In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Id like to welcome you all to our Perseverance Family conversation and as always, it’s great to be with all of you! We’d like to start by inviting Mary to be with us. Mary is the Mother of God, Mary is the mother of the Church, and Mary is also the mother of each and every one of us. And also we pray the Hail Holy Queen, we invoke Mary as our life, our sweetness and our hope. Let’s ask Mary to accompany us and to help us to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Let’s pray together now. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

Now we would like to invite to be with us our Spiritual Director. What a great privilege it is for us to have as our Spiritual Director, the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit has many wonderful titles! Holy Spirit is known as the Paraclete. The Holy Spirit is also known as the Gift of gifts. As a title also the Holy Spirit is known as the Sweet Guest of our souls. Also, the Holy Spirit is our Counselor. He’ll be the one that gives us good advice. The Holy Spirit is also known as our Consoler. We all have to go through moments of desolation. But we pray the Holy Spirit to help us to rejoice always in His presence. Holy Spirit is also known as the Sanctifier. In our pursuit of holiness, we want to beg the Holy Spirit to be with us and to help us to overcome our own moral limitations and to Love God more and more each day. 

The Holy Spirit is our Interior Master. In a letter to the Romans, St. Paul says we really don’t know how to praise we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes with ineffable groans, so we can say “Abba, Father”. Let’s turn to the Holy Spirit and beg the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and to strengthen their hearts as we pursue a life of holiness that leads to eternal bliss in heaven. 

LET US PRAY

Oh God, who did instruct the hearts of your faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit grant is that by the same spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us. Saint Raphael, pray for us. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us. Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, pray for us. Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us. All God’s angels and saints, pray for us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

After praying together because the family that prays together stays together, I’d like to encourage all of you because they’ll be placing you on the altar in the Mass, by far the greatest of all prayers is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In which we praise God the Father by the offering of the spotless victim, his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. So like to place all of you on the altar and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 

INTENTIONS

My first intention will be I’d like to pray. For all of us that as we start this Novena to the Holy Spirit today that we would be open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, come! Come, Holy Spirit, come through heart of Mary. Come, Holy Spirit, come, Come, Holy Spirit, come. 

My second intention will be to pray for our families. For these three specific graces as we enter into this Novena in preparation for Pentecost, which is the coming of the Holy Spirit. First of all, for our conversion. But all the members in our family will undergo a conversion, those who are far away, but we ourselves will go through a deeper conversion of heart. 

Next, I would like to pray for our sanctification, that we would pursue a life of holiness. We would strive to walk in the footsteps of the Saints, who are our older brothers and sisters, our models and our guidance. And finally, to pray for our salvation. Jesus says what does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his soul? With respect to our family I would to pray also for those who will be dying sometime today especially those who are not well prepared to die, that they would open their hearts to God’s love. 

I’d like to place all of you on the altar and lift you on high that God would bless you most abundantly.  Today we enter into what is called the Novena in preparation for Pentecost. Pentecost is the down pouring of the Holy Spirit upon Mary the Apostles and the cenacle. It is also the birthday of the Christian Catholic faith. I would like to introduce all of you into this wonderful Novena. This was an event that transformed the life of the Church transformed the apostles into valiant soldiers of Christ willing to shed their blood for love of Christ. 

When we say the word Novena, what we mean by Novena and my friends is 9 days. Starting today let’s make it Novena. This Novena can be done in many ways. It could be simply praying a specific prayer every day for 9 days. You might even pray the prayer that I wrote which is a prayer begging that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit would blossom and flourish in our lives. 

Could also be 9 days in a row to pray the most holy Rosary. And of course, this is our Marian reflection today that. In this first Novena, the Apostles pray and fasted in silence with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary facilitated the coming of the Holy Spirit on the nascent Church. Could be to pray the Rosary as well as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. That means nine consecutive days, nine days in a row. 

Another thing that we can do and by far the greatest prayer that we can offer is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And in this if possible, you can try to go to daily Mass every day for 9 days. This Sunday in the Diocese of Los Angeles will celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, the following Sunday, we’ll celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. We want to open our hearts more and more to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And as the apostles were transformed by the coming of the Holy Spirit into these valiant soldiers of Christ, so we can also be transformed. 

REFLECTION

Like to start off by giving you some Biblical verses to help us to attune our ears are hearts, our minds, our souls to welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives. It’s true through Baptist we’ve already received the Holy Spirit and the seven gifts. It’s true that through Confirmation, these gifts have been fortified. These gifts have to be exercised. It’s like any gift or talent, if we do not exercise, for example, weightlifting, if you do not exercise by lifting weights, you’re never going to develop muscles and muscle tone. If you don’t practice linguistic skills you’re never going to speak a foreign language. If you never sing when you open up your mouth, it’s going to be disaster. If you don’t practice cooking, it’s going to be a penance to those who eat your food. 

The same can be applied to our spiritual life it’s incumbent upon us to exercise our spiritual life and to exercise the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. The moral virtues of justice, temperance. prudence. fortitude and to exercise the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude piety and fear of the Lord. Those are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Like to jumpstart all of us by giving you several Biblical verses to motivate us for this divine invasion of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

The first verse is in the Old Testament when the prophet Samuel anoints David with oil. The Bible says that from that moment, the Holy Spirit rushed upon David. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit would rush upon all of us. That there will be divine breath Powerfuly descending upon us. Bowing away all that is not worthy of a son or daughter of God. 

The next verse is in the Annunciation when the Archangel Gabriel visits Mary. God, through the mediation of the Archangel Gabriel, invites Mary to be the Mother of God. Mary gives her consent, also known her as her ‘Fiat’. Mary says: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word”. And the Word became flesh and blood among us at that moment, my friends, the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary, and she conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s beg the Blessed Virgin Mary who we honor and the special way in the month of May, because May is for Mary. Mary is the daughter of God the Father, Mary is the Mother of God the Son, and Mary is the Mystical Spouse of the Holy Spirit. 

Then the next verse can be found in John chapter 20, verse 21 to 23. The Apostles are in the Upper Room for fear of being apprehended and Jesus goes through the wall and he greets them with the word ‘Shalom’, which means peace be with you. “As the Father sent me, so I sent you, I sent you”. And then Jesus breathes on them the Holy Spirit. The breadth of Christ is the Holy Spirit! And Jesus says “receive the Holy Spirit who sins you forgive they will be forgiven, whose sins you bind, they will be held bound”. Jesus was giving the Apostles would be the first bishops and priests the power to forgive sins in his name. Jesus was instituted the Sacrament of Confession that very night, which was Easter Sunday night, and the Cenacle, in the Upper Room. 

What we’re preparing for, my friends is Pentecost. We’re entering into the Cenacle, into the Upper room with Mary and Peter and James and John the Apostles this very day. And we’re begging through Mary’s prayers for the downpouring of the Holy Spirit which came as a powerful wind, and then fire, tongues of fire descended upon marrying the Apostles. They were able to speak different languages is God prompted them. Fire is a very important simple. Fire basically has two fundamental properties. Fire gives light and fire gives heat. We want ask the fire of the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds, to purify our memories, to enlighten our minds, to control our imaginations. And we want the fire of the Holy Spirit also to purify our hearts and then purify your hearts of any sentiment feeling that might not be worthy of God. Purify us of our jealousy, our anger, lusts. All these bad tendencies and inclinations that we have in the depths of our hearts, we want to beg the Holy Spirit by the fire of His divine love to purify us of these. 

And I’d like to quote another biblical verse where we encounter the Holy Spirit. And it’s taken from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, chapter 8. Saint Paul says that we really don’t know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes with ineffable groans so that we can say “Abba, Father”. That’s very important because we all struggle with our prayer life We struggle. To be faithful to prayer, to be fervent in prayer, to grow in our prayer life. So let us beg the Holy Spirit. For many graces says we enter it to the Novena of the Holy Spirit. Today I actually have the 8:00 o’clock mass in the morning. So I’ll be going to Madison now. I’ll be placing all of you on the altar. I’m Father Ed broom and Oblate the Virgin Mary. They’ll place you all on the altar. So I’d like to end by giving you a special priestly blessing. We’ll see you tomorrow, same time, same channel. You pray for me and I will pray for you. 

In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, Amen. Like to welcome you all to our perseverance family conversation, I’m Father Ed Broom, from the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, and it’s great to be with you. We’d like to start our conversation by inviting Mary to be with us, especially this month of May. Month of May is the month of Mary. Mary is the Mother of God, Mary is the Mother of the Church and Mary is the mother of each and every one of us.

LET US PRAY

Also, we pray that beautiful prayer at the end of the Rosary, the Hail Holy Queen. We invoke Mary as our life, our sweetness, and our hope. Let’s turn to Mary and ask Mary to pray for us and to pray with us and pray that prayer which is known as the Hail Mary, the Angelic Salutation. Together: Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

We always like to invite to accompany us in a perseverance family conversation our Spiritual Director. What a blessing it is for us to have as our Spiritual Director, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has many wonderful titles. Holy Spirit is known as the Paraclete. The Holy Spirit is also named in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the Gift of gifts. We pray the Sequence on Pentecost; we invoke the Holy Spirit as the Sweet guest of our souls. The Holy Spirit is also our Consoler and our Counselor. The Holy Spirit is also our Sanctifier, and the Holy Spirit is our Interior Master. 

Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8 reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit to help us to pray better. Saint Paul says: “We don’t know how to pray we thought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes with ineffable groans so that we can say “Abba, Father”. So together, let’s pray the classical prayer to the Holy Spirit, and beg for a light and the fire of love to burn within their hearts as we pray. Come Holy Spirits fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle within us the fire of your divine love, send forth your spirit, and though shalt renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: Oh God, who did instruct the hearts of your faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us that by the same spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen. 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us. St. Gabriel, pray for us. Saint Raphael, pray for us. Saint John, the first Pope, pray for us. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray from us. Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us. Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, pray for us. All God’s angels and Saints, pray for us. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

PRAYER INTENTIONS

My friends, this is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. After we pray together as a family because the family that prays together stays together.  I promise to pray for you in my Mass today I’ve got mass at 12 noon as well as 6:00 PM. The Mass is the prayer part Excellence, the greatest of all prayers. I’d like to pray for you in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and offer these intentions.  I will place you on the altar, that the family would be open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, our sanctification depends in large part upon our openness and our ductility to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you can pray this prayer. Come, Holy Spirit, come. Come, Holy Spirit, come through the heart of Mary. 

Then I’d like to pray for all of our families. First, for our conversion. First words of Jesus in his public ministry in Mark chapter one verse 15, be converted, or repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand. The word in Greek is metanoia, “change of mind and heart and life”. Pray for conversion and our sanctification that will come about through the Holy Spirit who’s known as the Sanctifier. I’d like to pray for our salvation. Jesus said very clearly. What would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. The most important enterprise in our life is to save our souls. 

I’d like to pray for those who will be dying within the next 24 hours, especially those who are not well prepared. For us, the most important moment in our lives is the moment that we die. That will determine for all eternity our destiny, either salvation or damnation. The stakes are very high. Let’s pray for the dying that they would have recourse to the infinite mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

MARIAN REFLECTION

The month of May is the month of Mary. I’d like to offer a brief Marian reflection. And a challenge to all of us to get to know Mary more, love Mary, have recourse to Mary, to give our life to Jesus through Mary, and to be aware of Mary’s presence during the course of the day. 

SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY

Today I’d like to go through very quickly the Seven Sorrows of Mary. I mentioned them yesterday. By means of this statue that had the seven swords piercing the heart of Mary. Let’s go through this Seven Sorrows of Mary and hopefully you’ll be able to memorize them.

1. FIRST SORROW OF MARY:  THE PROPHECY OF SIMEON. He takes the child in his arms and says: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel. He’ll be a sign of contradiction. Then he looks at Mary and says, and behold, a Sword of Sorrow will Pierce your heart, so that the thoughts of many will be revealed. 

2. SECOND SORROW OF MARY: THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.  When the wicked King Herod plots to kill Jesus, St Joseph receives a dream to get up and to flee into Egypt. Jesus in the arms of Mary and Joseph flee in Egypt to be spared from being massacred by the wicked king Herod. 

3. THIRD SORROW OF MARY: THE CHILD JESUS IS LOST FOR THREE DAYS. Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the temple. Mary says: “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been seeking him for you with sorrow”, Jesus said, “Why were you seeking me? Did you not know that it had to be about my father’s business?” And they did not understand these words of his Jesus.  With that, Jesus was subject to them, and he grew in wisdom and age and grace before God and men. 

4. FOURTH SORROW OF MARY: THE WAY OF THE CROSS (also the Fourth Station) Mary meets Jesus carrying his cross on the way to Calvary to be crucified. 

5. FIFTH SORROW OF MARY: THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS. Jesus is nailed to the cross and he hangs on the cross about to die. At the foot of the Cross is Saint John the Evangelist and his Blessed Mother. Jesus says, “Woman, behold thy son, Son, behold thy mother.” From that moment the beloved disciple took Mary into his home. 

6. SIXTH SORROW:  JESUS BREATHES FORTH HIS SPIRIT. Jesus breathed forth his spirit, “Father into your hands, I commend my spirit”. And the nails are taken out of the hands and feet of Jesus. And he’s lowered into the arms have his mother. A depiction of this would be the Pieta of Michelangelo. Jesus, his mangled, lacerated, bloody body, laying limp in the arms of his mother, the Sorrowful Mother. 

7. SEVENTH SORROW OF MARY: THE BURIAL OF JESUS. In the seventh sorrow of Mary, Jesus’ body is transported to the tomb that was given by Joseph of Arimathea. His body is buried in the tomb. 

My friends, those are the Seven Sorrows of Mary. The little Francisco Marto and his sister, two of the youngest canonized Saints, Jacinta became a little victim soul in the words of Pope John Paul II. Francisco, a little Mystic, liked to spend time consoling the Heart of Jesus and consoling the Heart of Mary. 

I’d like to introduce you to perhaps a different devotion. And the devotion is the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Many of you have my book, Total Consecration to Jesus through the Mysteries of the Rosary. The last part of my book, Total consecration to Jesus through Mary through the mysteries of the Rosary, I give a meditation on the Seven Sorrows of Mary. 

REFLECTION: PREACHING AND TEACHING:

My style in preaching and teaching and sharing with you is, I like to take the biblical passage, give a summary of it, then I’d like to give an interpretation and application. So three steps in our teaching summary of the biblical text, interpretation of it, then application to our lives. 

The Church offers us today the 18th chapter of the Acts of Apostles verse 1 to 8. I am inviting you also as you, read and meditate upon the Acts of the Apostles, be more and more aware of the Presence of the Holy Spirit.  Tomorrow we will start the Novena in preparation for the Feast of Pentecost. Novena means “nine”. That powerful Novena that took place about 2000 years ago, in which the Apostles and Mary prayed in silence, they fasted, then the Holy Spirit came down upon them in tongues of fire. There was a radical transformation of the lives the Apostles, they would no longer be the same person. That came about to the prayers of Mary and the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. Let’s move into the reading today and I would like to give you a summary of the text. 

We are in the 18th chapter, verse one to eight of the Acts of the Apostles. Paul preaches in Athens, which was the Greek city known for its culture and civilization. Greece, where you had the great philosophers Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and many others. Paul preaches in the Areopagus. Homiletically, it was a perfect homily! At the end of his homily, Paul preaches about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that Jesus truly rose from the dead. Many people started to scoff and make fun of, Saint Paul said. We’ll listen to you about this on another day. A few were converted, Dionysius and Damaris, but most were not. So, Paul travels from. Athens to Corinth. 

Now when he goes to Corinth, he meets with two friends, Priscilla and Aquila. Claudius had told all the Jews to leave Rome. So, Priscilla and Aquila leave, and they end up in Corinth. This is a married couple, who have dedicated themselves to their work and to the preaching of the Word of God. I think there’s a lot in that. And this is the promotion of the laity, that not only are priests and bishops and nuns called to promote the Kingdom, but also laity. This is called the universal call to holiness. That all of us, whether we’re religious nun in the convent, or a Bishop the head of a diocese, or married people with their children, we are all called by friends to pursue a life of holiness. The 5th chapter of the document Lumen Gentium and Vatican II is what is called the “universal call to holiness”. 

Paul meets up with Priscilla Aquila and they bond!  First of all, Priscilla and Aquila, they shared the same work or profession of Saint Paul. They were tent makers. So Paul and Priscilla Aquila worked together to make tents. I’d like to highlight this point, that they work hard. My friends, let’s step back and analyze our own lives. What is your work ethic? As a result of a Original Sin of Adam and Eve, God meted out on Adam this command: “…you will earn your bread by the sweat of your brows”. There is this universal called the holiness, but also there’s this universal called to work. 

Saint Paul will go on to say work out your salvation in fear and in trembling. Saint Paul will also say: “He who does not work should not eat”.  One of the Capital Sins is that of sloth or laziness. Maybe you’ve heard this saying: “idleness is the workshop of the devil”. If you don’t have anything to do, then the devil will give you a lot to do. John Bosco said that the vacation was the harvest ground to the devil for his young people. 

Let’s step back and look at their own lives. How do you use the 24 hours? Do you apply yourselves to your work, your task at hand in a way that is pleasing to God? Now think we have to divide our work into three specific categories. 

a. MANUAL LABOR. The first is the importance of physical manual labor. We are called to use her hands; physical manual work is good for us. I remember as a child that during the course of the week, Monday through Friday, we would work hard at our school and our schoolwork. But Saturday I wanted that to be my day off, to be able to play baseball, play sports. But often my father had another idea. He would let us sleep in a little bit, mom would prepare us a wholesome breakfast, then we would go out into the yard into the garage, onto the lawn and we’d be working most of the morning. My father often say by lunch we’d be finished our work, but sometimes the work would extend into the early afternoon. 

So in the certain sense, I hated Saturdays, especially Saturday morning because I thought that this Saturday should have been mine. But it was a day in which my father insisted that we work. My father was with us. He was both working and supervising our work. Sometimes it would be cutting the grass, other times you would be pulling up weeds, other times it be cleaning the garage, other time being cleaning the inside of the house, other times, you might be cleaning the bathrooms. Other times it might be washing or even simonizing in the cars. We would work and I felt interiorly perturbed about this. But now they look back in retrospect, this segment in my life when I was a teenager. I recognize the intelligence and the wisdom of my father and. In educating us, not simply educating us intellectually, but educating us in the importance of work. We might call that the work ethic. The importance of the work ethic!  So invite all of us to step back and ask ourselves: What is your work ethic? 

I would divide our work ethic into three different categories. FIRST, it would be, using our hands and add this to the equation. We may have some elderly people that are following us who are no longer working. It’s important that we find some time to do physical exercise every week; walking, calisthenics, tennis, swimming, climbing. These physical exercises, this physical exertion is very important for us. It is incumbent upon us to recognize that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We should try to maintain our health by physical exercise and by proper eating, and by good sleep habits. Don’t forget that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

b. SECOND. The second realm of work is intellectual work. I really believe, my friends, that we have to work on cultivating our mind. How important it is is to have A well-educated, well-formed mind, even though we’re adults, we probably no longer go to high school or college or post-graduate studies, probably not, it’s important for us to cultivate our minds. We should all have at our disposal good books. We should all apply ourselves to good reading. 

c .THIRD. The third area of work would be the spiritual work, which is related to our prayer and to our Holy Hour. So that’s one point I’d like to lay in your heart in the first reading. 

PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD

The second part of the reading we say Saint Paul dedicating himself with preaching the Word of God. Preaching the word of God. I’d like to talk about that in the next few minutes. Preaching, preaching, communicating the Word of God to others. Let’s talk about that and how it can be done. 

Now, we as priests, according to the documents of Vatican II and on the Priesthood Presbyterorum Ordinis is the document from Vatican II, highlights the fact that the priest principal obligation is doubled; the “Two-P’s” – to pray and to preach. 

To pray and to preach. Do remember when there was that discussions in the early church About the widows being neglected, and the apostles came together, and they prayed, and they decided to choose deacons, among which would be Stephen and Phillip. It says it’s not right for us to neglect preaching the Word of God, to wait on tables. They instituted the deaconate so that the Apostles were the first bishops and priests could dedicate themselves principally to two tasks, to praying and to preaching. 

I’d like to talk about that briefly and I’d like to highlight for you Five different elements on how we can be good teachers and preachers. And How YOU can do it? Because you was lay people, once you’re baptized, you’re anointed with holy chrism as priest, prophet and king. PRIEST: It’s called the common priesthood of the faithful. You called the offer sacrifices specially to unite yourself with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As KING, we’re called to govern our passions. Either we govern or dominate our passions, or they will dominate us and we will become slaves of our passions. 

The prophetic role means that we’re called also to preach the Word of God. In a certain sense, my friends, I’ve admired at times, seeing the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons walking Through the streets knocking on doors, trying to preach their message. I admire their Apostolic zeal. Pope Francis over the past few weeks and his General Audience on Wednesday, is encouraging we as Catholics to have Apostolic zeal. My apostolic zeal means to have courage to go out and bring the Good News to the whole world. Pope Francis took, in his last General Audience, St. Francis Xavier as a model for apostolic zeal and a model of a missionary. So much so that Pope Francis said that Francis Xavier is the is the most famous missionary in the modern world. When he sent Ignatius sent him to India, he said these words: “Go set all on fire”. Jesus said: “I’ve come to cast fire on the earth, and I’m not at peace until that fire being enkindled.

Those who have done the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola have done the Call of the King; the grace not to be deaf to the call of the King. The called the earthly king is a springboard to be open to hearing the call of the Eternal King. The Eternal King what’s the salvation of the whole world. The last words of Jesus Christ before he ascends into heaven, He says, “…go out to all nations and teach them all they’ve taught you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you always, even until the end of the world”. Those were the last words of Jesus, the missionary mandate, and Francis Xavier took that very seriously. 

So, in honor of Saint Paul and his preaching, being totally absorbed in his preaching. I like to highlight what I believe to be the “Big 5” qualities of being a good preacher and teacher. I applied this to myself, but also applied to you because you as baptized, you’re anointed as priest, prophet and king. 

The first point is what Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen said. He was great to missionary. He was the head of the Propagation of Faith, which would be the missionary work of the Church. Fulton Sheen says first come, then go. We want to be a good preacher and teacher of the Word of God, the gospel, then we have to spend time with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Fulton Sheen at the end of his life dedicate himself to giving retreats to priests and bishops. He would say to them, when you preach, they don’t always listen to you, but when I preach, they do listen! And the reason is because the Hour of Power! Fulton Sheen more than 50 years as. PRIEST never missed his Holy Hour. He called that the Hour of Power. So, we have to spend time with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He is our best friend!

Number two, spending time with Christ, but we also, my friends, we have to find time, which Christ in reading and meditating upon the Bible and most specificallyt the very heart of the Bible, which would be THE GOSPELS! Getting to know Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. That’s right, getting to know the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

The third means for which we can learn how to preach and teach the Word of God. Would be a suggestion of Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine says that a good teacher should love what he’s teaching and love the students that God has placed in his charge. Very interesting, isn’t it? Augustine says we should love what we’re teaching your preaching and love those that God has placed in our in our charge. When we say love, what we’re preaching or teaching what we’re really loving the Person in the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we should love the people that God has placed in our path. 

Our desire by preaching by word and also by our example is our desire to bring people to Christ. What a beautiful example we find in Saint Andrew. Saint Andrew met Jesus then he ran to his brother Simon Peter and he brought Simon Peter to Jesus. Then he is going to try to introduce the Greeks to Jesus. Andrew is always talking about Jesus, trying to introduce people to Jesus! We should pray for that same apostolic zeal of Andrew and Francis Xavier to really want to bring all people to Christ. As Ignatius said to Francis Xavier, “go set all on fire”. 

The fourth point I like to make is. We should step back now, my friends, and look at our social environment, our social contacts. Who are the people that God is placed in our path? And in your case is probably going to be, first and foremost, would be your own family. The family is known as the domestic church. Families, the basic building block of society. The family is the basic cell and as John Paul II says, the way the family goes is the way society goes. Step back and see what are ways in which you can preach or teach the Gospel message in your own family? 

Maybe something as simple as “Why don’t we sit down for dinner and will say a short prayer”. Maybe, you say “before we retire, let’s say a decade of the Rosary”. Start with something small and the principle of graduality you can start to add to it. Then it might be your work environment. Perhaps there’s one person, a colleague, that’s working with you, that is seeking for the truth. You might give him a book, you might even invite him to listen to one of our perseverance conversations. You might give him a New Testament. There are many ways, my friends, that we can preach and teach and transmit. The Word of God. 

SOCIAL CONTACTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS. The third area would be your social contacts as well as your family members. Perhaps there’s a family member of yours? There is honestly seeking for the truth. Then once you’ve targeted individuals in your family, in your work environment and then in your social contacts, then have the courage to talk to them about God. And the last thing you’d like to say would be before trying to teach your preach or transmit the word of God to them, pray to Mary, pray to the Holy Spirit. 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, better said St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who founded the Missionaries of Charity – both John Paul II and Mother Teresa were perhaps the greatest missionaries last century -Mother Teresa said: “Mary was actually the first Missionary of Charity”. Mother Teresa said: “…after Mary conceived Jesus of the power of the Holy Spirit, then Mary got up and in haste traveled about 55 miles to Ain Karim to the Hill Country to visit her cousin Saint Elizabeth, who was with child. And there we said Shalom. She greeted Elizabeth “Shalom”, which means peace be with you. Mart communicated the word of God to Elizabeth and John the Baptist. 

My friends, my message is this and honor of Saint Paul in his preaching, dedicating himself totally to the preaching of the Word of God. We’re called to pray to the teach. First is: “First come and then go”. Spending time with Christ! The second would be, Reading and meditating upon the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The third is following the advice of Saint Augustine; to love what we teach and to love those who were teach. The 4th is to get to know our own social environment. And the 5th would be before we preach or teach to pray to Mary and to the Holy Spirit. 

Following the exhortation of Pope Francis on Apostolic Zeal. Following and in the footsteps of Saint Francis Xavier, let us pray for the grace to preach and teach the Word of God. Jesus said: “Go out to all the world, teach them what I taught, and I will be with you always, even until the end of time”. Amen. And may, God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen, I would like to welcome you all to our Perseverance Family conversation, I am Fr. Ed Broom, Oblate of the Virgin Mary. Its great to be with all of you!  As always, we would like to start off our conversation by inviting Mary to be with us. Mary has many wonderful titles, among which is: Mary is the Mother of God, which is her greatest title.

LET US PRAY

Mary is also the mother of the Church. And also Mary is a mother of each and every one of us. When we pray that prayer at the end of the Rosary, the Hail Holy Queen. We also invoke Mary as our life, our sweetness and our hope. So lets invite Mary to be with us, to walk with us to encourage us to inspire us to love God more and more each day. As we say the prayer that Mary loves most, and that prayer is the Hail Mary. Together. Hail Mary. Full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art. Thou amount women And blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary. Mother of God. Pray for our sinners. Now that they are of our death. Amen. 

Now I would like to be with us our Spiritual Director, our Spiritual Director is the Holy Spirit. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit, has many wonderful titles. A list of wonderful titles, among which would be the Holy Spirit, is known as the Paraclete. The Holy Spirit is also known as the Gift of gifts. Holy Spirit is also known as the Sweet Guest of our soul. Holy Spirit is also known as our Counselor. Holy Spirit is also known as Our Consoler. Holy Spirit is also known as our Sanctifier. He who helps us to grow in holiness. 

Saint Paul in his Letter to the Romans also points out that the Holy Spirit is our Interior Master, our Teacher. Saint Paul says: “we really don’t know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes with ineffable groans so we can say “Abba, Father”, which means daddy. Beg the Holy Spirit with great humility and trust to enlighten our minds, and to set our hearts on fire with love for God and all that pertains to God. So together, let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle within us the fire of your divine love, send forth your spirit, and thou shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. Oh God, who did instruct the hearts of your faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us that by the same Spirit. We may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Our lady of Fatima, pray for us. St Joseph, pray for us. St Michael the archangel, pray for us. Think Gabriel pray for us. Saint Raphael, pray for us. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us. 

St Francis Javier, pray for us. Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, pray for us. All God’s, angels, and Saints, pray for us.  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

PRAYER INTENTIONS

This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. We’re still on the Easter season. Preparing for the Feast Day of the Ascension of Our Lord and then the Feast of Pentecost. So the courage all of you I will be praying for all of you. And I’ll be praying for all of you in the greatest of all prayers. And the greatest of all prayers is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That’s right, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest of all prayers. It’s the prayer part excellence, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I would like to place you all on the altar and offer several intentions. My first intention will be I’d like to pray in a special way for our openness to the Holy Spirit. That we would be open and docile to the workings of the Holy Spirit. And we can pray and such. Come, Holy Spirit, come. Come, Holy Spirit, come through the heart of Mary. Come, Holy Spirit, come. Come, Holy Spirit, come through the heart of Mary. 

My next intention, I’d like to pray for our families. With respect to our families, pray for the conversion of our families, the sanctification of our families, and the salvation of our families. Those three different verbs, the dynamic praying for our conversion, our sanctification and our salvation. And finally, a prayer that very pleasing to God which Jesus to reveal to St. Faustina Kowalska in the Diary of Divine Mercy in my soul, it’s to pray for the dying. But there’s a category that dying that’s even more important. That’s those who are dying not in the state of grace. Pray that they would open up their hearts at the end of their lives and beg for mercy so that they will be saved for all eternity.

Jesus said in the Gospel: “What does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his soul”. The salvation of our soul is the most important enterprise that all of us must undertake. We should do all we possibly can too, with God’s grace, to procure this salvation of our immortal soul. 

TOPIC FOR TODAY:

So my friends would like to move into the topic for today. Is have said at the beginning of this month. May is the month of Mary. St. John Bosco in the oratory for his youth, suggested they tried to offer a special gift to Mary every day of May. May is Mother’s Day Month. So like to do is I’d like to follow up on a story I told you yesterday and developed that little bit more s we honor Mary. I mentioned earlier that St Alphonsus Liguori had a great devotion to Mary and his greatest work was The Glories of Mary. This spiritual masterpiece took him years to compile them to complete. The Glories of Mary is a detailed explanation of Mary’s powerful presence in the world by explaining the Hail Holy Queen, the, prayer that we pray at the end of the rosary. 

In this spiritual masterpiece I mentioned that St. Alphonsus not only explains the Hail Holy Queen but he will spice it up by telling stories to illustrate the point. One of the stories he told was a story in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows. There was a young man who had great devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows and he would greet her every day as he entered the church and this statue of Our Lady of Sorrows had her heart outside her body, but was 7 swords transpiercing her heart. Every day this young man would go into church and he would stop and greet her and say a prayer to her. One morning, he was taken by surprise and taken aback because he noticed that the statue was weeping and there were not seven swords piercing your heart, but there were eight. He wondered why? And the young man entered into a dialogue with Our Lady of Sorrows and asked her why she had eight sorrows rather, 8 swords piercing your heart. And she said the 8th was embedded in my heart because there’s something that you did yesterday. Right away, the young man understood what she was referring to. He committed a mortal sin. He understood right away that that 8th sword piercing her heart was the mortal sin that he committed. He understood what Our Lady of Sorrows wanted of him. She wanted him to reconcile himself to God in the church by means of making a Sacramental Confession. The young man entered into church and then the Church, there was a priest in the confessional. He went into the confessional any opened up his heart and made a good Sacramental Confession. Hey, good Sacramento Confession. He left the confessional with great peace of heart. When he passed in front of the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, he now noticed that there were no longer 8 swords transpiercing your heart, but just seven. And he was led to understand that that sword was taken out of her heart because he had made a good sacramental Confession.

What can we do to show our love for Mary? Pope St. John Paul II made this comment. He said that the Marian sanctuaries are spiritual clinics, or if you like spiritual hospitals. The Marian Sanctuaries Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, these Marian sanctuaries are Marian spiritual clinics. I was in Mexico quite a few years ago giving it 30-day retreat to the male Missionaries of Charity. The male Missionaries from Charity had their house of formation very close to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I was giving a month retreat. In a free day that I had, I went to the Basilica of Our Lady, Guadalupe and I offered to hear confessions that day and the rector gave me permission. So, I sat in the confessional, and I was in the confessional, I stay for about 7 or 8 hours, nonstop confessions in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And I had to get up because they were closing the basilica. Many hours, many, many hours in the Basilica of Our Lady Guadalupe. So, one way in which all of us in this month of May, the Mother Mary, that we can show our love, honor and dedication to Mary, would be to offer Mary our hearts: our wounded hearts, our dirty hearts, our soiled hearts, our thorny hearts, our wondered hearts, by making a good sacramental Confession. 

5 STEPS TO A GOOD CONFESSION

I’d like to just go through those classical steps. The classical catechetical steps of making a good confession. And this could be a gift that we can offer to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the month of May, which is the month of Mary. 

1. EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. Make a good examination of conscience. Go through the 10 commandments. Perhaps have a booklet or a pamphlet to go through the explanation of the 10 Commandments of the law of God. And I invite you also to to write down on a piece of paper so you won’t forget. At times when we get nervous, we throw up blank and then we forget what we like to say. 

2. SORROW FOR SIN. The second step of making a good confession. Is sorrow for sin. The two forms of sorrow, imperfect sorrow, perfect sorrow. Imperfect so are motivated by fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, which is one of the seven gifts, the Holy Spirit. We don’t want to lose God for all eternity, fear of eternal damnation, if you like. Perfect contrition is contrition of love. We don’t want to send because we love God. We don’t want to do anything to hurt God who loves us so much and we want to love him in return. 

3. FIRM PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT. The third step of making a good sacramental of confession. Is to have firm purpose of amendment. Not to go back to that sin anymore. And that entails, my friends, trying to avoid. The near occasion of sin, in other words, not to play with fire. He walks on a slippery slope will fall. Avoiding any person, place, thing, or circumstance that can lead me into sin.

4. CONFESS TO A PRIEST. Fourth step, we go to confession to the priest who represents Christ. That’s right! The priest acts in Persona Christi. He’s the altar Cristus. So it’s not so much that you’re confessing to the priest, but to Christ. And tell your sins with transparency, with humility and an attitude of obedience. Mortal sins: the number and types if they’re mortal sins. Then you say the Acting of Contrition, the priest gives you absolution. 

5. CARRY OUT THE PENANCE. And then the last step. I’m making good confession. Would be to carry out the penance that the priest has given to you. So, my friends, that’s a gift that you can give the Blessed Virgin Mary today. 

I promise that I’ll pray for you. This morning I have a concelebrated Mass and I’ve got to go right now, so I will give you my priestly blessing. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. And may almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Tuesday, July 5th   Mt. 9: 32-38   Alleluia Verse: “I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.”

We are initiating a new segment for the Points of Meditation wherein Fr. Ed invites us to meditate each day on one of a series of articles on the Mystery of the Mass.

This is inspired by the Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis, DESIDERIO DESIDERAVI. Referring to the Vatican II document on the liturgy promoting the “full, conscious, active and fruitful celebration” of the Mass, Pope Francis makes these comments. “The ‘sense of mystery’ and awe Catholics should experience at Mass is one prompted by an awareness of the sacrifice of Christ and his real presence in the Eucharist. Beauty, just like truth, always engenders wonder, and when these are referred to the mystery of God, they lead to adoration.”

WALKING ENERGETICALLY TOWARD THE HOLY MOUNTAIN by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Begin by Reading I Kings 19: 1-8

Pursued by his mortal enemies, especially the wicked Queen Jezebel, Elijah was about to give up and abandon the end of his life to despair. Better if I were dead, was his moral conclusion, as he pondered his possible death at the hands of Queen Jezebel.

After the Prophet Elijah expended a day in fleeing for his life, he collapsed and was about to throw in the towel. He entered into a deep slumber. However, God would never abandon His faithful servant. An angel grabs hold of Elijah and wakes him up with the words: “Get up and eat.” Something like the substance of bread is presented to Elijah from the angel. Elijah does indeed eat, but then returns to his slumber. With determined persistence, the angel pursues Elijah shaking him again from his slumber, and once more insisting that he eat. Again Elijah is presented this bread-like substance to eat.

After consuming this bread given to him by the angel, Elijah arises and starts his journey toward the Holy Mountain. Invigorated by the energy flowing from the bread given to him by the angel, Elijah now walks for the length of forty days and forty nights. (This is the traditional period of the Holy Season of Lent and the number of days that Jesus spent in the desert praying and fasting.)

On the Holy Mountain, Elijah encounters God, not in the powerful wind, or in the earthquake, or even the fire; he encounters God in the gentle whispering of the wind.

BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY.  It was the energy communicated by this bread of the angels that gave Elijah the capacity to pursue this journey of forty days and forty nights without any pause, and arrive safe and sound at his desired destiny. This Holy Mountain symbolizes the presence of a three times holy God.

ELIJAH AND YOU AND ME…  The person of the Prophet Elijah, his predicament, his mortal enemies, and his flight symbolize my life and your life. Our enemies are many, persistent, and at times very insidious. Who are these enemies, what are they, and how can we conquer them?

The enemies could be categorized into three: the devil, the flesh, and the world. Jesus describes the devil as a liar and a murderer from the beginning. The serpent (the devil) lied to Eve; then Cain killed Abel. The world is an enormous and vast field where we can easily be sidetracked from our pursuit of God and our eternal salvation. How easy it is for the glimmer, the glamour and the gleeful seductions of the world to entrap us.

Finally, due to Original Sin and its effects that we call concupiscence, the bodily desires of the flesh prevail over the invitations and inspirations of the Holy Spirit. For that reason, Saint Louis de Montfort insists that we meditate upon the lure, attraction, and seductions of the world before making our total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.

To prove ourselves victorious in our rigorous and taxing journey to the Holy Mountain—which is really Heaven—we must be strong; we must nourish our inner being, our souls; we must eat the Bread of the angels. Not just once or twice, but during the whole course of our earthly pilgrimage.

WHAT IS THIS BREAD OF THE ANGELS?  The response? It is JESUS who is truly and substantially present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is Jesus truly present in the Consecrated Host. It is Jesus every time we approach the Holy Sacrament of the Altar and receive Holy Communion.

Our journey towards Heaven is very long, very perilous, very dangerous, with countless obstacles, potholes, crevices, precipices, and dangerous cliffs that lead to destruction.

THE BEST SOLUTION AND REMEDY?  Frequent, fervent and faith-filled reception of Holy Communion. If we can imitate the Prophet Elijah and nourish our immortal souls as often as possible with Holy Communion, the Bread of the angels, then we will be capable of arriving safely, securely and permanently at our eternal destiny—the Kingdom of Heaven.

What then are three practical conclusions that we can derive in meditating upon the Prophet Elijah, his nourishment and his arrival at the Holy Mountain of God?

1. FAITH AND BELIEF.  We must have a firm and unshakeable faith and belief that Holy Communion, in the context of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is truly and substantially the Bread of the Angels, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus, the Son of the living God. May our prayer be: “Lord I believe, but strengthen my belief!”

2. HUNGER FOR THE BREAD OF LIFE.  Saint Thomas Aquinas points out that one of the most important conditions in the efficacious reception of Holy Communion is a real hunger for God, a real hunger for Jesus, the Bread of Life! May the prayer of the Psalmist resound in the depths of our own hearts: “As the deer yearns for the running streams, so my soul yearns for you O Lord, my God.” (Psalm 41:1) As a dying man hungers for food, so should our soul hunger and thirst for Jesus the Living God, Jesus the Bread of Life.

3. WALK WITH ENERGY, ENTHUSIASM AND STRENGTH TOWARDS HEAVEN. After receiving Holy Communion, the Bread of Angels, may we walk with energy, enthusiasm, courage and strength towards the Mountain of Holiness, our Heavenly home. The obstacles are many—the devil, the flesh, and the world—but God is stronger than all of the enemies that can entrap us. In the words of the Psalmist: “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made Heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124:8)

Confronted by so many obstacles, and especially that of desolation which can lead us even into despair, let us eat the Bread of the Angels like the Prophet Elijah, and arrive safely at the Mountain of Holiness. Indeed, God Himself is our reward who will appear before us at the end of the long and perilous journey. Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.