the doctor told me to do and prescribed for me only helped marginally.  Yet as sick as I was, I never lost the feeling that this condition was God’s will for me, although I did think for awhile that maybe He might have picked a less unpleasant way to get His point across.

One day I said, “Well, Lord, I don’t get it.  Here You have smacked me over the head with a 2×4 and I still don’t get it.  What is it you want of me?”

“I want all of your pain and suffering.  Give it to Me with joy for the restoration of the Traditional Catholic Mass.  Give it to Me for the priest I have chosen to be your next bishop.  Give it to Me for the redemption of others and to expiate your sins.  Give it to me for My priests who are troubled,” He said.

“OK, Lord.  Whatever you say.  I want to do Your will.  But Lord, why did You have to teach me patience and trust this way?” I asked.

“Because  you were too full of yourself and your talents and ambitions were misplaced. I could not work through you the way you were.  I want you with me for all eternity.  I want you to know and understand Me better, to trust Me more through your helplessness and pain and to share what you are learning on this journey with My other children who are suffering even worse than you,” He said.  “I want you up here on the cross with Me.  I want you to witness to My message of hope and love, and the joy that comes from doing My will.  I want you to understand the fullness of My love for you.”

Morning sun over the ocean, Shizuoka Prefecture, (c)Tomo.Yun (www.yunphoto.net/en/)

And so I didn’t give up, and after accepting two new hips from Him through a good surgeon, and after slowly regaining some physical and mental equilibrium from remedies He showed me through knowledgeable holistic practitioners, I started this blog and put it in His hands.  I blessed Him for giving me this miserable disease and for putting me through the added great pain of hip degeneration; for making me aware that I have to depend on Him for every breath, every blink, and every beat of my heart.  I blessed him for giving me a high maintenance body because I know He wants me to learn how to care for it properly and share what I learn with others. I blessed Him for showing Himself to me both through pain and through the many forms of beauty that reflect His being.  Most of all, I bless Him for loving me enough to have created me and for having put all the wonderful people in my life whom I would never have met had I not become disabled.

Dr. Takashi Nagai

Last Sunday I found a book at the church library.  It wasn’t on my top ten for Lent, but it was about Japan and a Japanese holy man who transformed others’ lives by his gentleness and forgiveness. Since I am interested in Japanese history, especially in what transpired to cause the terrible aggression that drew so many into World War II, I checked it out.  What I ended up with is a moving conversion story that brings Christ’s teachings to life in a unique way and that has enriched my Lenten prayer.

A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai-Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb tells of Dr. Paul Takashi Nagai, an extraordinary man raised in the rural area of Mitoya according to the teachings of Confucius and the Shinto religion which imbued him with filial reverence for ancestors and heroic stoicism.  His mother and father taught him a love of learning by their example, and generous giving by their care for the medical needs of the peasants and townspeople often without payment.

Nagai entered into a spiritual quest while he attended medical school in Nagasaki – a quest that led him from Shintoism to atheism to Catholicism and ultimately to marriage with the daughter of the family which had been at the heart of the underground Church for the centuries of government persecution of Christians.  The biography reveals how Nagai’s medical studies, service as a medic in the Japanese army during the occupation of Manchuria, and his return to become a pioneer of radiology research at Nagasaki University formed his spiritual growth.

Before the bomb exploded over the city that fateful August day, Nagai already had developed leukemia from his radiation exposure, yet he had refused to quit working.  The cancer did not stop him from caring for victims of the inferno although he was wounded himself, and to his surprise and that of his fellow medical practitioners, his disease went into remission for a couple of years because of his exposure to the bomb’s radiation.

Nyoko-do

Nagai lost his beloved wife in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9^th, 1945, but his children who were farther from ground zero survived.  Not long after, he moved into the rubble of the ruined city to study the effects of radiation on all life forms, constructing a tiny dwelling on the ground where his house once stood.  He called his little abode “Nyoko-do“, meaning “as yourself hall” taken from Jesus’s words: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  It was one 6×6 room with a porch built by friends.  He lived there with his children until he died.

Throughout the book Glynn interweaves Japanese history and customs into Nagai’s story, giving the reader a good understanding of the depth of this man.  He describes well how Nagai brought not only physical healing but spiritual healing to the suffering and war-weary people.  Determined not to be bitter or vengeful, he wrote articles and powerful books as a legacy for his children that became best-sellers throughout Japan.  During the last four years of his life, he accomplished this lying on his back because of weakness and abdominal swelling caused by the cancer.

This book above all, is a story of love and forgiveness, of sanctity brought forth from horror. Many people from around the world, including Helen Keller journeyed to meet this unassuming man, who gave most of his earnings for the education and care of war orphans. His example continues to inspire and he is considered a saint by many Japanese people of all faiths.

If you are attracted to conversion stories, this book will not disappoint you.  It is filled with the wonders of God’s grace and inspiration to overcome all bitterness, resentment, and desire for vengeance that plague the human heart.  Nagai truly suffered with joy.

“Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.”  These sobering words based on Genesis 3: 19 are a call to conversion shrouded in the mists of ancient time.  As with many Christian observances, Ash Wednesday as we know it today is an organic development of Old Testament practices.  Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jonah, Judith, Job and Maccabees all speak of the use of sackcloth and ashes as a penitential act to invoke God’s mercy.

Although the Old Testament is rich in its reference to the use of ashes, only a few written records exist from the first millennia of the Church to tell us of the evolution of this first signpost on the journey through Lent.  We do know from the early Church Fathers that if a Christian committed a serious sin, he had to confess first and then was given a sackcloth garment and his head sprinkled with ashes.  He was required to remain in this state for some period of time and then was reconciled with the rest of the Christian community by the bishop.

From these beginnings the practice of using ashes as a penitential symbol grew into more formal use throughout the Church.  By the sixth century the Spanish-Mozarabic rite called for signing the foreheads of penitents with ashes before admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents.  The Order of Penitents were those whose sins were so grave they were required to do public penance starting on the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent and ending with re-admittance to the community on Holy Thursday.  This is the first historical indication we have that what we know today as “Ash Wednesday” was a regular observance for at least part of the Church.

As the piety of penitence and mourning for sin grew, so did the formal liturgical rites for Lent. The name “dies cinerum” (Day of Ashes) is the first record of the formal name for Ash Wednesday and appears in the Gregorian Sacramentary ritual book dating from sometime in the eighth century. In the Romano-Germanic Pontifical of 960 we find a full-fledged ceremony for ash sprinkling on this day.

By the eleventh century, the practice of public penance began to fall into disuse but Ash Wednesday began to take on a wider significance for all. Abbot Aelfric (955-1020) of Eynsham wrote that the faithful took part in a ceremony involving the imposition of ashes on the Wednesday before Lent.  After the Synod of Beneventum in 1091 Pope Urban II established the use of ashes on that day for all Catholics everywhere.

As the evolution of the Ash Wednesday liturgy continued, new ceremonials came to be. Using blessed palms and olive branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration as the source for ashes began in the 12^th century. Today in many parishes people bring their blessed palms to be burned for the ashes in a ritual observance.

The celebration of Ash Wednesday in the twenty-first century in the Catholic Church is a combination of ancient prayers and rituals, assimilation of newer rituals like the congregational participation in the burning of palms, and a post-1965 recovery of the baptismal focus of Lent.  At baptism the Christian promises to reject sin and profess the Gospel.  Ash Wednesday is the start of the conversion journey made time and again by the baptized.  It also is a solemn reminder that all will die yet a joyous reminder that in death, with a life of conversion, heaven awaits.

And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive…So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. (1 Cor. 15: 22, 42-43)

A faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us…But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth: and some indeed unto honour, but some unto dishonour.  If any man therefore shall cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and profitable to the Lord, prepared unto every good work.  But flee thou youthful desires, and pursue justice, faith, charity, and peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim. 2: 11-12, 20-22)

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote its usual one-sided whine in covering a November 17th mandate from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide nutrition, hydration, and medication to patients who are in a “presumably irreversible conditions … who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.”

The bishops voted to revise the guide,  Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, at their November general assembly in Baltimore.  The bishops’ previous guide predated Pope John Paul II’s 2004 address to the International Congress on “Life- Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” and the August 2007 Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

All Catholic health care institutions and workers have been notified of the new mandate.  Whether any will attempt to get around it remains to be seen, but predictably, Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, which advocates for the right of terminally ill patients to make life-or-death decisions is making false accusations about the mandate without, apparently, having read it.  She claims that these directives are in conflict with legal instructions from patients or their families and will apply to everyone.  The answer to the first is “Maybe”, to the second, “No.” The work-around stated as hospital policy, that someone or their surrogate who insists on starving and dehydrating the patient to death will be moved to another institution is not acceptable. Not surprising from someone who is in the business of killing.

However, Lori Dangberg, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Catholic Health Care, which represents California’s 55 Catholic hospitals made a disturbing statement.  She is quoted in the article as saying that if a situation was unresolvable, the hospitals would find some other way to accommodate the person.  How do you find a moral way of accommodating a person who wants to commit suicide or a family that wants to murder a member?  What about the fifth commandment do people not understand?

The bishops wrote:

The moral teachings that we profess here flow principally from the natural law, understood in the light of the revelation Christ has entrusted to his Church. From this source the Church has derived its understanding of the nature of the human person, of human acts, and of the goals that shape human activity…

28. Each person or the person’s surrogate should have access to medical and moral information and counseling so as to be able to form his or her conscience. The free and informed health care decision of the person or the person’s surrogate is to be followed so long as it does not contradict Catholic principles…

The Church’s teaching authority has addressed the moral issues concerning medically assisted nutrition and hydration. We are guided on this issue by Catholic teaching against euthanasia, which is “an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated.”[38] While medically assisted nutrition and hydration are not morally obligatory in certain cases, these forms of basic care should in principle be provided to all patients who need them, including patients diagnosed as being in a “persistent vegetative state” (PVS), because even the most severely debilitated and helpless patient retains the full dignity of a human person and must receive ordinary and proportionate care…

58. In principle, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally. This obligation extends to patients in chronic and presumably irreversible conditions (e.g., the “persistent vegetative state”) who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care.40 Medically assisted nutrition and hydration become morally optional when they cannot reasonably be expected to prolong life or when they would be “excessively burdensome for the patient or [would] cause significant physical discomfort, for example resulting from complications in the use of the means employed.”[41] For instance, as a patient draws close to inevitable death from an underlying progressive and fatal condition, certain measures to provide nutrition and hydration may become excessively burdensome and therefore not obligatory in light of their very limited ability to prolong life or provide comfort.

59. The free and informed judgment made by a competent adult patient concerning the use or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures should always be respected and normally complied with, unless it is contrary to Catholic moral teaching.

37. See Declaration on Euthanasia.
38. Ibid., Part II.

40. See Pope John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the International Congress on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” (March 20, 2004), no. 4, where he emphasized that “the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.” See also Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration” (August 1, 2007).

41. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Commentary on “Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration.”

The new mandate is a much better document, emphasizing the importance of a properly formed conscience, compassionate about families faced with tough decisions, and clear on Catholic moral teaching. However, a key piece to the puzzle concerning implementation is the elephant in the living room: lack of catechesis on end-of-life issues at the parish and diocesan level.  Some Catholics are very fortunate to have bishops who are vocal about pro-life issues and publish steady, authentic teaching in their diocesan media.  But the priest has to stand up in the pulpit and tell the entire congregation what the Church teaches and why on these issues and do it often because of the pro-death atmosphere we breathe every day.

Support at the parish level for families in troubling circumstances is also a necessity.  Everywhere we must have a loving and caring approach to help people realize that what seems to be the greatest calamity is instead a gift from God and murder has no place in the heart of the Christian.

The Chronicle’s so-called journalism contained no quotes from Catholic medical personnel nor Catholic institutions who view this mandate as a boon and why.  Nor did they present any quotes from pastors who support the mandate and how the mandate helps people deal more peacefully with end-of-life decisions. Clearly, from the article, it appears that this is another “bash the big, bad bishops” slant.

Click on the links provided above to read the article and to read the bishops’ document.  You can order the document from the USCCB publications page on line.

Please join me in my nine month rosary novena for our country and conversion of those who are pro-death.

Today I prayed an extra rosary that our nation be delivered from the pro-death powers governing our country.  Over the past few days my mind has seen hordes of dead – not just babies, but disabled people of all ages and the elderly.  The implications for life if Congress passes any form of the health care bill they are

This morning, I understood that I was to devote more prayer and sacrifice to our country’s situation.  Since today is Friday, I took the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary to Our Lady and asked her to crush the head of Satan – to put the screeching demons to flight.  I cannot go out to demonstrate anymore, I have written letters, sent emails, and done what I can from the temporal angle.  Now what is left is penance and prayer.

Agony in the Garden, 1465, Donatello, bronze, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence

Agony in the Garden: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus suffered a terrible agony in Gethsemane with no one beside Him except the angels.  He knew the pharisees were out to kill Him.  He sweat blood for us.  We are your children.  Please Mother Mary, do not let the demons of hell continue to inspire the evil directed at America through the power-drunk politicians who seek to destroy the nation and make it into something it was never founded to be.  Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Scourging at the Pillar: Dear Mother Mary, Jesus was scourged almost to death while the sadistic Roman guards laughed and the Pharisees and High Priests gloated.  His blood was poured out everywhere.  Please, dear Mother Mary, gather your children, we the brothers and sisters of Jesus, and ask your loving Son to stay the hands of those who would have our blood and our livelihood. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Crown of Thorns, c. 1510, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, oil on lime panel, private collection

Crowning with Thorns: Dear Mother Mary, with a cruelty beneath that of the animal kingdom and worthy only of the hateful demons of hell, the Roman guards pressed a crown of sharpest thorns into the head of your Son and our Brother.  They shoved a reed into His hand and threw a red cloak about Him while mocking His Kingship.  Please, Mother Mary, we are your sons and daughters, too.  Ask our dear Jesus to stay the hands and tongues of those who mock life and the dignity of all man with their plans to strike down the poor and helpless and continue the genocide of races. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Carrying of the Cross: Dear Mother Mary, you followed Jesus as he carried his heavy cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. You saw the people curse and spit on Him.  You saw the soldiers beat Him when He fell.  You saw little mercy toward Him except for Veronica.  Please, Mother Mary, for the sake of the suffering of your Divine Son, ask dear Jesus to give His followers the strength to remain on the narrow path of life and to defeat the demonic forces that would go against the natural law of God. Plead with Him to stay the hands that would lay burdens upon our backs so heavy that we will fail under their load. Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

Crucifixion, 1503, Cranach, Lucas the Elder, pine panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord: Dear Mother Mary, you saw and heard it all – the hammering of the nails, the thump and jolt of the cross as it sank into its hole.  You saw the soldiers gambling to win your Son’s clothes.  You heard the mocking of the crowd and more gloating from the Scribes and Pharisees. You heard him cry out from the Cross.  You accepted us as your children when He gave you to us as our Mother before He died.  Please, Mother Mary, ask your Son, Jesus, to come to our aid in this time when so many lives are threatened by the greedy and pompous who live by the dictatorship of relativity.  Plead with Him to stay the hands of those who would have us die because they believe we are unworthy of life.  Obtain from your Son, Jesus, the great graces necessary to convert their hearts and waken to the love of God.

The Road to Emmaus, 1308-11, Ducci di Buoninsegna, tempera on wood, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

Everything in the Old Testament is shot through with the Redeemer.  It is, after all, the Word of God, Who is Christ himself.  A simple way to think about it is to ask, after reading a section, “Where is Christ in this?”  Some passages are more difficult for the average person to comprehend, needing some commentary to help answer the question.  But others are quite simple.  When I read the Bible, I ask myself how to live what I have learned – how do I walk with Christ?  Then I plan what I will do to walk with Him.

Through Facebook I found a friend who, on November 29th of this year, started The Six:Eight Project blog.  It is based on Micah 6: 8: I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: Verily, to do judgment (justice), and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous (humbly) with thy God. (Douay Rheims)

Kristie writes about how she is living this charge from the prophet.  It is a real world example of walking with Christ.  I recommend her blog as one that will not only inspire you, but give you some laughs as well, because we can recognize ourselves in Kristie.  She will surely help me grow, and I hope, you, too. And we will share her joys and sorrows with her.

It’s not too late to catch up with Kristie.  Be sure to read her first post to help you get into the swing of it.