God’s goodness has no limits. Giving, giving and more generous giving expresses the very nature of our loving and bountiful God. Count your gifts and blessings and then thank and praise our loving God. This should be done daily!

Your body, your mind, your affections, your soul—all gifts from God. Praise the Lord. The Sacraments, the Church, the Eucharist—the Bread of Life, your Guardian angel, your friends the saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary who is your loving Heavenly Mother, and the promise of eternal life in Heaven. Praise and thank the Lord the giver of all sublime gifts. Saint Ignatius reminds us also that the more we thank God for His many gifts, the more He showers us with even more and greater gifts.

LENT AS A GIFT.  Most likely you have never spent much time reflecting upon and thanking God for the Gifts present in the Liturgical Seasons—most specifically, the Annual Gift of the Season of Lent. If that is the case, now is the time to abound in thanking God for the Gift of the Season of Lent. In the words of the Psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.” (Ps. 136:1)

Every year, usually starting some time in February, Lent commences. The priest dons the Liturgical color of purple. Penance and a call to conversion of life marks the entire season. The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday which sets the tone of the season. Ashes are imposed with one of two phrases which are Biblical. “Be converted and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk. 1:15)  Or “Remember that you are dust and you shall return to dust.” (Gen. 3:19) The Church announces the clarion call to conversion, as well as pointing out our mortality—one day we will all die and go before the Judgment seat of God.

GOSPEL FOR ASH WEDNESDAY: 3 PRACTICES TO ARRIVE AT CONVERSION. The Gospel in the Mass for Ash Wednesday sets the tone for Lent. Jesus offers us three specific ways in which we can attain the conversion of our lives and finish our lives dying in the state of grace and thereby attain our goal: Heaven!

Expressed in a three-dimensional pattern we might say: we must go up, go in, and go out! Go up—through a more intense prayer life! Go in—conversion through penance or mortification. Go out—through almsgiving or an active life of charity to live out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. If we can strive to live out these three dimensions in our spiritual life, then undoubtedly we will arrive at a more profound conversion of heart, a real conversion of life, and a deep aversion for sin and greater love for Jesus Christ!

Therefore, let us strive to realize that Lent is truly a great Gift from the hands and the loving Heart of the Lord Jesus to His Church, and to each and every one of us individually. With open hearts let us recognize the gift, receive the gift, and live the gift.

WAYS THAT WE CAN ACCEPT AND LIVE OUT LENT.

 PRAYER…

 1. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!! Increase and fortify your personal prayer life. Indeed, what air is to our lungs, prayer is to our soul. Little prayer or a weak prayer life results in the drying up of our spiritual lungs and sure death!!!

 2. WAYS TO PRAY? There are countless ways, but we will offer a list that you can choose from and implement, understanding we have to act on these good proposals and not just create castles in the air and follow wishful thinking. The following is a long list of prayers that you can undertake. If you already do some of these, add more for Lent!

1) DAILY BIBLE READING: Using these five classical steps of Lectio Divina: Lectio (Read), Meditatio (Meditate), Contemplatio (Contemplate), Oracio (Pray), Accio (Act).

2) HOLY HOUR. Use your Daily Bible Reading with Lectio Divina to give the Lord a Holy Hour of uninterrupted prayer every day for forty days. Ven. Fulton Sheen coined this “The Hour of Power!” Indeed, it was for Sheen who touched the lives of millions of people!

3) DAILY EXAMEN. Spend ten minutes every day, at any time you prefer, and go through your day thanking the Lord for the gifts of the day and begging pardon for any failures, with firm resolve to reform your life the next day.

4) THE MOST HOLY ROSARY. During the Holy Season of Lent get into the habit of praying the Rosary daily. If possible, pray the Family Rosary. Remember the words of the Rosary-priest, Ven. Father Patrick Peyton: “The family that prays together, stays together” and “A world at prayer is a world at peace.” Incidentally, if possible, view the film/documentary PRAY! The Life of Fr. Patrick Peyton.

5) HOLY MASS. By far the greatest prayer is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If possible, aim for daily Mass and Holy Communion. The Eucharist—Jesus, the Bread of Life, will transform your life and help you to arrive at a deep conversion of heart.

6) WAY OF THE CROSS. Most appropriate in Lent is to make the Way of the Cross. For the fourteen stations move from one to the next contemplating the love that Jesus has for you personally by suffering His Passion and death for love of you and the salvation of your immortal soul!

7) LITURGY OF THE HOURS. Learn to pray the Liturgy of the Hours which is the public worship of the Church. In the Magnificat magazine you have Morning Prayer (Lauds) as well as Evening Prayer (Vespers). Most of these prayers are taken from the Psalms, the Official Prayer Book of the Bible.

8) MEAL PRAYER. If not already in the habit, start your mealtime with a short prayer to thank God for the gift of a healthy and hearty meal. Many cannot do this because they will have no food to eat or give to their children today.

9) THE ANGELUS PRAYER. In Lent you might intersperse your day with prayer by praying the Angelus three times a day: 9:00 a.m., 12 noon, and 6 p.m. Beg Mary to bless your mornings, afternoons and evenings!

10) VIEW THE MOVIE THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. If age appropriate, watch the movie of Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ. However, instead of viewing it as a mere Hollywood rendition, view it as a prayer, as a contemplation, so as to love the Lord Jesus more and more. He suffered all of His Passion for love of you! Which scenes touched you the most?

 3. SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION. During Lent make the best Confession of your life. Indeed, this is truly the Sacrament and encounter with Christ where deep conversion really can take place.

 4. READ THE DOLOROUS PASSION. In Lent much fruit can be derived from spiritual reading, most specially the Dolorous Passion by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.

FASTING / PENANCE / MORTIFICATION…

5. FASTING OF THE TONGUE. For the forty days of Lent avoid any words that could hurt any of your family members. Two rules can be of great help: First: Think before you speak. Second: Do and say to others what you would like them to do and say to you.

6. FASTING FROM FOOD. Choose at least one thing at the table that you like to eat and give that up for Lent. Do it for love of Jesus, and for the salvation of immortal souls as well as your own conversion!

7. FORM OF PENANCE: IMPROVE YOUR WORK ETHIC. A most efficacious penance/charity might simply be to upgrade your work ethic. This can be work outside the home or inside the home. Start your work on time and be orderly, systematic and methodical. Avoid cutting corners and doing a sloppy joy. Remember the words of Saint Paul: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) Follow in the footsteps of Saint Therese, the Little Flower. “Holiness consists in doing the ordinary things of daily life with extraordinary love.”

ALMSGIVING / CHARITY…

8. ALMSGVING. Pray to the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind as to how you can help out the poor in one way or another. Never forget the words of Jesus: “I was hungry, thirsty, naked, a foreigner, sick or in prison… whatsoever you did for the least of my brothers, that you did for me.” (Mt. 25: 31-46)

9. CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME. Perhaps the best way to live out almsgiving or charity would be at home. Every day make an effort—for the forty days of Lent—to do an act of charity or an act of kindness—for some member of your family. This gesture is very pleasing to God and can fortify the bonds of love in the family.

 A MARIAN LENT…

10. OUR LADY OF SORROWS. May this Lent be a deeply Marian Lent. Let us contemplate the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
1. The prophecy of Simeon. (Lk. 2: 34-35)
2. Flight into Egypt and massacre of the Holy Innocents. (Mt. 2: 13-18)
3. Loss of the Child Jesus in the temple. (Lk. 2: 41-51)
4, Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.
5. Crucifixion of Jesus with Mary at the foot of the Cross. (Jn. 19: 25-30)
6. The Body of Jesus taken from the Cross and laid in the arms of Mary. (The Pieta)
7. The Body of Jesus laid in the tomb. (Jn. 19: 38-42)

In conclusion, friends in Jesus and Mary, let us abound in an overflowing attitude of gratitude of praise and thanksgiving towards our loving God. Indeed, how good God is in His countless gifts that He has bestowed on the world and on each and every one of us individually. Therefore, let us recognize the Gift of Lent. Let us receive and accept it as an extraordinary gift. But then let us live out this gift! If done, our lives will be converted and our love for God will be growing, blossoming, flourishing and overflowing towards the whole world! May Our Lady attain for us a truly grateful heart!

 

The Domestic Church, the basic cell of society, the first institution ordained and created by God—these are different names describing the same reality of The Family! Pope Saint John Paul II asserted that the way the family goes is the way the world goes.

We must pray for the grace to be able to read the Book of History related to the family and world civilizations. It has been proven time and time again that once a society or a civilization allows the family to enter into crisis and unravel at its seams, then it is simply a matter of time until such a society or civilization collapses and crashes!

The human family made up of both father and mother is the basic breeding ground of individuals. God wills that children be born into a family. God wills that children be loved in a family. God wills that both father and mother be the instruments by which their children grow and mature into the person they are called to become: a dignified and useful citizen of society and a future citizen of heaven.

It must be asserted with absolute and unequivocal clarity that the family consists of the woman (called to Motherhood) and the man (called to Fatherhood), and the children that they procreate with God, the author and origin of all life. Any other configuration that does not consist of man and woman and the children born to them is a warped and erroneous ideological concept that must be rejected and repudiated energetically.

The child needs the different manifestations of love that the mother gives and the father gives. Without this different but complimentary pouring out of love, the child is exposed to emotional, spiritual, and moral damage that can be nearly beyond reparation! It is a duty of both justice and charity that the child have in their family the love of both the Father and Mother. No person, place, thing or institution can replace this male-female, Father-Mother concept. It was ordained by God Himself.

Therefore, let us present clear and practical  action items that we should strive to both understand and implement so as to defend the future of our society, which depends on the defense and salvation of the family—the basic building block of society. Let us all pitch in to help families grow, flourish and blossom in the formation of future citizens of the Kingdom of God!

ACTION ITEMS IN THE DEFENSE OF THE HUMAN FAMILY!

1. FERVENT PRAYER.  No doubt, fervent prayer connects us with the power of God who desires wholesome, holy, stable and solid families even more than we desire their existence. Jesus commands us: “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Mt. 7:7). Let us constantly knock at the door of God’s Heart and beg for holy families. Indeed, this prayer is very pleasing to the Trinitarian Family—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

2. SACRAMENT OF HOLY MATRIMONY.  In this secular, materialistic, and hedonist culture, we have returned to a neo-paganistic society. The present younger generation of Catholics have no qualms about discarding the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Instead they opt to have a civil-marriage, or trial marriage, or just live-together using the verbiage: we want to see if we are compatible, if we have chemistry. In the interim, they repudiate God from their lives by living in mortal sin! However, in a word, marriage and family cannot function without God.

3. MARRIAGE PREP COURSES.  Any activity, enterprise or endeavor worthy of pursuit demands time, energy, and real effort. Athletes claim: “No pain, no gain!” Consider this, if it takes a young man a good seven years or more to arrive at Ordination to the priesthood, equally important is the time and energy couples should exert in preparation for Holy Matrimony and the formation of wholesome and holy families.

4. NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM.  A couple who has decided on pursuing the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony must learn the techniques of Natural Family Planning. If not, once married, the perennial temptation will be to have recourse to the use of contraceptives. Such a mentality is a corrosive, poisonous, noxious mentality and philosophy of life that often leads to serious marital problems and possible separations. In a word, succumbing to the contraceptive philosophy, mentality and style of life is tantamount to reducing the woman to a mere object to be utilized and discarded by the man. In the words of Pope Saint Leo the Great:  “Christians, recognize your dignity!” Especially in Holy Matrimony!

5. MARRIAGE PREP MENTORS.  The art of learning a vocation or profession requires training and help from those who are more expert in the field. Baseball players need coaches; singers, those who have vocal experience; and writers or journalists should consult those who know the tricks of the trade. Marriage mentors would be couples married for a good span of time who have studied their vocation and worked on really living out their marriage vocation. Experience in life can prove to be an excellent textbook! Couples preparing to get married meeting with their mentoring couples in an orderly fashion, frequently and systematically, serves to establish a rock foundation for a solid marriage.

6. ENGAGED COUPLE’S SPIRITUAL LIFE.  If the couple is engaged to receive the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, then both should be intent and industrious in cultivating a deep spiritual life in which God is the very center of their lives. They should strive to pray with each other, as well as pray for each other. Furthermore, they should make it a solid habit to receive two Sacraments frequently—Confession and the Holy Eucharist.

7. JESUS THE CENTER OF THEIR LIVES.  When officiating at Weddings, when couples are about to exchange vows and give a ring as a sign of their mutual fidelity, I frequently remind the couple to put Christ in the very center of their marriage and their lives. I remind them of the literary masterpiece of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen: “It Takes Three to Get Married.”  The three? The husband, the wife, and Jesus! With this trio, marriage is indeed a real winner!

8. SPIRITUAL TUNE- UP!  Once married, it is incumbent upon the married couple to make concerted efforts to grow and strengthen their marital bond and live out the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony to the max!  Marriage Weekend Retreats, Marriage Encounter, Couples for Christ and even Spiritual Direction from a priest or well-trained spiritual director can prove to be invaluable so as not to lose their first love. Love in marriage is like a fire: you must constantly feed the flames, if not the love can be blown out and extinguished.

9. CELEBRATION OF ANNIVERSARIES.  Birthdays, Baptisms, Graduations, Sports victories are all motives to celebrate and rightfully so! Equally important is the celebration of the Anniversary of your Wedding Day. A suggestion for the couple! Have a Mass offered for that intention and attend that Mass, then pray the Rosary afterward in thanksgiving for another year of faithfulness. Then off to a nice Restaurant to celebrate!

20.  ROSARY: THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER.  The famous Rosary-priest, Father Patrick Peyton, who was cured from severe tuberculosis through the intercession of Mary shortly before being ordained to the priesthood, made a proposal that once ordained, he would spread far and wide love for the Blessed Virgin Mary through the propagation of the most Holy Rosary. Furthermore, he believed that if the world is to be saved, it will have to come through the family. And one of the best ways to unite the family is through the daily recitation of the most Holy Rosary! His ambition was to get millions of families in America to pray the Rosary on a daily basis. He was known for two famous sayings: “The family that prays together, stays together” and “A world at prayer is a world at peace.” Our Lady of Fatima said in each of the six Apparitions to pray the Rosary daily! Saint Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter, “The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary” (2002), exhorted the whole world to pray the Rosary for two intentions: for world peace and for the salvation of the family.

In conclusion, my friends in Jesus and Mary, let us do all we possibly can to support the family, sustain the family, strengthen the family and defend the family against modern attacks. The future of society and the world at large depends upon the family which is the basic building block of society. Let us turn to Our Lady, the perfect Mother, and to Saint Joseph, the perfect husband and Father, and beg that through their prayers families will be sanctified and parents will lead their children to Heaven.

Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary
St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Our short life on earth has infinite value. We have both great dignity and eternal destiny. Our dignity? We are sons and daughters of God through the Sacrament of Baptism. Our destiny? We are all pilgrims on a journey heading towards our eternal homeland and that is Heaven.

VALUE OF SUFFERING.  Of immense value for the human person in the eyes of God is that of suffering. However, suffering in and of itself, separated from a supernatural perspective, has no real value. If you like, suffering either makes us better or bitter. 

ANGELS LOOKING DOWN ON HUMANITY.  In the Diary of Saint Faustina, the angels view the human person with a holy envy and for two reasons. First, the human person is capable of receiving the incredible Gift of the most Holy Eucharist—the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in Holy Communion. The angels in heaven will never have this extraordinary privilege. Also, the angels cannot suffer. The angels understand that suffering, if viewed and accepted properly, has infinite value and can be most pleasing to God. In fact, Jesus, the Incarnate Word, chose the path of suffering as the means by which the salvation of the world would be consummated.

OUR LADY OF FATIMA’S MESSAGE.  Our Lady of Fatima told the three children, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta to pray and offer sacrifices for sinners. Our Lady expressed with sadness that many souls are lost because not enough generous souls offer prayers and sacrifices for the salvation of poor sinners. Another name for sacrifice is that of accepting willingly some form of suffering. This message of Our Lady of Fatima can be applied to ourselves in our specific state of life and our own sufferings. Nobody in the world can avoid the reality of suffering.

OFFER IT UP!  These three short words sum up the entire message: offer it up! When God, in His infinite Wisdom, decides to visit you with some form of suffering, it is of enormous importance to accept the suffering given from the loving and providential Hands of God and offer it up. Remember, suffering can either make us better or bitter. Suffering can either save souls or be wasted!

HOW TO OFFER UP OUR SUFFERINGS?  When we are suffering, let us strive to unite our suffering to the Cross—to the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. This is sometimes called the Paschal Mystery of Christ. United with Jesus in our lives, actions, and especially our sufferings, there is infinite value.

OFFERING IN UNION WITH THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.  Jesus died once on the cross on Calvary about 2000 years ago. Jesus dies no more! However, it must be said that every time the priest celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, what happened on Calvary 2000 years ago is renewed and made present. In a real way, in every Mass Jesus offers Himself as the spotless Victim to the Father for the salvation of the world. Pope Saint John Paul II adds that in every Mass, as it happened on Calvary, Mary is present in a mystical but very real way!

START NOW TO OFFER YOUR SUFFERINGS.  Therefore, let us no longer waste these golden opportunities that God offers us when we undergo any form of suffering, and start to unite our sufferings with Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Better yet, in union with Mary, place your sufferings first in the hands of Mary and then in her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Then ask Mary to deposit these sufferings on the altar where the Mass is celebrated to be joined to the sufferings of Christ. Living this style of life will transform even your smallest sufferings into an infinite reservoir of abundant graces.

SUFFERINGS THAT CAN BE OFFERED TO JESUS THROUGH MARY IN THE MASS.

Our Lady of Fatima, when asked by the children what they should offer to God, responded “everything”. Make your lives a holocaust, a living sacrifice of atonement, reparation, and praise. We will offer a few concrete suggestions on what we can offer to God through the Heart of Mary.

1. THE INCLEMENT WEATHER. We would all prefer sunny days with the birds chirping their melodies and the fragrant aroma of flowers in full bloom. But this is not always the case. The bitter cold, the rain, the sleet, and the powerful winds characterize the real weather forecast many days. Instead of complaining about the weather, accept it, then thank God and unite it to Jesus on the cross.

2. HEALTH CONDITIONS. As a result of Original Sin all of humanity suffers weakening health, sicknesses, at times diseases, as well as viruses. This too is inescapable! Why not unite your own physical health condition, your suffering, to Jesus on the cross. The value of this offering is infinite!

3. PANDEMIC: CORONAVIRUS (COVID). A world-wide pandemic as such is unique in the history of the world. Instead of wasting this universal suffering, why not unite it to the cross of Jesus on Calvary in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Of most special interest should be those who are in  their last stages of life and are about to breathe forth their spirit to the Eternal Father. May their sufferings be a sacrifice pleasing to God for the salvation of souls, including their own!

4. FAMILY SUFFERINGS. Many fervent and prayerful Moms and Dads suffer excruciating pains as they see the children they raised as Catholics, having received all the Sacraments, unfortunately wander from the fold and abandon the faith. Despite the invitations, exhortations, and bitter tears of their parents, still the children live oblivious of God, as if He did not exist. In this case more than ever, Moms and Dads should not fall into discouragement, much less despair. On the contrary, parents should deposit their sufferings and their wandering children on the altar of the Mass where Jesus offers His wounds to the Eternal Father, and the Father is well-pleased! Saint Monica prayed for Augustine until he was 31 years of age—patience!!!

5. SPIRITUAL DRYNESS. Anybody who takes their spiritual life seriously will eventually encounter dryness or aridity, most specifically, in their prayer life. This is called the dry-desert experience. Instead of abandoning the struggle, throwing in the towel and calling it quits, hang in there and pray just the same. Indeed, this can entail great suffering, but a spiritual suffering very efficacious and pleasing to God. Unite your spiritual dryness with Jesus in His Agony in the Garden and place it on the altar of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus experienced an intense state of desolation. Nonetheless, He prayed all the more intensely and fervently! He is our Model!

6. THE DEATH OF LOVED ONES. Sometimes when confronted with the death of our loved ones, our faith and hope can be shaken. In this critical moment, how very important it is to place our loved ones who have passed from this world to the next on the altar, on the cross in the Mass, and beg for their eternal salvation. “It is not important a long life, but a holy life.” (Imitation of Christ, Thomas Kempis) Acceptance and conformity to God’s providential will is our only sure solution. We should not question why God took their life, but what we can do in the present for their soul, as well as our own!

 7. UPSET PLANS ON A DAILY BASIS. None of us rejoice over people and circumstances interrupting our schedule, our plans, our well thought-out projects! However, whether we like it or not, our plans and projects will meet with frequent interruptions. Instead of losing our calm and composure, why not simply accept the contradictions and unite them to Jesus’ Cross of Contradiction. Place the interruptions on the cross of Calvary in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. So that the work you fail to accomplish may work to save souls!

In conclusion, my friends in Jesus and Mary, suffering is a human reality that nobody can avoid. Whether we are believers or non-believers, practicing Catholics or atheists, great contemplative mystics or had-core materialists, suffering is part of the human condition. But remember the short maxim:  “Suffering either makes you better or bitter.” Bitter, if one suffers for the mere sake of suffering! Better, sanctified and growing in holiness, only when our suffering is united with the suffering of Jesus on the cross in Holy Mass.

Therefore, starting today call to mind the sufferings of your life. Place these precious jewels in the hands and Heart of Mary. She will deposit them on the altar of the cross of Calvary. Your suffering united to Jesus and Mary’s suffering will indeed have infinite value for the salvation of souls in time and for all eternity!

 

One of the greatest sufferings that we can undergo is that of feeling alone, abandoned, that nobody really cares for us. If you like an intense, crushing loneliness.

There exists those dark and somewhat gloomy days, where the sun fails to shine, the birds hide in their nests, the cold winds blast, and the stars at night hide behind the clouds.

In addition to the somber aspect of nature, human relations can become strained, cold, and even fractured. There are those days in which we experience a great weight upon our shoulders, but there seems to be nobody close at hand to alleviate the weight.

In Ignatian spirituality this amounts to and can be defined as a state of desolation. Now if we do not react intensely against this state of desolation, but instead succumb to it, then it can truly wreak havoc in our lives. We have to learn how to cope and deal with these trials and tribulations through the optic of faith.

One of the best ways that we can cope with and overcome this state of desolation is to cultivate a constant, keen and growing awareness of three Persons who want to play an essential part in our lives. They are present to us at all times, but we are often not present to them; sad to say, at times we are totally oblivious to their presence.

Who are these important Persons? They are the three members of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph. How ironic is this statement: we are often too busy to talk to them; but they are never too busy to enter into conversation with us!

What then are some practical ways in which we can cultivate this awareness of these three best friends in our daily walk of life? Indeed, we must have some concrete reminders.

1. MORNING OFFERING. Start off every day, every morning, by consecrating yourself to Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph. Offer to Jesus through Mary and St. Joseph, your day and all that will transpire during the course of the day. By doing so, they will walk with you during the day and you will be walking with them. As such, keep them in mind, and this crushing state or feeling of loneliness will in great part be conquered.

2. IMAGES IN YOUR ROOM. Make sure that you have a painting, picture, icon or statue of Jesus, of Mary, and of St. Joseph in your room. You might also have a picture or painting of the Holy Family—Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph together—on the wall greeting you every time you enter your room and you should greet them back. Thanks be to God for the proper use of images and sacramentals that so easily lift our minds, hearts and souls soaring to God and the Holy Family! Every time you return home to your room, Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph are truly there to greet you, and they are waiting for you to acknowledge and greet them as well!

3. IMAGES IN YOUR CAR. In addition to having images in your room of Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph, have these images in your car. Possibly over the front mirror or visor, a small image of the Holy Family can serve as a powerful reminder that even when traveling you are in the best of company. Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph traveled together in their family life, and they want to travel with you on the Highway to Heaven.

4. JOYFUL MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY. Make a sincere and concerted effort to go deeper into the contemplation of the Joyful Mysteries of the most Holy Rosary. Contemplate these Mysteries not from afar, but strive to be truly present in these Mysteries. Become a member of the Holy Family. If you like, be truly present in the Cave at Bethlehem. Be there with St. Joseph helping him gather sticks of wood to start a fire and warm the cold, damp and musty refuge of animals where the Son of God will truly be born. After His birth, accept the baby Jesus from Mary and hold Him in your arms, sing Him a simple lullaby if you like. Contemplate the baby Jesus. Let your heart overflow with awe, reverence and love for Him.

Then talk to Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph in your own words about what is going on in your life, what causes you joy, what causes you sorrow, and what might be bothering you right now. They always will be the best of listeners. Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph are your Best Friends! In fact, the more you are able to penetrate the depths of the contemplation of the Joyful Mysteries, the deeper will be your friendship with Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph. Consequently, the devil and that crushing sense of loneliness will be conquered and put to flight! While praying and contemplating these Joyful Mysteries, you might even try to purchase or find on-line some attractive pictures or portraits of each Joyful Mystery so as to focus your attention more firmly on each event as it is happening. Incidentally, they have as a title, “The Joyful Mysteries”. Therefore, the fruit of these Mysteries should be filling us with the Joy of the Spirit. Saint Paul reminds us: “Rejoice in the Lord; I say it again: Rejoice in the Lord.” (Phil. 4:4)

5. FAVORITE PRAYER TO THE HOLY FAMILY: JESUS, MARY AND ST.JOSEPH. The following prayer to Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph will hopefully fill you with great consolation and be a sure means of conquering loneliness that leads to desolation. Hopefully you will be able to memorize this short but efficacious prayer.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul;
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, make my heart like unto thine.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony. 
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I breathe forth my soul unto thee. 
O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

In fact, this would be a beautiful prayer to start off the day. But also, this would be a beautiful prayer in which you terminate the day. To initiate our first moments, offering them to Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph, and then to close our day consecrating our sleeping hours in the arms and Hearts of Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph is a sure and most efficacious remedy to conquer all forms of desolation, including that crushing loneliness that can devastate so many people. May Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph be our Best Friends in time, and for all eternity! Amen.

(Read and Meditate upon I Corinthians 6:15-20)

Saint Paul, in his first Letter to the Corinthians, admonishes us vehemently not to use our bodies as instruments of sexual immorality, but rather to respect the dignity that we have that comes from union with Christ. “Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” (I Corinthians 6:18-20)

To follow Christ the King means to enter into combat. This fierce war must be fought on three different fronts. Against the devil, the father of lies. Against the world that wants to seduce us into believing that true happiness can be found on earth. Finally, there is the fierce battle within our own inner self—the battle that is waged between the flesh and the spirit.

Being aware of these three ferocious enemies contributes strongly to our eventual victory. Knowledge of the social milieu, knowledge of the pernicious attacks of the devil, and knowledge of our own human weakness facilitates enormously our ability to fight for the triumph.

In our short treatise today, we will address the topic of the flesh—most specifically, on how we can attain the indispensable virtue of purity, or if you like, chastity. If we desire one day to contemplate the Face of God in heaven, we must live out this essential Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart; they will see God.” (Mt. 5:8) Soldiers must have a game-plan or a strategy. As soldiers of Christ, we must establish our own strategy and utilize frequently the spiritual weapons in our armory.

1. PRAYER-POWER. Some virtues reside within the natural realm of the human person such as diligence, courtesy, punctuality, the art of communication. However, there are other virtues that are specifically supernatural virtues. By supernatural is meant that they transcend the capacity of our natural powers to attain. Among these supernatural virtues are humility, mercy, and forgiveness, and the virtue of chastity. Saint Augustine states that we are all beggars before the Divine Majesty. A beggar knows that he is in dire need of help; so are we before God to attain the virtue of chastity. May the words of Jesus motivate us to seek, to ask, to beg and to knock: “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7)  As a beggar, let us knock at God’s Heart and beg for the virtue of purity.

2. DETERMINED DETERMINATION. The great woman Doctor of the Church, Saint Teresa of Avila, when commenting on prayer asserts that “we must have a determined determination to never give up prayer.” Just the same should be expressed with respect to attaining virtues, especially the virtue of purity. God’s all-powerful grace always comes first, but then our correspondence with grace must follow. We must muster up a strong will and determination motivated by the grace of God, to acquire this essential virtue in the dynamic of our spiritual life. If we live a life in which we are slaves to our lower, sensual passions then it is literally impossible to soar high to the heights of holiness. It is like an eagle that has weights tied to his wings! He is made to fly, but the weights bind him to the earth! We all know persons who are willing to undertake superhuman efforts to attain money, success, sports triumphs and academic achievements. Should we not have a more determined effort to strive for holiness through acquiring the virtue of purity?

3. PROPER USE OF MODERN SOCIAL MEDIA. Perhaps for most of us one of the greatest challenges before our eyes and person is the reality of the modern social media. The Book of Genesis repeats the goodness of creation. God created and He saw that it was good! Therefore, the evil that surrounds us never can be attributed to God, the Author of all that is good. But rather, in the improper use of creation. Saint Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises in Principle and Foundation challenges us to study the way we approach the reality of all creation. We must use creation as a ladder to arrive at Heaven. We must never abuse creation, thereby transforming it into a stumbling block on our pathway to holiness. In a word, we must have very strict vigilance over our children, teens, as well as ourselves, on the access and use we apply to the modern social media. How easy it is through access to the Internet through T.V., computer, and especially the phone, to fall into websites, articles, pictures and videos that can taint the virtue of purity in our eyes, mind, emotions, and heart. Before we know it, with the devil working behind the scenes, we form an addiction, just as powerful as drugs, which may take concerted effort, time and energy to conquer. Many will agree that this really is the acid test, where the rubber hits the road, in the struggle to attain purity—that is to say, not becoming a slave to the power of indecent, impure images. Bombarded right and left and from all directions, we must use constant and very strict vigilance. If not, the battle can easily be lost! The devil knows his time is short. Therefore, he works 24/7 to win souls to populate his infernal Kingdom.

4. SACRAMENTAL LIFE. Indeed, we are all very weak, in many ways, but especially in the realm of the flesh. Jesus expressed this very clearly: “Stay awake and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt. 26:41) However, God is strong. The Psalmist confirms God’s power: “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.” (Ps. 124:8) God’s life-giving power flows through His Mystical Body, the Church. The channels through which God’s power and grace flow are the Sacraments. To attain a life of purity and to sustain chastity, and persevere until the end, we must have frequent recourse to two Sacraments: the Sacrament of Confession, and the greatest of all the Sacraments, the most Holy Eucharist. Confession is like going to the Doctor; Communion, to a luxurious Restaurant! The Sacrament of Confession heals our wounds of impurity; we are washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Communion, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, fortifies our body, mind and soul to attain the difficult virtue of chastity. Received together, you have a spiritual atomic bomb of energy and strength!

5. IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY. Finally, we arrive at one of the most efficacious means to attain the virtue of purity. It is a love and devotion to Mary and consecration to her most pure and holy Immaculate Heart. It is recorded in the Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul by Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, this encounter that radically transformed her life. Jesus appeared to her and placed a golden sash around her waist, signifying the gift of perpetual chastity. However, it must be noted, the saint stated that she had been begging the Blessed Virgin Mary for this grace, this virtue for a long time. It has been confirmed in the lives of many saints that it was through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary that they were able to conquer temptations, conquer sin, and attain the virtue of purity. Such can be the case in our lives, too, if we consecrate our body, mind, heart and soul to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady loves those who love purity and she loves to shower graces of purity on those who beg for it. Let us beg the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary for great purity so that one day, with her we will contemplate the beauty of the Face of God in Heaven for all eternity.