Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
WEDNESDAY, May 11th Jn 12: 44-50 “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me night not remain in darkness.”
Jesus also said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12) And, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (Jn 15:15)
May we strive to walk in the Light of Christ as His friends now and into eternity by growing in our friendship with Christ through faithfulness to our daily Holy Hour!
HOUR OF POWER! FRUITS OF THE DAILY HOLY HOUR by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
VENERABLE ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN—SHINING EXAMPLE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
The effects of a well-made and methodical “Daily Hour-Hour” are countless! The person who seriously makes the decision to make the Daily Holy Hour, to be faithful to it, to have a determined determination to struggle through it on tough days and persevere until the end, will have a crown of glory in heaven after having done enormous good on earth!
Sheen, man of God that he was—preacher, writer, first Television/Radio Catholic Christian Evangelist, missionary, and Archbishop—never attributed his success to himself, but rather to Jesus whom he met on a daily basis in the Blessed Sacrament by making his own personal DAILY HOLY HOUR! It was Sheen who popularized the saying: “The Holy Hour is the Hour of Power!”
Sheen stated bluntly in talks to priests and Bishops that at times people would not listen to them, but to him, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, they would listen because of the power he was endowed with through his Daily Holy Hour—“The Hour of Power.”
Sheen once stated that in his fifty years as a priest (and many of those years as a Bishop), he never missed even one Holy Hour! Not once in his whole life as priest and Bishop! Occupied with writing constantly, traveling around the world, speaking engagements around the clock, Radio and TV programs, heading the Missionary Office of the Catholic Church, converting huge numbers of souls personally and through letters—this great man of God, even with so many commitments, would find time for Jesus every day by making his Daily Holy Hour. The key to his apostolic success was union with Jesus through a deep and growing friendship with Jesus in his Daily Holy Hour— “The Hour of Power”!
Now he is no longer called Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, but VENERABLE Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. That’s right! He is on the pathway to Beatification and eventually Canonization! Praise the Lord for such a brilliant and shining example for us!
After this biographical sketch of the life of one of America’s greatest heroes—and even more important, one of God’s heroes—we will proceed to give a list of the many fruits that emanate from faithfulness to the Daily Holy Hour, your own HOUR OF POWER!!!
1. FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST. Pope Francis constantly challenges us to strive to cultivate a deep and growing friendship with Jesus. In Evangelii Gaudium—The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis says: “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept His offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew…. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting Him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that He is already there, waiting for us with open arms.”
Jesus at the Last Supper called His Apostles “Friends”, but He also calls you to a deep Friendship with Him. We all seek friendship and union with others; that is communion! Obviously Jesus is the best of Friends; He is the faithful Friend who will never fail us! However, true friendships must be cultivated by visiting your friend, getting to know your friend, conversing with your friend, sharing with your friend joys and sorrows, failures and successes—in a word, the most profound secrets. But even in the deepest friendships, usually something is not expressed or understood. But with Jesus we can always express our inmost thoughts, fears, sorrows, even anguishes and He indeed will understand us down to the most minute detail of our experience and our existence!
2. WORD OF GOD. The staple and substance of our meditation should be the Word of God. Jesus told the enemy, the devil who tempted Him in the desert, that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. The Psalmist says that the Word of God is a lamp for our steps and a light for our path. St. Jerome reminds us, “Ignorance of Sacred Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” (Dei Verbum, Vat. II documents) In our Holy Hour we can read, meditate, listen, let our hearts be moved, and talk to the Lord—there we have simple steps for a Biblical meditation!
3. DISCIPLINE. Notice the change in your life! Once you make the decision with determination, which leads to the discipline of being faithful to your Holy Hour, then you will have greater discipline in the other activities in the course of your busy schedule. One act of discipline in making the Daily Holy Hour motivates a well-ordered and disciplined life in general!
4. PEACE AND HARMONY! With discipline comes peace. What is peace? St. Augustine defines peace as the tranquility of order. St. Ignatius reaffirms this using other words, namely, that the purpose of the Spiritual Exercises is to order the disordered. Our Lady of Guadalupe ordered the roses in the Tilma of St. Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico!
5. WORK: MORE DONE AND DONE BETTER! Many of us complain about lack of time to carry out our various duties in life. Often this is due to a lack of order. The Holy Hour helps us to carry out our daily obligations and be more faithful to our state in life with increased energy of will, and with greater peace and joy. Why is this? The reason is clear! When we do the Daily Holy Hour we are inviting God/Jesus to be part of our whole life, all that we are and all that we do. He is the secret Companion walking with us on the Highway of Life to Eternity—as He walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus!
And He does most of the work. He says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt 11:28-30).
If possible, it is best to do your Daily Holy Hour as early as possible, then the Lord Jesus accompanies you during the whole course of the day and makes your burdens light!
6.. FAMILY CONVERSION AND SANCTIFICATION! Many of us have family members who have abandoned the faith, walked away from the Church—who are angry, bitter, and even antagonistic towards all that is related to God. Maybe we have talked to them, tried to convince them by the best arguments to return, but it is simply an exercise in futility. What is lacking is PRAYER. Jesus said some devils can only be expelled through prayer and fasting. Offering your daily Holy Hour— “The Hour of Power”—for the conversion and salvation of your loved ones can prove exceedingly fruitful! Remember the many hours of prayer and tears of St. Monica for the conversion of her son, St. Augustine. We need more St. Monicas with their Daily Holy Hours.
7. FERVENT COMMUNIONS. Not only does the Daily Holy Hour—the Hour of Power—serve to motivate prodigal sons, lost sheep, wandering souls to return to the Good Shepherd, but also this personal encounter with the Lord improves and upgrades our reception of Jesus in Holy Communion. The greatest act we can do on earth is to receive Jesus in Holy Communion! However, the better the preparation, the more efficacious the effects of Holy Communion in our soul! May our Daily Holy Hours prove to transform us into the One we receive in Holy Communion, remembering the words of St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)
8. CONSOLATION. In the midst of the storms, tempests, earthquakes of life, we can always find consolation, peace, refuge, solace, and an oasis when we come to our Daily Holy Hour. There are days in which the battle is fierce, the tug of the passions insistent, the devil’s attacks relentless, the seduction of the world and its false values alluring. Amidst the exterior and interior storms of life, what consolation to know that Jesus is always waiting for us to come and seek our true refuge in His Sacred Heart and in the Immaculate Heart of Mary. “Sacred Heart of Jesus I trust in you!’ “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.”
9. GOOD EXAMPLE. There are many ways to preach the Word of God. Jesus’ last words were to go out to the whole world and tell the Good News. That said, the word that we preach must be supported by the example of life that we live! The person who makes the Daily Holy Hour—the Hour of Power—radiates goodness, and inspires others to follow the same path! How many priests—even the one writing this article, Father Broom—have been inspired to make the Daily Holy Hour due to the preaching about it, but especially the “living out” of the Daily Holy Hour by Fulton Sheen. At the end of his life, Archbishop Fulton Sheen decided to preach retreats to priests and Bishops, and he had one goal: to convince both priests and Bishops to make the firm determination and commitment to make the Daily Holy Hour. If they made this Daily Holy Hour with determination, Sheen knew this would transform lives, parishes, Dioceses, and the world at large!
10. HEAVEN! Of monumental importance is the attaining of Heaven. Union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, with Mary and the Angels and saints for all eternity, will be the end result and most sublime fruit of faithfulness to the Daily Holy Hour. St. Alphonsus put it bluntly, “He who prays well will be saved; he who does not pray will be damned.” (CCC on prayer). If you like, St. Augustine expresses the same concept poetically: “He who prays well, lives well; he who lives well, dies well; and he who dies well, all is well!”
In sum, my friends, right now let us make a firm commitment with determined determination to be faithful to the Daily Holy Hour—the Hour of Power! If done faithfully you will grow in Friendship with Jesus, grow in holiness and peace of soul, work well with order and discipline, be a source of sanctification and conversion for others, receive Jesus with greater purity of heart in Holy Communion, and most important become one day a jewel in the crown of Mary, where you will contemplate the Beauty of the unveiled Face of Jesus for all eternity. Amen.
