Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25th

 

The Feast of the Annunciation we celebrate today calls us to reflect on a central mystery of our faith, namely, the Incarnation. There is the traditional practice of praying the Angelus, pausing three times a day to recall this turning point in salvation history when “the Word through whom all things were made,” when “the Word who was in the beginning with God and who was God,” “became flesh and dwelt among us.”

And why did God’s Son do this? So that what he took on might be redeemed. He came to share in our human nature that we might share in his divine nature. God can save the world however he chooses, but what method did he chose? He chose the flesh, our humanity, our flesh and blood. As one Ancient Christian writer put it: “The flesh is the hinge of salvation.” Obedient to his heavenly Father, Jesus chose to save us by taking on our flesh, and by offering himself upon the cross, suffering in his flesh. Thus, he turned “the cause of our downfall into the means of our salvation.”

As Christians, we firmly believe that God is not merely an idea or a concept, but he has come to dwell among us; he has taken flesh through the womb of the Virgin Mary. This feast calls us to remember the sacredness of being people of flesh and blood. Indeed, the human person is not merely a spiritual being, but a unity of body and soul.

But today we recall this beautiful mystery of our faith: The Word became flesh and dwells among us, and the flesh is the hinge of salvation. It is not in spite of our bodily limits that God saves us and saves the world, but it is exactly through them that he carries out his saving work.

We matter, every part of us matters, every part of us is sacred, not just our soul but also our body. And it is through our body, even in our weakness, that God is at work for the salvation of the world. Indeed, each of us has the capacity to offer with Jesus all our aches and pains, all our limitations and struggles, all our victories and all our endurance, for our salvation and that of the whole world.

I would like to begin praying the Angelus before weekday Masses. The Angelus was created by St. Bonaventure, who ordered that it be prayed three times a day in all the Franciscan monasteries and then soon parishes also began to pray the Angelus, at morning, noon and evening. He wanted to remind everyone, that Jesus came down from heaven in the womb of Mary and that it was a most remarkable event, that raised our human nature to great dignity. It reminds us that our body is sacred. It’s holy. It reminds us that God sent His only Son to save us, and He so, by taking upon our human nature that would be the instrument of salvation on the Cross. During the Creed, today and on Christmas, we are required to kneel, rather than bow at the words, “For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

In Little River, we have the joy of having three sirens everyday, just after each siren would be a great time to remember the incarnation of Jesus.

And let us thank the Virgin Mary, for Her fiat, Her Yes, when She said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me, according to thy word.”, which resulted in Jesus coming down from heaven into Her Immaculate womb.

3rd Sunday of Lent, Repent & Bear Fruit

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “But, I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” It’s a striking warning, followed by a story that says he same again, only in different words. “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down.”

Repent or perish. Bear fruit or be cut down. These words of warning might appear to be harsh. But they are words of mercy precisely because they are a warning.

If a parent warns their child not to run in the street, the parent is not condemning the child to be hit by a car. On the contrary, parents try to keep them safe. The warning itself is an act of love and concern.

Here, in the case of souls, Jesus’s words are an act of mercy. Repent, he urges, while you still can. Bear fruit before your life becomes a barren wasteland. Change, because I love you; it’s not too late. We still have life within us, and God loves us enough to exhort us to exercise our freedom in favor of what is true, and good, and beautiful.

Jesus in the Gospel most especially is asking us to repent of our sins. To turn away from them, Catholics means to Confess them in Confession, where we receive God’s mercy.

He gives a strong warning, saying that those who do not repent, will perish. What does perish mean? It means to die in the state of mortal sin and to go to hell forever.

It is very loving to warn us of dangers to our soul. This is why priests act as shepherds to warn the sheep of the danger of not praying, not practicing one’s faith, not confessing one’s sins, by failing to love one’s neighbor.

In the past I told you the definition of mercy. Mercy is to open one’s heart to relieve the misery of another by doing an act of charity. When we practice mercy, we are producing fruit.

On the Cross, the Heart of Jesus was opened when it was pierced with a sword, causing blood and water to gush forth. Jesus saw the misery of our souls and by an act of forgiveness, relieved that misery.

When we look at a Divine Mercy picture, we see rays of red and white coming forth from the Heart of Jesus to relieve the misery of our sins. St. Faustina’s prayer reminds us of the cost of mercy. “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!” 

All we have to do-- to be merciful-- is to look for the misery of others and then do our best relieve that misery with an act of love.

The corporal works of mercy are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, burying the dead, visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing those who are naked, sheltering the homeless. The spiritual works of mercy are: counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, bearing wrongs patiently, praying for the living and the dead, admonishing the sinner, forgive all offenses, comfort the sorrowful.

If we look for the misery of another person, and relieve that misery with an act of love we are practicing mercy.

For example, if a child needs help with their homework, the child is in misery and to relieve that misery by instructing the child, is an act of mercy.

Another example a young person has the misery of being afraid, and when tell them, “Have courage, don’t be afraid.” we are relieving their misery by an act of mercy.

If someone is making negative comments about someone else, that gossipers in misery, we can admonish them by saying something positive about the person, they are speaking negatively about.

If someone’s pet dies, and they are sorrowing, we can comfort them, by saying, Jesus loves you.

At a basketball game, I recently saw a teenage boy ask for money from his father, to purchase a bottle of water and the boy came back, not only with a bottle of water for himself, but one to his father, who was thirsty. The father saw the misery of his son who was thirsty and he relieved that misery by giving him money to buy water. And the boy saw the misery of his father and brought him water to drink.

If we are accused of something we didn’t do, and we can’t prove that it wasn’t us, we can offer up the misunderstanding and bear it patiently.

When someone is in the hospital, or nursing home, or if they are home bound, they are in misery because they feel alone, but if someone visits them, they are doing an act of mercy by talking to them and helping them to feel loved.

When parents go to Confession and bring their children with them, they are relieving the misery of the child’s soul, by allowing Jesus to forgive them.

When parents bring their children to Mass, they are seeing the misery of a child who needs to be with Jesus and they are relieving that misery by helping the child to pray to Jesus in the Sacred Host.

Parents when you bring your children to Adoration, you are being merciful to them by helping them to learn to pray.

Do you see how many different ways we can practice mercy? All we have to do is be attentive to the misery of others and relieve that misery with an act of love, that is mercy.

As we go through Lent, try to look for misery of others and to relieve that misery, by an act of love, and it is then we will see Jesus in disguise of those whom we help.

Jesus indicates what we will be judged on at the end of our life, which is mercy. As Our Lord said, “When I was hungry, you gave me food. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink, when I was ill and in prison, you visited to me. What you did to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do unto me.”

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus explains what happens to those who fail to give mercy. Basically, we could become that fig tree, that produced no fruit, and will be cut down, because we failed to love our neighbor. Just as Our Lord gave the tree three years to produce fruit or it will be cut down, so Jesus first calls us to repentance, then He asks that we produce fruit by being merciful to others.

But, if we fail to repent, if we fail to be merciful to others and not truly love them, we could be cut off from eternal life at the end of our time on earth.

As Our Lord said, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for when I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was ill and in prison and you did not visit me.”

But if we do acts of mercy, which are really acts of love, at the end of our live, we will hear Jesus say to us, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” for “what you did to the least of my brothers and sisters, you did unto Me...”

2nd Sunday of Lent, The Transfiguration & the Face of God

 

Six days after predicting His death and resurrection, when Peter, James, and John climbed a high mountain, Jesus revealed His glory to them on Mount Tabor.

When they arrived at the top, the three were tired and thirsty and decided to take a short nap. But they were suddenly awakened by a bright light that emanated from Jesus. Our Lord stood transfigured before them glowing brightly and with Him was Moses and Elijah. It wasn’t during the night, but during the day, when His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white.

One of the priests of our diocese, Fr. Larry Carney, wrote a book on the Holy Face of Jesus. Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus has a long history; it seems as long as that of the Church, if not longer because there is a recurrent theme in the Old Testament to seek the Holy Face of God. Already in Genesis 3:8 at the sin of Adam and Eve, we read that they “hid from the face of God.” It seems that a longing to see the Divine Face remained in them and was passed on to their descendants.

The Hebrew scriptures make reference to the holy face of God, especially in the psalms. Desire to see the Face of God is frequent. In Psalm 27: “Thou hast said, ‘Seek ye my face.’ My heart says to thee, ‘Thy face, Lord, do I seek.’ Hide not your face from me.’” In 2 Chronicles 7 a national blessing is assured by God to Solomon, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” The priestly blessing of Aaron over the people emphasizes its importance: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace” (Numbers 6.22-27).

In 2 Corinthians 4:6, St. Paul directs our attention to the face of Jesus: “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Revelations 22:3-4 proclaims the eternal joyful contemplation in heaven “… the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see His face…”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, said “Moses says (to the Lord), ‘Show me your glory’ . You see that the prophets in those times saw the Christ, that is, as much as each was able. ‘Show me your glory … that I may see you with understanding.’ But (God) says, ‘You cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live’ (Exodus 33:20).

For this reason, because no man could see the face of God and live, Jesus took upon Himself the face of human nature, that we might see it and live.

When Our Lord was born in Bethlehem, the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were the first to see the face of Jesus.

And yet when Jesus wished to show a little of His majesty at the Transfiguration, when His face shined as the sun, the disciples fell down afraid. His bodily face shining with less than the full power of him who made it, but according to the capacity of the disciples still frightened them, so that they could not bear it. How, then, could any man gaze upon the majesty of God?

After Jesus rose from the dead, most did not immediately recognize the face of Jesus. Perhaps, His new resurrected body made His appearance look different.

The face of any person reveals who we are and often times what we think. There are some who naturally have a happy face and are always smiling. Others their face looks grumpy. Some you can look at their face and tell what they are thinking.

With Bishop Jackals, our former bishop, you could always tell what he was thinking by looking at his face. One time we had a speaker at the clergy conference who said some inaccurate things. All we had to do was look at face of Bishop Jackals and we knew what he was thinking. And then, sure enough, the bishop stood up and gently corrected the speaker.

Some have what’s called a “poker face”, meaning they are able to hide what they are thinking when playing cards. They can be angry or maybe shocked by something, but you can’t tell by looking at their face.

Most of the time, we can tell by looking at someone’s face if they are happy, or if they are sad, if they are anxious, if they are worried, if they concerned, if they are angry.

Crying causes the face to appear sad and it draws empathy from others. A joyful face will cause others to be happy and can inspire laughter.

One of the beatitudes states, “Blessed are the pure of heart, they shall see God.” A pure heart will overlook the faults of others, look beyond their roughness and see God within the person.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread (in the Holy Eucharist, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

She also said, “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” She said, “We can never know the simple smile can do.” “Every time you smile at someone, it is action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

When I prepare couples for marriage, I always tell them, its up to them how they will discipline their children. Whether or not they will spank them, but if they choose to spank, they should only spank the bottom and never slap the face of the child. Why? Because to do so is a serious way of shaming the person. It’s an insult to their human dignity. In some countries, to slap someone in the face is as though, it was a slap against God Himself. In countries, like Iceland, to slap a child is considered abuse. In the United States to slap someone is a misdemeanor, punishable up to a year in jail.

God gives each of us our own face. It is uniquely ours. Every face is beautiful. Every face is precious. Every face has the ability to show love.

Let us use our face to help others, by smiling and let us seek the face of God most especially in the Eucharist, but also in the poor, and in each other.

In our mind’s eye when we look at the Sacred Host, during Adoration and at Mass, we can gaze upon the glory of the face of Christ on earth, for by doing so, we look forward to see God face to face in all His glory in heaven.

Miracles of the Rosary & the Rosary of Miracles

                                              NEW ROSARY BOOK

In Miracles of the Rosary & The Rosary of Miracles there are meditations for each mystery of the Holy Rosary. These meditations are especially helpful to our spiritual life. Specific applications after each mystery help the reader to apply the mystery to our life today. True inspirational stories after applications encourage the reader to grow in his or her faith and to pray the Rosary more often. Applications and stories are used to convey and pass on some Catholic beliefs and traditions. After the applications and stories, an apparition is given that concerns the Rosary. The apparitions are approved by the Church in some manner and are in chronological order. The author adds an additional five mysteries to the Rosary called the Rosary of Miracles: Jesus Heals the Paralytic, Jesus Walks on Water & Calms the Storm, Jesus Heals Mute Boy, Jesus Multiplies the Loaves & Fish, and Jesus Raises Lazarus from the dead. Author: Fr. Edmond Gene Mary Kline

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2nd Sunday of Lent, Transfiguration

 

Jesus, Peter, James and John climbed a very high mountain and when they reached the top, they paused to sit down and rest. The three disciples took a short nap, but were suddenly awakened by a bright light that emanated from Jesus. Our Lord stood transfigured before them glowing brightly and with Him was Moses and Elijah.

But, how did they know who the two men were? Most likely it was a divine intuition from God. The Holy Spirit helped them to immediately recognize who they were. They also heard them speak to Jesus about His upcoming Passion and death and through the conversation they had with Jesus, the three Apostles understood who they were.

Mount Tabor is 1,929 feet from the bottom to the top. It’s shaped like a half sphere. Some say it's shaped like a soup bowl. It’s above the Jezreel Valley plain in lower Galilee. It’s about five miles east of Nazareth and eleven miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Scripture states the transfiguration took place six days after Peter’s confession of faith, when he declared to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” When He called Jesus, “the Christ”, he was stating Jesus is the Messiah.

At that time, Jesus also warned them about what was going to happen in the near future, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Tour guides at Mount Tabor will say that on August 6th, the Feast of the Transfiguration, the sun shines directly through the window and onto the apse of the mural of the Transfiguration. On that day the sun will light up the mural, making the image of Lord shine brightly for all to see.

The tour guide pondered if the church was designed and the artwork created in such a way, that they knew the sun would shine directly on the image of the transfiguration, on the Feast of the Transfiguration or was it created through the inspiration of God’s Divine Providence without any foreknowledge of the designers. The incredible artistic masterpiece in the apse of the church is described as, “Within the building itself we are immediately struck by the skill of an architect who could seize on the essentials of a site a situation and a mystery, express its meaning in stone, mosaic and bronze, and illumine it all through alabaster with the light of the sun itself.”

Most likely, the walk up Mount Tabor caused the four to be tired, thirsty and out of breath. They certainly would need to sit down at the top to get their breath, rest and would have gazed upon the lower valley in awe. Today, it’s accessed by a narrow winding road.

In the transfiguration event, we get a glimpse into the divinity of Jesus and also a confirmation that He is the Messiah. Six days after predicting His death and resurrection, when Peter, James, and John climbed a high mountain, Jesus revealed His glory to them. It wasn’t during the night, but during the day, when His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white.

In a flash, the disciples' eyes are opened. They can see who Jesus really is. He is more than a rabbi, a miraculous healer, or gifted preacher. He is greater than even Moses or Elijah! Jesus is the Messiah. He is God.

During this event, they saw Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Jesus, as God and Messiah, represents the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.

By revealing His glory, Jesus showed them what it would be like after He rises from the dead. Seeing this gave the disciples strength for the future difficult time of Jesus’ suffering and death. By witnessing the transfiguration, they understood Jesus will come back in glory. Our bodies too will be glorified at the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus’s disciples didn’t fully grasp their mountaintop vision or how they would need to cling to it as Jesus headed toward the Cross. They didn’t know how their faith would be tested or how important it was that Jesus was more than a just man. They didn’t know what Jesus meant when He said He would die and rise again. But Jesus knew. That’s why He told them to keep the revelation to themselves until He had risen from the dead.

In His transfiguration, Jesus was giving His disciples a gift to sustain them for the day of His crucifixion. On that day there would not be three tents, but three crosses. Jesus would not stand between Moses and Elijah, rather He would hang between two thieves on a cross. On that day they would abandon their teacher and Lord to His cruel end. But Jesus’ transfiguration not only helped the disciples during His crucifixion. Even more, it foreshadowed a greater revelation of His divinity: the resurrection!

The transfiguration, when linked to the Eucharist, reveals the glory of God and His love for us.

Today, the tabernacle in every Catholic Church is the meeting place between God and man, because the Eucharistic Jesus is truly present in every tabernacle. The physical church is the new temple. At Mass the one sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross becomes present when bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus. At Mass, we are in God’s presence. We are in the presence of the sacrifice of Calvary and when the Host is elevated, in our mind’s eye, we can gaze upon the glory of the face of Christ.

Let us rejoice in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and may we look forward to see Him face to face in all His glory in heaven.

First Sunday of Lent Year C - Temptations & Rosary

 

In the Gospel today, Jesus goes out into the desert for 40 days without eating food to be tempted by the devil. The devil tempted Our Lord with food—to change a rock into bread to satisfy is hunger from fasting. He was tempted to vain glory ---to show off His power—by jumping off a cliff. His third temptation was the desire for worldly riches and fame to have all the kingdoms of the world, so as to hold God in contempt.

Evil spirits normally tempt us to sin, but on rare occasions they can possess those who do extraordinary evil, such as playing the Ouija board, tarot cards, or witchcraft.

I wrote a book called Miracles of the Rosary & the Rosary of Miracles last year. The book has meditations on each of the mysteries of the Rosary, it has applications, stories and apparitions about the Rosary. At the end of the book, I added five new mysteries to the Rosary called the Miracle Mysteries.

The five miracle mysteries include: healing of the paralytic, the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus walking on water, Our Lord delivering a possessed man, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. One of the stories in freeing of the possessed man, I quoted a story about St. Dominic. We see in this story how the Virgin Mary through the Rosary helped to expel demons. Here is the story:

“When Saint Dominic was preaching the Rosary near Carcassone an Albigensian was brought to him who was possessed by the devil. Saint Dominic exorcised him in the presence of a great crowd of people; it appears that over twelve thousand had come to hear him preach. The devils who were in possession of this wretched man were forced to answer Saint Dominic’s questions in spite of themselves. They said that: 1. There were fifteen thousand of them in the body of this poor man, because he had attacked the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary; 2. They went on to testify that by preaching the Rosary he put fear and horror into the very depths of Hell and that he was the man they hated most throughout the whole world, because of the souls which he snatched from them through devotion to the Holy Rosary;

3. They then revealed several other things.

Saint Dominic put his Rosary around the Albigensian’s neck and asked the devils to tell him who, of all the Saints in Heaven, was the one they feared the most, and who should therefore be the most loved and revered by men. At this they let out such unearthly screams that most of the people fell to the ground, faint from fear. Then, using all their cunning, so as not to answer, the devils wept and wailed in such a pitiful way that many of the people wept also, out of purely natural pity. The devils spoke through the mouth of the Albigensian, pleading in a heartrending voice:

“Dominic, Dominic, have mercy on us—we promise you that we will never hurt you. You have always had compassion for sinners and those in distress; have pity on us, for we are in grievous straits. We are suffering so very much already, so why do you delight in heightening our pains? Can’t you be satisfied with our suffering without adding to it? Have pity on us! Have pity on us!”

Saint Dominic was not moved by the pleas of these wretched spirits and told them that he would not let them alone until they had answered his question. Then they said they would whisper the answer in such a way that only Saint Dominic would be able to hear. The latter firmly insisted upon their answering clearly and out loud. Then the devils kept quiet and refused to say another word, completely disregarding Saint Dominic’s orders—so he knelt down and prayed thus to Our Lady: “Oh, all powerful and wonderful Virgin Mary, I implore you by the power of the Most Holy Rosary, order these enemies of the human race to answer me.”

No sooner had he made this prayer than a glowing flame leaped out of the ears, nostrils and mouth of the Albigensian. Everyone shook with fear, but the fire did not hurt anyone. Then the devils cried: “Dominic, we beseech you, by the passion of Jesus Christ and by the merits of His Holy Mother and of all the Saints, let us leave the body of this man without speaking further—for the Angels will answer your question whenever you wish. After all, are we not liars? So why should you want to believe us? Please don’t torture us any more; have pity on us.”

“Woe unto you wretched spirits, who do not deserve to be heard,” Saint Dominic said, and kneeling down he prayed to Our Lady: “Oh most worthy Mother of Wisdom, I am praying for the people assembled here who have already learned how to say the Angelic Salutation properly. Please, I beg of you, force your enemies to proclaim the whole truth and nothing but the truth about this, here and now, before the multitude.”

Saint Dominic had hardly finished this prayer when he saw the Blessed Virgin near at hand, surrounded by a multitude of Angels. She struck the possessed man with a golden rod that She held and said: “Answer my servant Dominic at once.” (Remember, the people neither saw nor heard Our Lady, but only Saint Dominic.) Then the devils started screaming:“Oh you who are our enemy, our downfall and our destruction, why have you come from Heaven just to torture us so grievously? O Advocate of sinners, you who snatch them from the very jaws of Hell, you who are the very sure path to Heaven, must we, in spite of ourselves, tell the whole truth and confess before everyone who it is who is the cause of our shame and our ruin? Oh woe unto us, princes of darkness: Then listen well, you Christians: the Mother of Jesus Christ is all-powerful and She can save Her servants from falling into Hell. She is the Sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles and subtlety. It is She who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares and makes our temptations useless and ineffectual.

We have to say, however reluctantly, that not a single soul who has really persevered in Her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that She offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires and aspirations of all the Saints.

We fear Her more than all the other Saints in Heaven together and we have no success with Her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon her when they are at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards are saved by Her intercession.

Oh if only that Mary (it is thus in their fury that they called Her) had not pitted Her strength against ours and had not upset our plans, we should have conquered the Church and should have destroyed it long before this; and we would have seen to it that all the Orders in the Church fell into error and disorder.

Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because She obtains for Her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God’s forgiveness and mercy.”

Then Saint Dominic had them all say the Rosary very slowly and with great devotion, and a wonderful thing happened: at each Hail Mary that he and the people said together a large group of devils issued forth from the wretched man’s body under the guise of red-hot coals.

When the devils had all been expelled and the heretic was at last entirely free of them, Our Lady (who was still invisible) gave Her blessing to the assembled company, and they were filled with joy because of this. A large number of heretics were converted because of this miracle and joined the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.”

My dear friends, if we stay in the state of grace, if we pray regularly, if we go to confession regularly, attend Mass regularly and receive Holy Communion often, pray the Rosary daily, while in the state of grace, we will be protected. As the story said, no one who perseveres in praying the Rosary will go to hell.

Jesus loves us and cares for us. He does not allow us to be tempted more than we can handle. By our successful fighting against them and overcoming them, temptations can actually help us to grow in virtue and holiness. As we begin Lent, I encourage you to turn to Jesus and to His Blessed Mother. Pray the Holy Rosary every day and pray the Rosary together with your family at least once a week.

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Ash Wednesday

 

We begin Lent with Ash Wednesday. Ashes are placed on our foreheads as a sign of repentance, remembering that we are dust and to dust we shall return. It is a reminder life is short and we need to live everyday for heaven.

Lent is time to turn away from sin and to be faithful to the Gospel. We are to draw close to Jesus, who helps us go through 40 days of temptations by the devil.

The Gospel reminds us to fast, pray, and give alms to the poor, as we renew our efforts to live a life of virtue and holiness. Lent is a time of self-examination, where we look in our hearts to discover things that prevent us from being close to Jesus and confess them to Our Lord in Confession.

During Lent we practice self-discipline and self-denial. We make sacrifices out of love of Jesus and for the conversion of sinners. What are going to give up? Candy, desserts, smoking, alcohol, technology such as video games, movies, computers, YouTube, Facebook.

We are especially called to do our daily duties to the best of our ability. To not complain when we are told do something. To keep our room clean or our house clean. To do our job to the best of our ability. To get up in the morning and go to bed on time.

When I visited the 3rd and 4th grade class last week, I asked them what they were going to give up for Lent. To my surprise, a boy said he was going to take a cold shower every day during Lent. A girl said she was going to take short showers to save money for her parents. A boy said he was going to sleep on the floor every day during Lent. Another boy said he was giving up all technology: video games and computers. I never suggested any of these things. They said these things on their own.

Adults, have you done any of these things? How inspiring to hear what children are doing. Shouldn’t adults do much more? Such as fasting twice a week, praying more, giving donations to the poor or an organization such as crisis pregnancy centers.

We should especially give us sin, such as gossip, lying, disobeying parents. If we fail to attend Mass regularly, we should renew our efforts to come to Mass every weekend and receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

As I mentioned last week, one of the best things we can do during Lent is to attend daily Mass during the week, if we are able. To receive Jesus in Holy Communion is the greatest joy and the most special graces we can receive in this life. But, we must do so, only in the state of grace. If we have any mortal sin on our soul, we must first go to Confession before we receive Holy Communion, otherwise we commit a sacrilegious communion, which is an additional mortal sin.

How powerful it would be to pray the Rosary every day and at least once a week pray the Rosary as a family.

Another wonderful thing to do during Lent is to grow in your relationship with Jesus by spending more time in prayer, most especially during Eucharistic Adoration, but also in your home or before Jesus in the tabernacle.

Read a short paragraph from the bible everyday. You can spiritual reading such as reading the book Miracles of the Rosary or a book on the lives of the saints.

How blessed will your lent be if you knelt down every day before a statue or picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked Her Motherly intercession to help you in your needs.

Finally, one of the greatest things we can during Lent is to accept suffering for love of Jesus and offer it for the conversion of sinners. That is why we make sacrifices and give up things, out of love Jesus and for the conversion of sinners.

Conversion of sinners means we pray that they will turn away from sin and come to know and love Jesus and allow Him to lead their life.

May your Lent be grace filled and joyful, as you practice self-denial, self-discipline and acts of charity towards others. as we look forward to celebrating Easter, when Jesus comes out of the tomb conquering death in order to give us life with Him in heaven.