Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

SATURDAY, April 9th    Jn. 11: 45-56   Verse before the Gospel: “Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.”

Let us prepare for entering Passion Week by meditating upon and contemplating Mary’s Seven Sorrows! Let us beg for the grace to suffer with and for our Sorrowful Mother and Suffering Savior!

THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

The Church invites us to contemplate the Passion of Jesus through the eyes and Heart of Mary. Classically, there are Seven Sorrows of Mary. Especially the Franciscans have a charism for promoting this powerful devotion. These seven sorrows start when Jesus is a little baby in the arms of Mary, up through Jesus’ mangled, bloody, sword-pierced Body in the arms of Mary at the foot of the cross, if you like, the Pieta of Michelangelo!

THE CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE SORROWS OF MARY.  The following is an orderly, chronological listing of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, from the Infancy of Jesus up to His death and lying in the arms of Mary, concluding with His burial.

1. PROPHECY OF SIMEON—A sword will pierce your heart!

2. FLIGHT INTO EGYPT—Herod in pursuit to kill the Child Jesus.

3. JESUS LOST IN THE TEMPLE—Mary’s sorrow in losing Jesus for three days!

4. MARY MEETS JESUS ON THE WAY UP CALVARY—Mary’s eyes meet the eyes of Jesus as He carries His cross up Calvary.

5. CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS—Mary stands at the foot of the cross witnessing the crucifixion of her Beloved Son.

6. LOWERING OF JESUS INTO MARY’S ARMS—Now dead, the lifeless Body of Jesus is lowered into the arms of His Mother Mary.

7. BURIAL OF JESUS—Separation of Jesus and Mary with the burial of Jesus.

In each one of these Seven Sorrows of Mary, we are invited to enter into the mind, soul, and heart of Mary to experience at least some of Mary’s sorrow, and then to console her. If we truly love a person, we want to share our life with that person, in good times and in bad, in health and in sickness, in riches and in poverty, until death do we part (marriage promises). Our love for Jesus and Mary should far transcend our love on a human and natural level. As the Song of Songs expresses it: Love is stronger than death.

Therefore, we will offer some concrete means by which we can contemplate the sorrows of Mary and at the same time offer her our consolation. The lover rejoices with the beloved, but is also willing to weep and suffer with the pains and sorrows of the beloved.

1. THE PROPHECY OF SIMEON.

“A sword of sorrow will pierce your heart so that the thoughts of many may be revealed.” A concrete way in which you can console the Heart of Mary in this contemplation would be to go to confession in honor of Mary. Mary’s powerful prayers and presence will attain for you the grace to examine your conscience and reveal your inmost secrets of conscience to the priest, who represents Jesus. The end result will be absolution, forgiveness, and re-birth into a life of grace. Mary, whose title is full of grace, rejoices every time you open up your mind, heart, and soul to Jesus’ Mercy in Confession.

2. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 

“Saint Joseph got up and taking the Mother and the Child fled into Egypt…” How can you console the Heart of Mary in this painful sorrow? We all live in perpetual spiritual combat, spiritual warfare. You can console the Heart of Mary by imitating good Saint Joseph and fleeing, in this case from moral evil—called temptation to sin. When you are tempted to sin, run to Mary; throw yourself into the arms of Mary; seek refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She is your sure refuge!

3. LOSING AND FINDING JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 

“After three days of sorrowful searching, Mary and Saint Joseph find Jesus in the temple listening to and teaching the Jewish teachers.” What might be a concrete application of this third sorrow of Mary? Many mothers and fathers over the past fifty years have lost their children spiritually. That is to say, despite the hard efforts of their parents, children still wander from the faith, no longer assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and worse still, willfully choose a sinful lifestyle. Just as Jesus was lost and Mary suffered excruciating pains, so do parents suffer intensely at the moral and spiritual loss of their children whom they love so much! Like Saint Monica and the eventual conversion of Saint Augustine, why not pray, and pray, especially many Rosaries so that your lost and wandering prodigal sons and daughters, these lost sheep of the fold, will return. In other words, through the Holy Rosary, place these children in the Heart of Mary.

4. JESUS MEETS MARY ON THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

As Jesus climbs Calvary on the way to His crucifixion, He meets His Mother Mary. A concrete manner in which to console Mary is to imitate Jesus in carrying your crosses. However, with this important stipulation: share your crosses with Mary first. The mere presence of Mary as she contemplated Jesus with the cross on His shoulders, consoled Jesus. Dig deep into your heart so as to identify your biggest cross, as well as your smaller ones. Then bring these crosses to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Imitating a little child in the arms of his mother, talk to Mary about these crosses. She is very interested in helping you carry your crosses with faith, trust, and love. Often our crosses seem overwhelming. They are just too heavy, thorny, and splintery to carry because we are trying to carry them by ourselves, without inviting Mary to help us! Call on Mary! We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

5. JESUS SUFFERS AND DIES ON THE CROSS—WITH MARY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS.

In this most painful mystery of the crucifixion, passion, suffering, and death of Jesus, Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, was present the whole time. Jesus spoke from the cross to Mary and Saint John: “‘Woman, behold thy son; son, behold thy mother.’ From that time on, the disciple took her into his home. ” (Jn. 19:26-27) In that moment—in the person of Saint John—Jesus gave Mary to the world as our universal spiritual Mother, as your Mother. Your way to console Mary in this painful mystery? Imitate Saint Juan Diego and the little boy in the movie Marcelino, Pan Y Vino, aka The Miracle of Marcelino (1955 version). In what way? Very simple: become like a small child and tell Mary everything that is happening in your life. Then trust totally and unreservedly in the Maternal Presence and Heart of your loving Mother Mary.

6. JESUS PLACED IN THE ARMS OF MARY. 

The artist Michelangelo depicted this masterfully in the famous Pieta. The film producer Mel Gibson presented this in the movie The Passion of the Christ in a powerful and moving fashion. How can we console the Heart of Mary? To love Jesus is to love Mary; they are inseparable! The suffering Body of Jesus is present in His Mystical Body, the Church. In a most powerful and special way, the Body of Christ comes to us in the greatest of all the Sacraments, the most Holy Eucharist, within the context of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The greatest single gesture that we can do on the face of the earth is to receive Jesus, the Son of Mary, in Holy Communion. Therefore, a superb way in which we can console the Heart of Mary is to pray to receive Jesus in Holy Communion through Mary’s most pure and Immaculate Heart.  No heart ever received Jesus with greater love than the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

7. JESUS TAKEN FROM MARY AND BURIED IN THE TOMB.

In this last of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, we witness the separation of Jesus and Mary when Jesus’ lifeless body is placed in the tomb. Without a doubt, one of the best ways we can console and rejoice the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary is to beg Mary for the grace to die daily to sin—the greatest evil that exists! Then, of greatest importance, beg Mary for the grace of a holy and happy death. By constantly praying to Mary the Hail Mary and the Holy Rosary, with Mary’s help we are preparing ourselves for the most important moment in our life: the very moment that we die! This will determine our eternal destiny—eternal salvation or eternal loss. We trust that through Mary’s prayers we will attain eternal salvation.

May this be our prayer every night and the moment we die: 

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!

Copyright 2022 Oblates of the Virgin Mary / St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

FRIDAY, April 8th    Jn. 10: 31-42   Verse before the Gospel: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.”

Three traditional practices in our daily walk with Christ are Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. These are intensified in Advent, but even more so in Lent, when we meditate on the suffering, Passion, and death of Our Lord and Savior! Yesterday we meditated on the Value of Suffering by Fr. Ed. Suffering is a form of fasting—it is surrendering our will to the Will of God, as Jesus did in all things.

Isaiah 53: 4-6

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

Today, we will turn to Prayer…

PRAYER SETS OUR HEARTS AFLAME WITH LOVE OF GOD by Fr. Ed Broom.

There is a three-dimensional technique to live out Lent fruitfully and efficaciously: go up, go in, and go out!!! Go up to God—through a deep prayer life! Go in to ourselves through penance and conversion from sin! Finally, go out to others by almsgiving or active charity.  “Whatsoever you do to others you do to me”—the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is absolutely impossible to find any saint that did not only understand the value and importance of prayer, but also the dire urgency to put prayer into practice.

In sum, irrespective of time, place, culture, intellectual back-ground (or lack of it), social milieu—all of the saints knew that without a deep, dynamic, and fervent prayer life they would be spiritual losers and moral disasters. If you like, what oxygen is to the lungs, so is prayer to the soul, our spiritual lungs! No air—suffocation! Likewise, No prayer—spiritual  asphyxiation.

Prayer is essential for all people, in all times and places, and in any season of the year. However, it must be asserted, Lent is a most propitious time for deepening our prayer life and giving quality time to implement the practice of prayer in our daily lives.

So as to encourage and motivate us to live a most fruitful Lent by means of growth in prayer, we will offer a wide variety of saints and how they explain their own prayer experience in a few concise but penetrating strokes of the pen!

THE SAINTS ON THE POWERFUL PRESENCE OF PRAYER

1. “You go to pray to become a bonfire, a living flame, giving light and heat.” (Saint Josemaria Escriva)

Jesus said that He came to cast fire on the earth and that He is not at peace until that fire be enkindled. (Lk 12:49) Prayer indeed transforms us into fiery and explosive Spiritual Furnaces. May our deep prayer lives set the hearts of the cold and indifferent on fire!

2. “Mental prayer is nothing else but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him.” (Saint Teresa of Avila). 

Jesus called His Apostles “friends”.  He desires most ardently your friendship and mine. Indeed, He is the Friend who will never fail us!

3. “Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is Queen even of God’s heart.” (Saint Maximilian Kolbe)

If we pray to God through the Heart of Mary, such a prayer is powerful indeed. Jesus’ first miracle came about through the powerful intercession of Mary who said: “Do whatever He tells you.” (Jn 2:5)

4. “Do not worry over things that generate preoccupation and anxiety. One thing only is necessary: to lift up your spirit and love God. (Saint Padre Pio)

If we want to conquer the temptation to worry, the true spirit of prayer can conquer all worries, preoccupations and fears. “Jesus, I trust in you.”

5. “Suffering borne in the will quietly and patiently is a continual, very powerful prayer before God.” (Saint Jane Frances Chantal)

If we can gently but firmly unite our sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross in our personal prayer, then the mountains can be moved. Prayer, Patience and Suffering are powerful before the throne of God.

6. “The prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer; for there is none more powerful, save martyrdom.” (Saint Frances de Sales)

Suffering can make us better or bitter. If united with prayer, undoubtedly suffering makes us better, more holy, and more like Jesus in His Passion.

7. “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.” (Saint John Chrysostom).

In charity, we owe it to others to avoid a glum appearance and to radiate joy. How? Cultivate a deep prayer life!

8. “Give me a person of prayer, and such a one will be able to accomplish anything.” (Saint Vincent de Paul)

Great and noble enterprises can only be accomplished by offering in prayer all one’s efforts and works to God, who indeed is omnipotent. Nothing is beyond the realm of God’s power!

9. “When you pass before a chapel and do not have time to stop for a while, tell your Guardian Angel to carry out your errand to Our Lord in the tabernacle. He will accomplish it and still have time to catch up with you.” (Saint Bernadette Soubirous)

We should never forget to walk and talk and converse often with our Guardian Angel. He will bolster up our prayers—sent as they are on the wings of God’s messenger!

10. “He who prays most, receives most.” (Saint Alphonsus Liguori)

There are many, many blessings that we never receive—on a human and supernatural plane—for one reason: we do not ask/beg God for these gifts and blessings. Saint Augustine sums it up: “We are all beggars before God.”

11. “Pray and work.” (Saint Benedict) 

Have no confusion about this: prayer is not our work! We must both pray and work. If our prayer is our work, this is translated into the heresy of Activism.

12. The Simple Path… “The fruit of silence is PRAYER; the fruit of prayer is FAITH; the fruit of faith is LOVE; the fruit of love is SERVICE; the fruit of service is PEACE.” (Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

Goodness and virtue are linked together, but all through the superglue of prayer!

13. “Do nothing at all unless you begin with prayer.” (Saint Ephraem the Syrian)

If we start our day with the Morning Offering, giving all to Jesus through Mary, then our day will be imbued with God’s presence and blessing!

14. “A soul arms itself by prayer for all kinds of combat.” (Saint Faustina Kowalska).

To follow Christ is to enter into spiritual combat. Our most powerful weapon is that of prayer. Little or no prayer, we enter into combat without a weapon and the battle will undoubtedly be lost!

15. “Just as a mother holds her child’s face in her hands to cover it with kisses, so does God hold us.” (Saint John Vianney)

What could encourage us more than this image of God’s intimate love for each one of us!

Hopefully all of us will take seriously the Universal Call to Holiness; we are all called to become saints. The shortest, quickest, most efficacious path to holiness is by striving on a daily basis to grow in our prayer life.

May Our Lady, with the angels and the saints, by their prayers encourage us to undertake the most noble enterprise and pursuit of a deep prayer life. In this way, our harvest ground will be rich in this life, as well as in the life to come!

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

THURSDAY, April 7th    Jn 8: 51-59   “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.’ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.”

Suffering came into the world with the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and every human being since suffers, both the born and the unborn who suffer death by abortion. The question is, does suffering have value???

SUFFERINGS OF JESUS SANCTIFY AND SAVE THE WORLD by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Among the many universal truths that neither humanity, nor the individuals in humanity, can negate is the following: suffering visits all people in every time, place, culture and epoch. Suffering is both inevitable and unavoidable!

In its essence suffering might be termed a moral-neutral—meaning it is neither good nor bad. It all depends on how we encounter and interpret suffering. If you like, suffering can make us better or bitter, one or the other! Suffering can sanctify us or the contrary, suffering can transform us into cranky, crotchety and even cantankerous individuals.

Most religions ignore, obviate, or deny the reality of suffering, even though its presence is ubiquitous, like having an elephant in the bathroom with you!

WHO TAUGHT US THE MEANING AND VALUE OF SUFFERING? 

It was Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who taught us the meaning of life, the meaning of all forms of suffering, as well as the meaning of death itself. As the Son of God made man, Jesus taught us that suffering has great value.

Pope Saint John Paul II wrote a powerful document on human suffering, Salvific Dolores—the salvific meaning of suffering. Shot by a would be assassin, suffering from an internal tumor, as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, rendered almost unable to speak—all of these and many more were the sufferings of this great Pontiff. Not only did he write eloquently on suffering and its salvific value, but he lived it in his own flesh.

Taking into account the reality of suffering, let us all strive to recognize our own sufferings. Even more important, let us not waste our sufferings but unite them to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. Of even greater importance, let us deposit our sufferings on the altar in the Mass, both on the paten and in the chalice. The sufferings of Jesus on Calvary are present in every Mass. Let us, then, unite our sufferings to the Passion, suffering and death of Jesus renewed in every Mass. If done, your sufferings have infinite value.

VARIOUS FORMS OF THE SUFFERING THAT JESUS UNDERWENT FOR US….

We can fall into the overly simplistic, erroneous and lopsided interpretation of Jesus’ suffering as being limited to mere physical suffering. We must transcend that myopic and extremely narrow view of Jesus’ suffering. Following is a brief survey of the multiple forms of suffering that Jesus underwent in His life, most especially related to His last few hours that we call His Passion, suffering and death. We invite all to meditate upon these, as well as to contemplate the enormity of the sufferings of Jesus. Of greatest importance regarding the sufferings of Jesus is the following: He underwent every detail of His sufferings for love of you and me, and for the sake of our eternal salvation. As Saint Paul reminds us: “He loved me and gave Himself up for me….” (Gal 2:20)

1. PHYSICAL SUFFERING.   As mentioned above, the most obvious form of the suffering of Jesus was His physical suffering, numerous and excruciatingly painful: His scourging at the Pillar, His crowning with thorns, His carrying of the cross with several falls, His crucifixion, His agonizing suffering on the cross, His immense loss of Blood, His asphyxiation… and many others.

2. MENTAL SUFFERING.  Take the crowning with thorns. Not only did this represent an intense physical torment, but also mental torment and anguish. He suffered this for all of us who suffer, have suffered and will suffer mental anguish. We only have to unite our mental anguish to that of Jesus’ anguish and it will have infinite value.

3. EMOTIONAL SUFFERINGS.  This can be seen most clearly when Jesus expends energy and experiences emotional draining on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane, also called “The Agony in the Garden”. The emotional sufferings in the Garden were many, but especially two: a penetrating almost paralyzing fear, and a mortal sadness. According to Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in the Garden, all of the sins of humanity, from the beginning of time to the end of time, descended upon Jesus like a torrential downpour of rain. His mortal sadness came about because He knew those who would willingly reject His love and thereby lose their immortal souls for all eternity.

4. RELIGIOUS SUFFERING.  Among those who condemned Jesus to such an ignominious death were the Religious leaders of the day—the scribes and Pharisees. These were Jews of the same religion that Jesus embraced with Mary and St. Joseph. “To His own He came, but they received Him not.” (Jn 1:11) “There was no room for them in the Inn.” (Lk 2:7) When we receive rejection from our own, our own family, the pain is all the more acute.                               

5. SOCIAL/POLITICAL REJECTION.  Jesus was rejected and condemned to death in the Political realm—under the local Government Authority at the time: Pontius Pilate. In a word, when we undergo rejection, in any shape or form, this is an acute form of suffering.  Jesus said to Pilate that He indeed was a King, but His Kingdom was not of this world.

6.  ABANDONED BY HIS FRIENDS.  When we undergo physical suffering, social marginalization, spiritual darkness, moral weakness, these are moments that first and foremost we should turn to God. However, in these critical times, we also really need a little help from our friends.  So it was with Jesus in His Agony in the Garden. His three best friends abandoned Him when He most needed their presence and friendship. Blunt and to the point, they fell asleep on Him and more than once! This must have been an intense form of suffering for Jesus. Indeed, He is the Friend who will never fail us, but we fail Him often. That is the essence of sin!

7. MORAL SUFFERING.  Jesus was like us in all things save sin. However, the Apostle to the Gentiles, Saint Paul points out that Jesus, so to speak, became sin, so as to liberate us from sin. The Jewish scape-goat was loaded with the sins of the people and then led out to the desert to be slaughtered. Jesus became the new Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. All of the sins of mankind fell upon Jesus in the Garden of Olives, as well as when He hung upon the cross. He suffered for our sins to save us from a sinful death and eternal condemnation.

8. CHRONOLOGICAL SUFFERINGS. As mentioned earlier in reference to Jesus in the Garden and Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, all of the sins of humanity rained down upon the Sacred Body of Jesus causing Him to sweat big drops of Blood. By chronological is meant “in time”—from the beginning of time, now, and until the end of all the ages, Jesus suffers in justice and reparation for all of the sins of humanity. We should strive to be close to Jesus like the Angel of consolation, close to the Heart of Jesus in His sufferings.

9. PERSONAL, INTIMATE, AND PROFOUND SUFFERINGS: FOR YOU & ME! So that the sufferings of Jesus really leave a huge impact on our lives in a deep and personal way, we must make the connection that all of His sufferings are related to all of the sins of humanity, but also, all my sins!!! Now, if you were the only person on the face of the earth that ever lived, Jesus would have undergone every detail of His Passion, suffering and death on the cross for love of you! Moreover, He would have undergone all of His sufferings for you, and for me too, countless times! Saint Faustina points out this important fact. How do we know that somebody really loves us? It is when that person is willing to suffer for us! Jesus suffered for love of you and me!

10. THEOLOGICAL SUFFERING.  (Related to God the Father Himself!) One of the most mysterious and enigmatic Gospel passages is when Jesus, hanging from the cross shortly to give up His spirit into the hands of the Father, cries out: “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus actually experienced the painful and heart-rending reality of actually feeling as if His Heavenly Father had abandoned Him. The great Mystical Doctor of the Church, Saint John of the Cross, penned the spiritual Masterpiece “The Dark Night of the soul”. In this state, the individual feels as if he were abandoned by God Himself. Jesus experienced this much more acutely. Sheen expresses it as such: there seemed to be an eclipse between the Humanity of Christ and the Face of God the Father.

To conclude, friends in the Passion and sufferings of Jesus, let us step back and examine our lives on the following, by means of these simple questions that we can bring to our personal prayer time:

• SUFFERING… How do I view suffering in my life?

• MY ATTITUDE/POSTURE… Does my suffering make me better or bitter?

• FORMS OF SUFFERING… Am I aware that there are various forms of suffering that go beyond the mere physical?

• ESCAPE… Do I run away from my cross and sufferings?

• UNION… Or do I unite my sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus?

• CROSSES… Do I carry my cross with Jesus or try to drag it along by myself?

• SUFFERING AND HOLY MASS… Do I place my sufferings on the altar with the paten and chalice in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Am I aware of the infinite salvific value my sufferings have when united to the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

Finally, lift up your gaze to Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, and beg that through her most powerful intercession you will accept your crosses and sufferings and unite them with her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. If this is done, your sufferings will be instrumental in the salvation of countless souls for all eternity!

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

WEDNESDAY, April 6th    Jn. 8:31-42   “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not always remain in a household forever; but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.”

Jesus is Our Savior in two ways. First, through His Passion and death on the cross, Jesus opened the gates of heaven which had been closed to all generations from the time of the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Second, Jesus saves us through the Sacrament of Confession, also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation, made with sincerity and firm purpose of amendment. If we have not already done so, may we make the best Confession of our life in these remaining days of Lent, so as to participate most fully in the Easter Glory of Our Risen Lord!

TEN WAYS CONFESSION SETS US FREE by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Sadness, confusion, disorientation, darkness, anger, and often bitterness—all of these words describe the soul living in the state of mortal sin. In fact Jesus says that sin is slavery. (cf Jn. 8:34)

Film: The Mission and an Image of Sin

In the film The Mission, one character who is portrayed by Robert De Niro, after having confessed murdering his brother to a Jesuit priest, is given the penance to carry with him a cumbersome ball of his possessions. Wherever this man who committed fratricide goes, he has to drag with him on a rope this truly cumbersome baggage. After having carried out this penance for days, even climbing a mountain with it, rising and falling, the priest agrees that he has done sufficient penance. The priest draws close to the sinner and with a sharp knife cuts and severs the rope and the baggage, and it cascades down all the way to the bottom of the mountain floor—freedom!

This slice from the film The Mission displays in one graphic scene a powerful image of what sin is like in our lives, but also the powerful effects in the soul of the sinner who repents and turns back to God through a good Sacramental Confession. One of the effects of sin is a binding slavery that is also like carrying a heavy weight wherever we go. The weight becomes heavier and heavier, almost to the point of being unsupportable. But then comes the transforming moment—a good Sacramental Confession.

By making this well-prepared, honest and sincere Confession the bonds are broken and split asunder, and freedom is experienced—the freedom of the sons and daughters of God!

Mercy & Confession 

Saint Pope John Paul II, Saint Faustina Kowalska, as well as the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas, unanimously agreed that mercy is the greatest attribute in the Heart of Jesus, Our Savior. Mercy is God’s Infinite Love forgiving the sinner.

There has been abundant catechesis on how to prepare for Confession, booklets on the Ten Commandments, as well as books written on the Sacrament of Confession. However, possibly not enough has been said on the many wonderful effects that are produced in the person who makes a good Confession.

This short article will focus on ten wonderful and uplifting effects that are produced in the soul of a good penitent.

1. Healing   

The specific sacramental grace of the Sacrament of Confession is healing. Jesus is the Divine Physician. Sin wounds the soul! What cancer, leprosy, and disease is to the body, sin is to the soul. Every time we make a good Confession, Jesus, the Divine Physician, with His gentle, tender, and loving Hand touches our soul, pours out His Precious Blood, and there is a healing. During His Public Life, Jesus healed the blind, deaf, mutes, paralytics, lepers, and even raised the dead. Still now, through His Mystical Body the Church, Jesus continues to heal His sick members through the priests in the Confessional. It is true that Jesus saves us and heals us! Right now Jesus wants to heal your moral wounds!

2. Freedom from Slavery

As mentioned above in the scene from the movie The Mission, sin is interior slavery. Confession reverses the slavery and communicates true freedom—the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. To break the bonds of our past bad habits, our powerful addictions, our bad impulses and actions, we need a powerful remedy. That remedy is direct contact with the Blood of Jesus poured forth on Calvary that first Good Friday and applied to every soul that makes a good Confession. Instinctively we appall physical slavery and all that this entails. Should we not have an even greater abhorrence and repugnance for the interior slavery of sin and seek freedom as soon as possible? Why not try Confession?

3. From Confusion to Peace

Another negative effect of living in sin is a lack of peace and living in a state of constant confusion. Saint Augustine defines peace as “the tranquility of order.” Sin is total disorder—the tower of Babel within. A good Confession results in putting into practice the words of Saint Ignatius of Loyola as one of the purposes of the Spiritual Exercises, “To order the disordered.” Therefore, if you really want to experience a profound peace in the depths of your soul, why not try to make the best Confession in your life? Your disorder will give way to order, and peace will follow!

4. Freedom from a Conscience Filled With Guilt

Living with guilt is truly hell on earth! People can go crazy or be driven to suicide due to a guilty conscience. Lady Macbeth was seen constantly washing her hands. This was an unconscious desire to be freed from the guilt of bloodshed and murder. She could not live with a guilty conscience that turned out to be a moral executioner. For that reason Shakespeare truly asserted: “Conscience does make cowards of us all.” Could it be that many people have recourse to medicine, taking pills to try to assuage and suppress the guilt that they are bearing in their conscience? Why not try Confession and experience the purity of an innocent conscience? With respect to Confession, never forget: it is free of charge. Also, there are no negative side-effects that often come about by taking medicine.

5. Joy: Rejoice in the Lord

Saint Thomas Aquinas states that all people are called to experience happiness or joy. If we look around us—at work, at school, on the road or freeway, we find all too often a lusterless, bland, and sad environment. Why is this the case if all are called to live in joy? The reason is this: many are looking for joy in the wrong places. Still more, many confuse pleasure with joy. Pleasure can be bought; joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit! Sin produces sadness in the soul. Only God can give us true joy. For this reason Saint Paul reminds us: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, rejoice in the Lord.” (Phil. 4:4) Our Lady in her powerful hymn of praise, the Magnificat, echoes the same sentiments: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” (Lk. 1:46-47)

Catechists have told me over the years that when a child is waiting to make their first Confession, they experience fear and anxiety, but after confessing, they leave the confessional radiating joy. Do you want to experience constant joy? Why not make it a habit to go to Confession frequently!

6. The Paschal Mystery: From Death to Life

If we have the misfortune of committing a mortal sin, we lose the grace of God and His Friendship. However, we should never give in to despair—that is the worst of sins! Like the Prodigal Son, we should return to the home of our loving Father and launch ourselves into His loving arms, and He will forgive us. Saint Therese of Lisieux stated boldly that even if she committed all the worst sins in the world, she would run and launch herself into the Father’s arms with boundless trust! The Father’s arms are like an elevator to heaven!

The great Saint Augustine, who lived a sinful life into his early thirties, stated that a good Confession is a Lazarus experience. If you remember, Lazarus died and Jesus raised him from the dead, summoning him from the tomb after he was buried for four long days. (Jn. 11:1-44) By making a good Confession we are summoned to leave the tomb of our sins and come back to a life of grace!

7. Curative and Preventive Medicine

Confession is like a medicine that heals the wounds of our soul (as mentioned in the first number). However, Confession can also serve as a means to prevent future falls! I remember once when I was coming down with a cold and a friend suggested that I take a couple tablets of Airborne, which I did take. What a blessing! The cold that was about to overtake me for probably ten days to two weeks was halted in its tracks! The same can be said of frequent Confession! If we commit a mortal sin, we should run to the confessional as soon as possible. Nonetheless, frequent Confession even of venial sins can serve as a remedy to prevent us from falling into the spiritual sickness that we call sin! We all know from experience, better to prevent a fall and a break, than to heal from one!

8. An Act of Humility to Crush Your Pride

As a result of Original Sin we are all infected with the Capital Sin of Pride and we are often motivated by pride and self-love. Making a good Confession can help us to grow in the opposite virtue that is essential for holiness and so pleasing to God: humility. In the Diary Divine Mercy in My Soul, Jesus revealed to Saint Faustina the three essential qualities of a good Confession: transparency (total sincerity and openness), humility, and obedience to the Confessor who represents Christ. It is important that when we confess, we do not confess the sins of our husband (or wife), our neighbor, or others! Nor should we rationalize, justify, or gloss over our sins. Rather, humility means we tell it exactly like it is!

9. Growth in Self-Knowledge

Another huge blessing that flows from a well-prepared and well-confessed Confession is an increase in self-knowledge. The Greek philosopher, Socrates stated: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” A noteworthy historian interjects: “He who does not know history is condemned to repeat the same errors.” Ignatian spirituality insists constantly on the importance of self-knowledge, knowing oneself and the movement of the spirits in one’s life.

Saint Ignatius asserted that one should never, ever leave off the Daily Examen Prayer, which is directed at self-knowledge and the awareness of God’s constant presence in our lives. The desert Fathers had a short but extremely important axiom: “Know thyself.” For these reasons, the persons who examine their conscience well, confess well, and consult the priest-confessor sincerely, will definitely grow in self-knowledge. By knowing themselves well—their virtues as well as their sins—they can avoid falling into many future sins and avoid future tragedies!

10. Fervent and Efficacious Holy Communions

Another exceedingly important effect of a good Confession is more efficacious and fervent Holy Communions. These two Sacraments that we should receive frequently are intimately interconnected. A simple analogy could be useful: try to imagine your front room glass window pane. You have failed to clean it for more than a year. Consequently, the window has become smeared and sullied by dust, dirt, and smog, put simply, the polluted environment. So the day comes when you decide to do house cleaning and on the list is to clean that front window. You go to the store to buy Windex—a powerful and efficacious window spray. There you are, generously spraying the window, and then with a dry newspaper you rub and rub. What do you notice? The window is now clear, and sunlight is pouring through the window in its totality! Before, the window was half opaque; now it is completely transparent and the full light of the sun can penetrate and inundate the house!

The same can be said with our soul which is like a window pane. Sin sullies, besmirches, and dirties our soul. With Confession, our dirty soul is cleansed with the Precious Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Our soul becomes pure, clean and transparent. Then when we receive Holy Communion, Jesus who is truly the Light of the world, like an atomic bomb explodes and radiates light, and the light of Jesus’ Presence inundates the whole room of our soul. For that reason Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world” (Jn. 8:12); then He said, “You are the light of the world.” (Mt. 5:14) Thus the end result of frequent and worthy reception of these two sacraments, Confession and Holy Communion, is holiness! We are able to obey and put into practice Jesus’ command: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt. 5:48) And, with Jesus, we become a light to others!

Conclusion

Saint Pope John Paul II made this comment with respect to Our Lady and the Sacrament of Confession. He said that the Marian Sanctuaries—Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, etc.—are spiritual clinics. In other words, we go to Marian Sanctuaries to meet Jesus, the Bread of Life in Mass and Holy Communion, but also we meet Jesus who is the Healer of our heart, mind, and soul in Confession!

Let us turn to Our Lady whom we invoke as “Mother of Mercy” and “Health of the Sick” to help us live out life to the max by having frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Confession, the true expression of the loving and merciful Heart of Jesus!

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

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

TUESDAY, April 5th    Jn. 8:21-31   “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.”

St. Vincent Ferrer: “Although Christ had other ways of redeeming us, nevertheless this way – through the cross – was appropriate, in which the satisfaction corresponded to the offense. Holy Mother Church touches on this, saying, ‘You decreed that man would be saved through the wood of the cross. The tree of man’s defeat became his tree of victory; where life was lost, there life has been restored through Christ our Lord.’”

POWER OF THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST – A CONTEMPLATION by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Let us meditate upon what the saints have said about the power of the cross and then spend time in silence and meditate upon the crucifix, the most eloquent symbol of love in the entire world. With Saint Francis of Assisi who bore the wounds of Christ in his body through the mystical grace of the stigmata, let us pray with all of our heart: “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

WHAT SOME OF THE SAINTS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE CROSS…

“It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the cross.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

“Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.” (St. John of the Cross)

“The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.”  (St. John of the Cross)

“The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love. The greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love.”  (St. Paul of the Cross)

“O cherished cross! Through thee my most bitter trials are replete with graces.” (St. Paul of the Cross)

“Our Savior’s passion raises men and women from the depths, lifts them up from the earth, and sets them in the heights.” (St. Maximus of Turin)

Now let us enter into our own meditation/contemplation on the Mystery of the Holy Cross as we lift our gaze to a graphic crucifix and peer into the five deep wounds of Jesus, who loved me so much that He was crucified, suffered and died for me. How great is the love of God for me!!!

1. CRUCIFIX ON THE WALL OF THE BEDROOMS IN YOUR HOME.                   

It is highly recommended that all of your bedrooms have a crucifix on the wall. A crucifix has a Corpus— meaning, the Body of Christ nailed to the wood of the cross. The cross without the Corpus of Christ almost deprives the cross of its real meaning: Jesus suffered and died on the cross; His Body hung on the cross for three long hours, from 12 noon to 3:00 pm, for our salvation.

2. CONTEMPLATE THE CROSS. 

Get into the habit before retiring every night of spending at least a few moments in silence contemplating, looking deeply at the cross and He who died on the cross for love of you—the Savior, Jesus Christ, and offer Him your immense love and gratitude. Contemplation is a form of prayer in which we think deeply with our mind and love immensely with our heart for the immense love that Jesus has not just for all, but for me individually.

3. RECALL TO MIND THE WORDS JESUS SAID ON THE CROSS.

A very salutary and sanctifying practice is to call to mind the seven last words (phrases) that Jesus pronounced from the cross. Take these words into your mind and your heart. Ven. Fulton J. Sheen asserts that from the pulpit of the cross, Jesus preached His last and best homily. Let us be attentive students and listeners.

4. MEMORIZE THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF JESUS, THE MOST ELOQUENT PREACHER:

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. (Lk 23:34)

Amen, I say to you: today you will be with me in Paradise. (Lk 23:43)

Woman behold thy son; son behold thy Mother. (Jn 19:26-27)

I thirst. (Jn 5:19:28)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. (Lk 23:46)

It is finished. (Jn 19:30)

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. (Lk 23:46)

5. IMITATE THE SAINTS AND KISS THE WOUNDS OF CHRIST CHRIST.                                   

Prayer is not simply a cerebral, that is, a merely intellectual function. Prayer involves the whole person. St. Francis and many of the saints would express their love for their crucified Savior by kissing Jesus’ five wounds on the crucifix. You do the same! By doing so, you are manifesting the heartfelt love that you have for Jesus. Every one of those open wounds that Jesus endured – the nails that perforated His hands and His feet, the lance that entered His side and pierced His Heart causing blood and water to gush forth, were for love of you and your eternal salvation. How great is the love of the crucified Savior for you and how great His desire for the salvation of your immortal soul!

6. LIKE MARCELINO, TALK TO OUR CRUCIFIED LORD.                             

(Movie: Miracle of Marcelino – 1955 black and white version.) In this movie-classic, imitate the little orphan boy, Marcelino, and talk to the Lord Jesus from the depths of your heart. Use simple words, but words anointed with great love and passion, expressing your heartfelt gratitude for the Lord Jesus, and all He did for you.

7. CONTEMPLATE THE CROSS AND CALVARY RELATED TO THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.

As you lift your gaze to Jesus hanging from the cross, call to mind the intimate relationship between Jesus crucified on Good Friday on Calvary and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Invisible as it is, and with the utmost depth of mystical meaning, every time an ordained priest offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Calvary and the crucified Lord Jesus are present. In every Mass, the fruits of the crucified Lord are available to all of humanity. Next time you go to Mass, contemplate the big Crucifix on the wall behind the priest who is celebrating Mass and remember that Calvary is present when the priest lifts up the Host and elevates the Chalice! O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!

8. JESUS’ OPEN ARMS ON THE CROSS. 

Contemplate now the open arms of Jesus as He hangs from the cross. There is depth of meaning here. Saint Augustine, giving a symbolic interpretation of the crucifix and the position of Jesus Body says: Jesus has His head bent to kiss us; His arms open to embrace us; and His heart open to receive us! Jesus’ open arms are symbolic of the arms of the Father of the Prodigal Son. The meaning? Despite the sad reality of our many sins, God always, in all times and on all occasions, has His arms wide-open to receive us – symbolic of forgiveness. As the Prophet Isaiah reminds us: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as the snow.” (Is. 1:18) In concrete, Jesus beckons us to return to Him with a sincere and contrite heart through the reception of the Sacrament of His Mercy, the Sacrament of Confession, and be renewed, reformed, and made anew!

9. JESUS’ BLOOD STAINED BODY AND GARMENTS.

As you contemplate the blood-stained body of Jesus and His few garments, the virtue of purity and modesty should surge in your mind and heart. Both the stripping of Jesus, as well as the brutal scourging at the pillar were accepted willingly by Jesus to repair for the countless sins of impurity committed by all of humanity and by us individually. Our Lady of Fatima commented sadly that most souls are lost due to sins against the 6th and 9th Commandments; that is to say, sins committed against the virtue of purity. May our contemplation of the lacerated and bloody Body of the Lord Jesus inspire within us a great desire for purity—in body, mind, thought, word, deed, desire and intention. Jesus taught us in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the pure of heart, they will see God.” (Mt. 5:8)

10. THE CROSS AND CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS AND OURS.

As you look up to the cross and contemplate Jesus with love recall His words:  “Anyone who wishes to be my follower must renounce himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt. 16:24) Spend some quiet time in prayer before the Crucified Lord Jesus and open up the very depths of your heart, pour out your feelings and emotions with respect to your cross. Jesus desires to listen to you, accompany you, and help you. He us not indifferent to the cries and supplications from your heart but desires to help you. What might be your cross or crosses? A health problem, an economic strait, a difficult relative, a rebellious son or daughter, a tense relationship with a spouse, a work conflict, a spiritual doubt, the loss of a loved one, the pain of a past deep wound, fear of the dark and ominous clouds of the future, the fear of suffering and of your own mortality and death.

All of the above can be the subject of your colloquy with the crucified Lord Jesus. Our cross often is simply too heavy because we fail to invite Jesus to come and help us carry our cross. Listen to His words: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy and the burden light. (Mt 11:28-30)