July 11 2020

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

 SATURDAY, JULY 11th   Mt. 10: 24-33   “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

• This is a continuation of yesterday’s Gospel. “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” Today Jesus tells us, “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his master.”
• Later on, Jesus will also give us this analogy…  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5)
  
• “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (Jn. 15:6)
  
• “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (Jn. 15:7)
  
• As disciples of Christ, we are engaged every day in spiritual warfare– against the devil, the world, and our own weak flesh!
• However, the day is already upon us when the powers of this world are becoming more powerful and this present darkness is growing. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12)
• The attacks against the dignity of the human person created by God through abortion, euthanasia, and redefining human sexuality are no longer a matter of debate, rather they have become institutionalized in the laws of this country. And these lies of the enemy are being taught in the schools to our children robbing them of their innocence at younger and younger ages!
• When Herod killed all the boys two years and under in and around the vicinity of Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the Christ Child, the newborn King, the very next verse of Scripture reads: “Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” (Mt. 2:16-18)
• This same verse could be modified today to say: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children’s innocence is no more!’”
• Standing up against these evils – speaking against them – voting against them or those who promote them – is our public and religious duty.
• However, we need to utilize an even greater weapon – PRAYER!!! Our daily Holy Hour – our Hour of Power and our daily Rosary! “I will put enmities between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed: she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel.” (Gn 3:15)
• “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12)
• Therefore, we present the following Exhortation to Prayer for our meditation.

AN EXHORTATION TO PRAYER!!!  

These thoughts were taken from letters originally written in code by Venerable Mother Luisita, the Foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, during the Cristero Rebellion (1926-1929) when the people rose up and fought against religious persecution, as government troops were closing churches and executing priests under orders of President Calles. Blood ran in the streets, tabernacles were desecrated, families left fatherless, homeless and penniless. It was a time of great suffering, and there were many Martyrs. Two of the most famous: Bl. Miguel Pro (Jesuit Priest age 36) and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio (age 14.)

My beloved child,

Between Jesus and the soul there flows a current no one can see and a dialogue that no one hears. Form a rich and beautiful tabernacle for Our Lord within your heart and then do not let Him go. In that way, you will always have Him within you. Enter within yourself and, meeting Him, tell Him all your experiences. Adore Him within yourself, as if everything were in silence.

How beautiful it is to be in the Hands of God, searching His divine Gaze, in readiness to do whatever He wishes. If you don’t omit prayer, you will find all your answers there. Prayer can do all things. It is our most powerful weapon against the devil and nothing can withstand it or resist it. Therefore, prayer is what will save you from the many dangers surrounding you daily. With courage, trust, and prayer adelante (onward), even if you have to walk among thorns.

Are you becoming a saint? God our Lord has given you a soul for that very purpose. God loves you very much, my child. Correspond to that love, by making acts of humility, especially interiorly. Be truly simple and try to detach yourself from everything that is not God. You’ll be able to do this through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother. Don’t doubt it.

How ardently I wish you to acquire solid virtue. To this end it would help you very much to read The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila and The Precautions of St. John of the Cross, rather than books of mere sentimentality.

Take time to pray before you make any decision. We all have to become calm before we are able to think. What I mean to say is that we shouldn’t come to any important decision right away. Learn to let some time pass. Take time to pray. Let the sun go down and don’t make the decision until the following day, or even later. Let a minimum of one night pass before you come to any decision.

Love God with all of your soul. Try to be faithful to Him always, taking into account even the smallest things. Show Him your love by the exact fulfillment of your obligations.

Your prayer should be continual by uplifting your soul to God. May His love be the driving force urging you on in everything you do. My child, reminding yourself of God’s presence within you will lead you into contemplation.

I feel the necessity of prayer. It is my consolation and hope, because without the help of God our Lord, I can do nothing. I become like a dry stick in regard to doing anything good and an explosion of bad weeds grow in my soul whenever I neglect prayer. Do not lose your presence of God, my child, but contemplate it gently within yourself.

That every day may be a day closer to heaven for you is the wish of your mother who is so concerned about you and blesses you.

–Mother Luisita

Originally published on the website of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, used with permission.

Photography: Courtesy of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, used with permission.

 

July 10 2020

38 This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also “about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error”.

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

 FRIDAY, JULY 10^7H   Mt. 10: 16-23  “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.”

• Jesus tells His Apostles, and us, that we will be persecuted and suffer at the hands of others on account of our faith in Jesus Christ! We are being sent like sheep, even as Christ was the paschal lamb.
• “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Is 53:7).
• We adore you, O Christ, and we praise You. Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. (Stations of the Cross)

 Suffering as Adoration!   Reflection by Caryll Houselander

 To suffer gladly when we must for the love of others is indeed not only the closest imitation of Christ, it is the essence of our own Christhood; but when Christ is formed in us (as He certainly is when we have learnt that much about suffering) we shall have a desire to adore God.

This is bound to be so, because our minds will be like Christ’s mind. We shall desire to be grateful, to respond for every good thing, every flower or star, every moment spent happily, we shall want to thank someone, we shall want to be conscious of the presence of One whom we can love without measure, in whom we can delight without fear of loss, in whom ultimately our griefs will be lost as a flame is lost in the light of the sun – in a word, we shall want to adore.

This is certain, for Christ’s intellect was concentrated wholly on adoration of His Father. Therefore, He did not only pray, He made Himself a sacrifice, the most complete adoration; the sacrifice of the cross.

This we also can do through our suffering. Adoration – were it widespread on earth – would not only use, as it were, this great burden of grief that is everywhere, it would lift it and put it on the plane of joy, for it would gradually draw every heart to the light of God, making us conscious of Him in everything, and in Him there is our only lasting joy.

Here, then, are reasons to learn to suffer well, natural and supernatural…   
We increase human happiness by allowing suffering to enrich our natures;
We grow in understanding, pity and natural love;
We pay our share for the debt of sin;
We grow in Christhood and have the power of Christ to move God;
We keep Christ’s Passion ever before God’s eyes;
And finally, with the very heart and mind of Christ, we adore God!

End of Reflection by Caryll Houselander (+1954) Catholic writer and poet

 “I want to adore God this way… with the total oblation of my being. That is the only way to satisfy my need to love as I am loved!” (Anon.)

• Jesus sends His Apostles out to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom. Indeed they will be persecuted and eventually merit the grace of martyrdom, with the exception of John. 
• Jesus wants to send each one of us out – to be His apostle, His victim, His saint! If we persevere we can expect to suffer the white martyrdom of persecution for living the Faith, and perhaps even the red martyrdom of dying for the Faith – the greatest act of adoration!

Let us end by meditating on this short excerpt from Everyman’s Way of the Cross by Clarence Enzler…  The fourteen steps of the Way of the Cross represent our lives lived in Christ!

Christ:
These fourteen steps
that you are now about to walk
you do not take alone.
I walk with you.

Though you are you,
and I am I,
yet we are truly one –
one Christ.

And therefore,
My way of the cros
two thousand years ago,
and your “way” now
are also one.

But note this difference.
My life was incomplete until I crowned it
by My death.
Your fourteen steps
will only be complete
when you have crowned them
by your life.

Accept each moment as it comes to you,
with faith and trust
that all that happens has My mark on it.
A simple fiat, that is all it takes;
A breathing in your heart,
“I will it, Lord.”

So seek Me not in far-off places.
I am close at hand.
Your workbench, office, kitchen,
these are altars
where you offer love,
and I am with you there.

Go now! Take up your cross,
and with your life
complete your way.

My work as man is done.
My work within and through My Church
must now commence.

I look to you, My other self.
Day in, day out, from this time forth,
be My apostle – Victim – Saint.

Our Response:

My Jesus, Lord, You know my spirit is as willing
as my flesh is weak.

The teaching You could not impart,
the sufferings You could not bear,
the works of love You could not do
in Your short life on earth,
let me impart,
and bear,  
and do
through You

But I am nothing, Lord.
Help me!

 

 

July 9 2020

Catechism of the Catholic Church

37 In the historical conditions in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone:

Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, who watches over and controls the world by his providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. the human mind, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful.

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

THURSDAY, JULY 9^7H    Mt. 10: 7-15   “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

• Jesus sends us out as He sent out His disciples to proclaim: “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” How can we witness to Christ? St. Ignatius of Loyola shows us the way. By knowing Jesus more intimately, loving Jesus more ardently, following Jesus more closely!
• Knowing Jesus more intimately… “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”  (Jn. 6:53-56)
• Our first witness! We keep Jesus ever before our eyes! We are people who see the Face of God! When the priest elevates Jesus in the most Holy Eucharist after consecration! When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion! When we adore and converse with the Eucharistic Face of Jesus in the Monstrance during our Holy Hour – our Hour of Power!
• Loving Jesus more ardently… “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” (Jn. 14:15-17)
• Our second witness! Loving Jesus through the Heart of Mary by being obedient to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. “Holy Spirit come to us, come to us through the Heart of Mary!” When do we receive these inspirations? In our Holy Hour and during the course of our day. Mary and the Holy Spirit show us when, where, and how to love Jesus more ardently by going out of ourselves to meet the needs of others! “We cannot say that we love Jesus only in the Eucharist—naturally, we want to put that love into action. We cannot separate the Eucharist and the poor.” (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
• Following Jesus more closely… “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” (Mt 16: 24)
• Our third witness! Following Jesus always leads us to the cross! We do not have to go looking for the cross, it finds us. And not just one cross, but many crosses in the course of our lifetime. Each time we have a choice to take up our cross and follow Christ or not. Let us follow in the footsteps of those who followed Christ before us!  

St. John of the Cross…
“I saw your cross, O Christ, and I read there the song of your love.”
Prayer: My Jesus, may the cross I bear today be my song of love for you!

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina…
“We must keep the eye of faith fixed on Jesus Christ who climbs the hill of Calvary loaded with his Cross, and as he toils painfully up the steep slope of Golgotha we should see him followed by an immense throng of souls carrying their own crosses and treading the same path.

Oh, what a beautiful sight this is. Let us fix our mental gaze firmly on it. We see close behind Jesus our most holy Mother, who follows him perfectly, loaded with her own cross. Then comes the Apostles, Martyrs, Doctors, Virgins and Confessors. . .

Jesus himself, despite all our unworthiness, has associated us with this beautiful company. We must make every effort to merge ourselves increasingly in these ranks and hasten with them along the road to Calvary. We should look to the end of the journey and not separate ourselves from this fine company; we must refuse to follow any other way than the one they tread.”

Prayer: Mary, my Mother, keep me close beside you carrying my cross up the steep hill of Calvary in this great company of Apostles, Martyrs, and all the Saints!

St. Faustina Kowalska (Diary, 153)
“I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People were walking along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them.

And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.”

Prayer: My Sweet Jesus, as I climb this path narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks with Mary, my Mother beside me, help me keep my eyes fixed on your eyes beckoning me from the cross, until in my weakness and my love you draw me to yourself, and there is one Christ loving Himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 8 2020

July 7 2020

35 Man’s faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man, and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith.(so) the proofs of God’s existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

 TUESDAY, JULY 7^7H    Mt. 9:32-38   Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

• In today’s Gospel, Jesus heart is moved with pity. “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”
• Undoubtedly we need to pray intensely for vocations to the Priesthood and Religious life. They are the heralds of the kingdom of God in our midst! They are a visible sign of the life in Christ we are all called to live! The eternal values we are bound to uphold!
• That said, we are all called to be laborers in the Lord’s vineyard – no Christian is excused! And where are we called to work? Most of us, right where we are planted! In the most unglamorous, least appreciated, often unnoticed venues – our family… work place… neighborhood! Wherever there is a need.
• But first we must encounter Christ daily! If not, we have nothing to give.

Encountering Christ…   Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magadalen O.C.D. (+1953)

Yes, I know that as long as I do not look upon creatures with that simple, profound glance of faith which enables me to find you in all of them, O my God, to deal with them, even when duty requires it, will always be an obstacle and an impediment to my interior recollection.

O my God, grant me the single eye mentioned in the Gospel, that eye which can pierce through exterior appearances and fix its gaze on that divine mark which you yourself have imprinted on every human being.

Then I shall make no distinction between those who are congenial and attractive, and those who are mean, disagreeable, or repulsive; all these “externals” will disappear and I shall recognize your face in everyone, and shall serve and love you, my God.

Shall I then be able to complain that the relations with my neighbor which duty imposes or the things I have to do for him distract me from you? Does not faith tell me that in treating with my brethren I am treating with you, and that when I serve them I am serving you? Did not Jesus say, “As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me”? (Mt. 25:40)  

You dwell in the soul of everyone who is in the state of grace just as you dwell in mine and if, unfortunately, all people are not in the state of grace, all are capable of receiving grace; all are the objects of your merciful love; all are called, by vocation, to be temples of the Blessed Trinity. Then, O Lord, if I wish to seek you within myself, why do I not seek you also in my brethren?

O my God, purify my sight which is so easily deceived by human appearances, and make it capable of discovering you and finding you in every creature!  End of Reflection

Christianity Must Generate Saints…  Servant of God Dorothy Day (+1980) Co-Founder of Catholic Worker Movement

A few years ago I had to call in a woman doctor, an exile, who had been in a concentration camp in Germany for refusing to sterilize epileptic children. She was taking care of one of the women in the house. As she left she said, recognizing the apparent hopelessness of our work for the most destitute, “The only thing you can do for these sick and aged ones is to make them happy.”

I have often thought of that since, when people have asked us about the work, what we were trying to do, it seemed very simple to say, “We are trying to make people happy.” We want to be happy, we want others to be happy, we want to see some of this joy of life which children have, we want to see people intoxicated with God, or just filled with the good steady joy of knowing that Christ is King and that we are His flock and He has prepared for us a kingdom, and that God loves us as a father loves his children, as a bridegroom loves his bride, and that eye hath not seen nor ear heard what God hath prepared for us!

Father Henri du Lubac, S.J. wrote recently, “It is not the proper duty of Christianity to form leaders – that is, builders of the temporal, although a legion of Christian leaders is definitely desirable. Christianity must generate saints – that is, witnesses to the eternal. The efficacy of the saint is not that of the leader. The saint does not have to bring about great temporal achievements; he is one who succeeds in giving us at least a glimpse of eternity despite the thick opacity of time.”  End of Reflection 

Let Our Yes Mean Yes…   by Servant of God Dorothy Day (+1980)

When I became a Catholic, it never occurred to me to question how much freedom I had or how much authority the Church had to limit that freedom. I had reached the point where I wanted to obey. I was like the child in the New Yorker cartoon (I was nearly thirty years old) who said, “Do I have to do what I want to do today?”

I was tired of following the devices and desires of my own heart, of doing what I wanted to do, what my desires told me I wanted to do, which always seemed to lead me astray. Obedient to my conscience, I became a Catholic, was conditionally baptized and said, “I do believe,” to the great and solemn and beautiful truths proposed to me. And so, when it comes to divorce, birth control, abortion, I must write in this way. The teaching of Christ, the Word, must be upheld.

The Church held up a tremendous ideal for the follower of Christ, and no matter how many times one failed, fell flat on one’s face, one might say, the Church, Holy Mother Church, was there with her Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist to reassure and forgive and sustain and nourish one.  End of Reflection

The Love and Compassion of the Cross… by Servant of God Dorothy Day (+1980)

How to draw a picture of the strength of love! It seems at times that we need a blind faith to believe in it at all. There is so much failure all about us. It is so hard to reconcile oneself to such suffering, such long-enduring suffering of body and soul that the only thing one can do is to stand by the dying ones who have given up hope of reaching out for beauty, joy, ease, and pleasure in this life. For all their reaching, they got little of it.

To see these things in the light of faith, God’s mercy! God’s justice! His devouring love! I read one story of the death of the Little Flower, and her death was just as harrowing in its suffering as that of Mary’s Katie. Her flesh was a mass of sores, her bones protruded through her skin, she was a living skeleton, a victim of love. We have not such compassion, nor ever will have. What we do is so little.  

The stink of the world’s injustice and the world’s indifference is all around us. Compassion – it is a word meaning to suffer with. If we all carry a little of the burden, it will be lightened. If we share in the suffering of the world, then some will not have to endure so heavy an affliction. It evens out. What you do here in New York, in Harrisburg helps those in China, India, South Africa, Europe, Russia, as well as in the oasis where you are. You may think you are alone. But we are members of one another. We are children of God together.  End of Reflection

This last article is written about Dorothy Day with a glimpse why she is called Servant of God…

Dorothy Day and the Coffee Cup…   by Father Kevin J. O’Reilly

One of the most inspiring Catholic converts of the past century was Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897-1980), who was praised recently by both Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI for her holiness and her heroic work with the poor. She was a social activist greatly admired by believers and non-believers alike. However, many of her atheist colleagues regularly asked about her simultaneous devotion to the poor and to her Catholic Faith. How could she be so dedicated to those in poverty, and yet believe in Jesus Christ at the same time?

The answer became clear one day in the early 1970’s when a young priest was invited to say Mass at the offices of the Catholic Worker newspaper. There are various accounts of what happened that day, but eyewitnesses report that, while preparing for Mass, the priest strangely asked Dorothy Day for a ceramic coffee cup. Thinking nothing of it, she gave him the cup, only to be shocked minutes later to see that same cup used as the chalice for Mass. The priest, who was clearly having personal issues, celebrated Mass with the coffee cup and, after Mass, angrily threw the cup in the garbage and stormed off.

People were horrified. Yet, without saying a word, Dorothy Day approached the garbage can and genuflected before it. Then, she took the coffee cup out of the garbage and kissed it. Thereafter, she went out to the yard behind the office, took a shovel, dug a hole, and buried the cup. Finally, she genuflected before the patch of dirt.

Why? To her, that coffee cup had become a sacred object, as it had held the Blood of Christ and could no longer return to being a coffee cup. One witness said that “I learned more that day about the Eucharist than from any book or sermon.” Furthermore, it is said that the priest, moved by her actions, never celebrated Mass disrespectfully again.

What this incident made clear was that her love for Christ was at the heart of everything Dorothy Day ever did. She had encountered the Lord in the Eucharist and always sought to bring Christ to all she met. This is what inspired Dorothy Day to work with the poor, and why she remains an example of holiness for all of us. As Catholics, we are not members of a social services organization, but we seek to help others because we have met Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, have been transformed by Him, and want others to encounter Him too.

At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, we read the account of our Lord’s washing of the feet of His disciples, during which the Lord says, As I have done for you, you should also do. In this passage, the Gospel of John reveals how we should respond to the Lord’s gift of His Body and Blood: we must follow Christ’s example by giving of ourselves through our acts of generosity and mercy, most especially to the poor and needy.

In our doing so, may we, like Dorothy Day, inspire others to learn more about the Eucharist and to see Christ’s love for us everywhere, even in a coffee cup.