Wednesday, October 31

A Rosary Meditation … The First Glorious Mystery, the Resurrection. “In the beatific vision each merit secures greater clearness and insight into the divine attributes and perfections than that acquired by all the doctors and enlightened members of the Church.” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) With these words the Blessed Virgin explains to Mary of Agreda a wonderful truth. While knowledge and learning are of great worth personal merit is worth even more. Not everyone can attain great learning, but each of us can, in some small way at least, develop good qualities of value. We may not all be scholars but we can all be good people, good Catholics. And this goodness, and all goodness originates with God Who is All Good, brings us closer to Him. The closer to Him we are the clearer, the more wonderful, will be our beatific vision, how we see Him in Heaven. The Blessed Virgin Mary knew more about this than anyone else. When Jesus rose from the dead she was given an interior enlightenment, a knowledge of His resurrection, that was so great that the spiritual joy spilled over into the physical and all she knew at that time, on all levels, was joyousness. She, by her merits, was so close to Christ that when He came out of the tomb she knew it immediately. This gives us something to strive for. We, by growing in merit, which simply means by becoming more like Him, can KNOW He lives! Always and forever. In this personal knowledge of His resurrection our beatific vision, in a way, can begin even now, in this life. We will be as close to Him then as we merit now. Our vision of Him then will be as clear as our vision of Him in our life now. And how to do this? How to see, really see? Simple. Never forget the tomb. But more importantly never forget that its empty.

Today … St. Bega. An Irish princess promised in marriage to a Viking prince. But there was a Love in her life greater than the royal court or a royal wedding. She desired only a place, however small, in another Royal Court and, as a pure virgin, to be wed to Another. So she fled and was transported miraculously by God to Cumberland, England. There, in a hermitage, she was counseled by St. Oswald. Latter St. Aidan received her vows as a nun. She founded a monastery and served as its abbess until her death. She tried to always remain as close to Christ as she could in this earthly life. Her vision was undoubtedly clearer than most. Two questions we might ask ourselves. With such a clear vision what is it that she views NOW? With our own vision being what it is at this moment what is it that we need to do to improve it?

Vision … “We see now through a glass in a dark manner, but then face to face.” 1 Corinthians 13:12a.

Tuesday, October 30

A Rosary Meditation … The First Sorrowful Mystery, the Agony in the Garden. “This agony of Christ our Savior grew in proportion to the greatness of His charity and the certainty of His knowledge that men would persist in neglecting to profit by His Passion and Death.” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) One of the things that hurt our Lord so much as He prayed in the garden was that He saw clearly just how many would refuse His sacrifice for them. He understood that for many, by their choice or by their refusal to make a choice, all He was here for was being done in vain. He suffered for these and they did not, would not, care. He suffered for these so that they might know and take part in the Truth and He saw that they would choose ignorance and darkness instead. He saw the people who would choose paganism over Christianity, those that would prefer relativism to solid truth, the ones who would willingly turn a deaf ear to the Gospel in preference to a liberal agenda. And He saw the others, those claiming to follow Him, those going by His Name, who would practice birth control (and so create a shortage of priests and religious by denying them the right to life and the chance to serve God), promote same-sex “marriage”, defy the Magisterium and rightful authority in the name of their version of “truth”, condone abortion, and undermine the faith and morals of others out of a perverse desire to be accepted, not by Him but by the world. He saw the world then, the world to come, the world NOW. And He stayed in the garden praying, and He went to the cross, anyway. Why? Because He wanted us to have the chance to accept the Truth, He wanted to give us the opportunity to embrace the culture of life and stand aloof from the culture of death, safe in His nail scared hands. He prayed, He suffered, for us regardless of our choice. Because He loves us. Now? The choice is ours.

Today … Blessed Jeremiah of Valachia, 1556-1625. He was a member of the Franciscan Order and beatified by Pope John Paul II. This short sentence reflects all I could find about this saint. How wonderful! Being a Franciscan he gave up all so as to attain All and in doing this self was so put aside that he is remembered only for being a faithful follower of the Christ. What a consolation the knowledge of him, and others like him, must have been to Jesus as He prayed in the garden! This gives us a different sort of example. That of being a consolation to the suffering Messiah. Again, the choice is ours. And we make our choice day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, by the way we live.

Mercy … St. Faustina, in her Diary, dwells much on consoling the Sacred Heart of Jesus. ” … Jesus saw her in the depths of His soul even as He was dying on the cross, and this gave Him consolation at that hour.” From Dr. Robert Stackpole, STD, www.thedivinemercy.org. Jesus, by His death, has had mercy on you. And will you, by your life, have mercy on Him?

Monday, October 29

A Rosary Meditation … The First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation. “Our most prudent and humble Queen alone, among all the creatures, was sufficiently intelligent and magnanimous to estimate at its true value such a new and unheard of sacrament …” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) The sacrament in question here is God becoming man, being manifest in the flesh. The Annunciation brought to us more than the Promised One. It brought a new source of sacramental grace, it brought the body and blood, the soul and divinity of the Messiah, One now to be understood by us not just as God but as the God-Man. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14a. This annunciation has never ceased. It began here with the archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, continued at the Lord’s Supper, and continues on today at every Mass just as it has for nearly 2,000 years. The priest announces “This IS My body”, “This IS the chalice of My blood.” Every time we go to Mass we are present at the continuing Annunciation. It’s as if we are there with St. Gabriel and the Blessed Mother and Jesus. Especially Jesus. In the Old Testament God announced His presence to Moses with the burning bush. He introduced Himself to Moses, One on one. And at the beginning of this annunciation He gave Moses a command. “And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5. This changes with the New Testament annunciation. Now, rather than stand back, He invites us closer. “Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20. In the Old Testament He called to Moses. Now, under the New Covenant, He is gracious to us in waiting for us to call out to Him OUR invitation. He has already accepted us by becoming one with us. It’s now up to us to call out to Him and to become one with Him by accepting Him. Its called conversion. And that  “I … will sup with him, and he with me”? That’s called the Most Holy Eucharist. And all of this? Its well worth announcing.

Today … St. Ermelinda was a hermitess and penitent. This proves, I think, her acceptance of the invitation to call upon Christ and to sup with Him. She accepted His invitation to extend hers. The result of this? It’s always a saint.

Do you? … Do you want to be a part of the Annunciation? Do you want to take part in the Sacrament St. Gabriel spoke to the Blessed Mother of? Do you want to be with saints like Ermelinda and have supper with Jesus? Go to Mass and receive Communion.

Sunday, October 28

Today’s Gospel reading, Mark 10:46-52, shows us Jesus with Bartimaeus. Jesus was walking, going from one town to the next to teach and teaching as He went. A crowd followed. All of this caused quite a stir as they passed people and homes along the way. Noise generally accompanies a stir. You don’t have to see noise, you know it’s there because you hear it. Bartimaeus was blind. He couldn’t see Jesus but he could hear the noise. Once he knew that all the ruckus was because Jesus was walking by he began to make noise of his own. He yelled out, over and over again, “Jesus! Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Bartimaeus was sitting at the roadside. Why? He was begging. The blind and those afflicted in other ways often begged in order to meet their needs. People around him, probably some of those walking by, tried to shut him up. “Be quiet!” “Don’t cause a scene.” “Don’t bother Jesus, He’s busy.” “Jesus won’t pay any attention to the likes of you. Shut up!” Let me tell you this right now. NEVER, and I mean NEVER, give up praying (Luke 18:1), especially just because those around you tell you its a waste of time and you ought to give it up. NEVER!!! Back to Bartimaeus. They couldn’t shut him up. Thank God. Jesus called him over. People told him that Jesus was calling for him and that there was nothing to be afraid of. Never be afraid in calling out to God in prayer, there’s no reason to be. I can just see someone leading Bartimaeus to Jesus. And isn’t that what all of us who have a relationship with Him are supposed to be doing for those around us blinded by sin? When he stood before Jesus He asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Now you know Jesus knew what he wanted. But so as to not place Himself in a wrong position for that time and place (John 6:15) He asked. Some in the crowd probably thought he wanted money. This Rabbi gave alms to the poor. Surely that was it. Bartimaeus wanted money. But he said, “I want to see.” And he did. The first thing, the first Person he saw was Jesus. How glorious! To have eyes only for the Lord. And then? We’re told that the group continued on their way with Bartimaeus following Him. We never hear of Bartimaeus again. But you know, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that he was one of the followers there on the day of Pentecost.

Pray and NEVER shut up. ASK for what you need without fear. Be a guide for those who can’t see. And ALWAYS follow the One that restored YOUR sight. Always.

Today is St. Jude’s feast day. He is my patron. Thank you St. Jude.

Saturday, October 27

A Rosary Meditation … The Fifth Glorious Mystery, the Coronation. “Our Daughter Mary was chosen according to Our pleasure from amongst all creatures, the first one to delight us, and who never fell from the title and position of a True Daughter, such as We had given Her in Our Divine Mind; She has a claim on Our dominion, which we shall recognize by crowning Her as the legitimate and peerless Lady and Sovereign.” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) These are the words of God the Father to the Heavenly Court as recorded by Mary of Agreda. God let all His faithful creation know Mary’s position and rank. And all were content with this, glad to have been blessed by God with such a Queen. We’re told in various places, the Holy Bible, visionaries, et cetera that Heaven is what I’ll call a “graded” place. We will all be rewarded according to our works, we will all be as happy as we can be given our state in grace at the time of our death, and we’ll all be content with our place in Heaven without knowing jealousy. We will all be happy with the grade we get. David, who was loved by God and had a very close relationship with Him, said, “I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners.” Psalms 84:10b. Jesus said to take the lowest place, Luke 14:10, rather than the highest. David understood this and made it his desire. Why? Because position, as wonderful as it may be, and it is wonderful or God wouldn’t have it that way, is not the ultimate point. Mary knew what this ultimate point was better than anyone else and so gained the highest place next to the Creator’s. Accepting the place of a handmaiden, a servant, she became not “a” queen but THE Queen. David, being content with, as some translations have it, the position of doorkeeper in God’s house, the position of a servant who let folks in like the doorman at a big hotel,was made a king of God’s people and a forefather of the Christ. This past Sunday’s Gospel reading saw James and John asking for an exalted rank, to set on the right and left hand of Jesus in His Kingdom, because at that point they did not understand the ultimate point. And what is it? The ultimate point consists of what exactly? Two simple things. The first is the position of servant. To be a servant is to be Christlike. Jesus emptied Himself, “taking the form of a servant.” Philippians 2:7. He is our example. The second thing is this: A faithful servant is always with his master, the one he serves. Christ, being a Faithful Servant, took His rightful place, 1 Peter 3:22, just as He will give us ours, Revelation 20:41a. Following His example, following Mary’s example, gets us a job as a servant in the House of God. And THAT, boiled down, is the ultimate of ultimate points here. We get to be there.

Today … St. Abraham the Poor. An anchorite, he was a follower of St. Pachomius. He lived in a cave for 17 years and when he died St. Theodore was there to help him. Think about it. Here was a poverty-stricken servant of God. So much so that his earthly poverty became a part of his name. I’m sure he understood that he was materially poor, and being humble I’m just as sure that he saw his spiritual poverty before God. Now who in their right mind would want an existence, a life, like that? Would you want to trade places with him? Now think about this. Is he poor NOW? Would you want to trade places with him NOW? 😉

Quote … “The amassing of money fuels the passions, for it leads to increasing indulgence in all kinds of sensual pleasure.” ~ St. Thalassios the Libyan ~ Seek the Kingdom of God FIRST and everything else will fall into its proper place. Matthew 6:33.

Friday, October 26

A Rosary Meditation … The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery, the Crucifixion. “My daughter, seek with all the powers of thy mind during thy whole life to remember the mysteries manifested to thee in this chapter.” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) These are the Blessed Virgin’s instructions to Mary of Agreda. “This chapter” refers to the information passed on concerning the crucifixion. There are mysteries and then there are mysteries. This, the Crucifixion of God, is a mystery beyond most. Like the Trinity, the Resurrection, or the Real Presence this Mystery knows no bounds and so is worthy of a life-time of contemplation. There is so much that could be said that words fail. This has such an impact on each individual human life that we can’t conceive the half of it, and couldn’t if we were given a million lives to do so. But God, knowing our limitations, and while wanting us to dwell on this Mystery in love for Jesus, gives us the point to which all meditation must lead. He makes knowing easy for us because He understands our need. And so the point He shares with us is this: “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” John 3:16.

Today … I’m told that every Sunday is a mini-Easter and so it is. If every Sunday is a mini-Easter then every Friday is a little Good Friday. “Good” because of what He did for us, the provision He made for us, the mercy and love and blood He showered us with. How do you keep Good Friday? Do you make the Stations of the Cross? Visit the Blessed Sacrament? Is there a devotion special to your heart that, on Good Friday, you practice? Why not do that today? Why not celebrate, in a Good Friday sort of way, the love He celebrated for you on the cross?

St. Francis said about Good Friday … “We adore you and we bless you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all the churches which are in the whole world, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

The Impending Loss of Religious Freedom

And it is impending. Much is being said about the health care mandate and related issues. I have heard NO ONE address the following …

 

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” The U.S. Constitution.

 

Now consider. Note the word “Congress”. Congress cannot pass laws that would prohibit the free exercise of religion. This is a constitutional fact. Without a constitutional amendment this can’t be changed. But it isn’t Congress that decides what the Constitution MEANS when there is legal dispute. And there will be legal disputes, ongoing and having begun already, over the health mandate and freedom of religion. Who makes these decisions? Who “translates” the Constitution for modern, liberal America? The Supreme Court does. The Judicial branch has the final say in these matters and NOT Congress, which is the Legislative branch, or the Office of the President, which office is the Executive branch of the U.S. government. But WHO picks the Supreme Court Justices? The President. And THIS is how YOUR religious freedom is about to be LOST legally …

 

If Barack Obama is re-elected he will be the president in office who will pick the next TWO members of the Supreme Court. Currently the Court is evenly split between conservatives and liberals. They each offset the other creating a balance. Pres. Obama will pick liberals and the balance of power in the Supreme Court will shift to the liberals with no opportunity for balance. The legal battles I mentioned above will be tied up in courts long enough for this, the choosing of these new Supreme Court Justices, to happen. These law suits, once they reach the Supreme Court, will be settled with a liberal agenda. What does the “free exercise thereof” mean to the average individual? What does religious freedom mean to the people in the street who are fed pabulum, at best, by a liberal media fueled with advertising dollars gleaned from a self-centered, unschooled, instant gratification generation with no foresight because they don’t know history, thus condemning themselves to repeat it? For most people now days religious freedom, the free exercise of religion, means that you can believe what you want, worship where you please. But separation of Church and State, which principle is NOT in the Constitution (Go Google WHY Henry David Thoreau went to jail rather than pay a religious tax and you’ll have a better idea of the real meaning of separation of Church and State and what it was NEVER meant to be. It was a completely foreign concept for the founding fathers. If you don’t believe me take a look at that tax that so upset Thoreau, the author of “Civil Disobedience”.) qualifies religious freedom and keeps it in its proper place, again according to the unschooled and thoughtless, and that proper place is out of government, the school system and the market place. You can believe as you will and worship where you want but you WILL keep it to yourself. Which in effect limits religious freedom. The Supreme Court, staffed as it will be with liberals, will rule that this, the mindset I just described, is what is meant by the First Amendment. Believe what you want, go where you want, but keep it out of the legal, governmental way. Short version: You WILL obey laws, regardless what you believe, because of separation of Church and State and the other persons right to be free OF religion.

 

It won’t be Congress that takes away YOUR religious liberty. The president won’t either, at least not directly. It will be taken away by redefining it with the stroke of a legal pen. And in doing this they will claim that they are looking out for the American peoples best interest by protecting them from fanatics who desire to push their beliefs down the throat of the public. They will be protecting YOU and even the REAL, according to them, meaning of religious freedom.

 

Welcome to Ecclesiastes 10:2.

Thursday, October 25

A Rosary Meditation … The Fifth Joyful Mystery, the Finding in the Temple. “The Most Prudent Queen did not feel so much the privation of His delightful caresses, as the dread of having displeased Him and of having fallen short in His service.” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) Before the Holy Family made their trip to Jerusalem Jesus had begun to distance Himself from Mary. The Blessed Virgin blamed herself, thinking she had done something wrong, but she didn’t know what. She considered herself as being less than worthy of Him. All of this the prelude to separation from Him after His having gone missing. But all of these feelings of hers were the expression of a reality belonging only to her. She had done nothing wrong. These actions, His distancing of Himself and His seeming loss latter, were a preparation for the teaching of an important lesson. Lets put ourselves in Mary’s place, because this lesson is very much our own. Many times we feel separated from God for no apparent reason. We search our minds and hearts, examine our conscience, and come up with nothing. But something is wrong, things seem to be different in a saddening sort of way. It is a dark night of the soul. Where has He gone and why? Where is He and how can I find Him again? Well, where was He and what was He doing when He was so “misplaced” in the life of Mary? He was in the Temple, His Father’s House, taking care of His Father’s business. The next time you think you’ve lost Jesus for no reason remember this. To find Him, to never lose Him, to be with Him always and forever all we need to be about is the Father’s business, and, the place we need to be is in the Temple. The next time you “lose” Jesus do two simple things. #1: Do what you know God expects of you. If you aren’t sure what that is pray and go to His Church for spiritual direction. Remember that He has made knowing His will readily accessible to you. And, #2: Go to the Temple. Spend time before the Blessed Sacrament, set in front of the Tabernacle, and you’ll find Him. He never really went anywhere, He was always right there, waiting for us not so much to find Him but to understand that He never left. See Matthew 28:20.

Today … St. Dulcardus. A hermit and prior to that a monk at Micy of Orleans. And that’s it. Not a lot is known about him but, having been human, having been a saint, we can know much. St. Benedict, in the Rule, defines a hermit as someone who after having lived in community for some time and having become adept at spiritual warfare goes off to fight the forces of darkness on his own. Christ being with him of course. A hermit, a real one, is very brave. They “go it alone”. Being brave doesn’t mean not being afraid. Not being afraid comes much closer to being foolhardy. Being brave means being scared and doing what needs to be done anyway. Being alone as he was I’m sure that there were times when Christ seemed far away, even lost to Dulcardus. But he kept going, through the loss, through the dark night of his soul, to find Christ always. For eternity. Lets follow St. Dulcardus as he followed Jesus. Through the fear and darkness all the way to the Light.

Plus … All saints are fully human. You are fully human. Now that you know the starting place you can go from there. 😉

Anger Management

“I will not give vent to my blazing anger …” Hosea 11:9.

 

The above line, taken from the Old Testament, makes God seem potentially harsh. Here, in Hosea, God is angry. Anger seems to be at odds with the picture painted by Jesus in our New Testament. After all, God is love. 1 John 4:8. He tells me this in His word and I believe it. So what do I do with Him, or more aptly my view of Him, when He becomes angry? How do I manage this anger?

 

Well, understanding it will probably help. So …

 

In reading through the Old Testament God’s anger, His wrath, is often evident. The Israelites are always going astray, always giving Him cause. When Israel IS doing their part the nations around them aren’t and God is dealing out blows to them. David commits adultery and the resulting child is taken from him in death. Saul consults a witch rather than trust God and repent. He loses his crown, his very sanity. Time after time we see nations and individuals giving God reason to be angry and He is. Of course He doesn’t give full vent to His anger or there would probably be none of us left.

 

This is the key to understanding God when He is angry. Because He does get mad and He does take action. But His anger is managed, He does what needs to be done and, unlike us who often go to far in venting, that’s all. Remember “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?” This was ancient anger management. Prior to God giving Moses these instructions it was more like “My eye? Your life!” Overkill. But with God? Enough, no more and no less. Why? Because He IS a God of love. Where there is real love there will be real action taken by the Lover to bring the beloved back into line. Israel sinned, God let them be led into captivity. He vented His anger and the result was that Israel saw their mistakes and repented. After having been punished just enough to get their attention and change their hearts they were brought back home. David saw his sin, owned it, gave it to God in repentance and the next child born was the wisest king that ever ruled Israel. Sadly some balk at their just punishment and, like Saul, loose all.

 

See Hebrews 12:6. This is why, even after having been forgiven, we do penance. Being forgiven means we’ve been forgiven. This is what Christ bought for us on Calvary. He payed the debt ultimately, we do our part in co-operation with His sacrifice. It’s like a child playing ball who accidentally throws the ball through the neighbors window. Understanding that he is guilty he goes to the door, rings the bell, and admits the wrong. The neighbor says, “Well, you’re honest about it. I forgive you.” And then the neighbor says, “Now, lets talk about how you’re going to pay for this glass.” And they let the kid work (penance) it off doing odd jobs around the place. Repentance, of the real variety, brings knowledge of personal responsibility.

 

Read Proverbs 13:24. This goes hand in hand with Hebrews 12:6. This is the kind of anger God knows. The loving discipline of a parent who wants the best for their child. To be Christlike means more than just rescuing cute little lost lambs. It means turning over tables, chasing people out of the temple with a whip, and asking us children to pay for our broken windows.

Wednesday, October 24

A Rosary Meditation … The Fourth Glorious Mystery, the Assumption. “The Apostles took upon their shoulders the Sacred Body and the Tabernacle of God … ” (“The Mystical City of God” by Mary of Agreda) The Blessed Virgin had passed from this life to the next. The Apostles carried her, the Mother of All Life, to her funeral. But this was not an end. It was a beginning. They didn’t know it yet but they were preparing the way for her journey into Heaven and her coronation as Queen of all creation. But for now it was a funeral, and a burden to be carried. Yesterday we saw Jesus and ourselves carry a cross. And it can seem like such a hard thing, to carry a cross. Today we see the men closest to Jesus carry the woman that they are closest to. And it no doubt seemed yet another cross. The cross that went to Calvary led to Glory. This cross also tends to the glorious. This is no ordinary lady. This is the REAL Ark of the Covenant and these men, the true priesthood of the New Covenant fulfilling the Old, carry her just as the shadows and types did long before. The shadows and types weren’t understood prior to their being revealed in the New Covenant by Jesus Christ. Now, here with a funeral, we have the beginnings of yet more understanding, more revelation. When we pray our Rosary do we realize that we hold in our hands a very real gift that comes to us from God via His Covenant Ark? Do we understand that in this simple string of beads are to be found the Ark and all it contains? The Word, the Manna from Heaven, the staff that, while seemingly dead, blossomed? Think of the Ark assumed into Heaven, which is where John saw her latter (Revelation 11:19 & 12:1), and think of your connection to her via that little string of beads and through her your connection to God. Your Rosary is more than you might think.

Today … St. Anthony Mary Claret was a weaver who wanted to be a Jesuit. He studied for the priesthood, trading his ability to weave cloth for the chance to weave a net. See Matthew 4:19 & John 21:11. His health prevented him from becoming a Jesuit so he served God by being a secular priest instead. There are many nets available for those with honest desire and no one, regardless of their circumstances, is denied the chance to go fishing. In 1849 he founded the Claretians. From 1850 through 1857 he served as the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Latter he was the confessor of Queen Isabella II. He went into exile with the queen in 1868. He took part in Vatican Council I. He died in the Cistercian Monastery of Fontfroide on October 24, 1870. He wanted to be a Jesuit but couldn’t. Many of us get discouraged, and maybe even stop trying, when we try to serve in the way we think we should but can’t. That Gospel net, the one for catching souls for Jesus? It only breaks when we give up.

And so … “God decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.” ~ Pope St. Leo the Great ~ Obviously your net is needed.