Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Tuesday, October 12th   Lk. 11: 37-41   “As to what is within, give alms, and behold; everything will be clean for you.”

Today’s meditation is on almsgiving through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass… so that as Christ promises in the Gospel today, “Everything will be clean for you.”

LIVING OUT THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

God’s graces indeed are infinite…

One of the most clear, interesting and exciting explanations of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is presented in the movie: THE GREATEST MIRACLE.  Relatively short—only about 70 minutes—Claymation, with attractive scenes, melodious, joyful and uplifting music, all Catholics should view it!

Even though of the greatest simplicity, the dynamic cinema masterpiece, addresses and responds to one of the most important philosophical and theological questions and yearnings: the universal call to happiness. How true, in all times, all places, all circumstances, and all persons, there is a great desire to be happy. If you like, you can term it: the universal call to happiness.

We will never meet an individual who will say, point blank:  “Well today is Monday; it is my day to be sad, but then Tuesday, I will go back to being happy!” Absurdity! In all times and places, all of us want to attain a state of happiness, and even though many do not realize it, especially eternal happiness in Heaven.

Addressing the topic of happiness and its contrary, the movie THE GREATEST MIRACLE manifests how three individuals move from a state of sadness and desolation to a state of exuberant joy and consolation. The transformation is both profound and rapid.

The three major protagonists of the movie, two widows and a bus-driver with a son dying of terminal cancer, move on with their lives without any set goal until they meet up with their Guardian Angel. This inconspicuous friend of God (the Guardian Angel) knows exactly where and how this sadness can be transformed into radiant joy. Quite simply: Holy, Mass, Holy Communion, and living out the Mass as an offering to God.

In the middle of the movie, the Guardian Angel makes a very poignant comment as he watches a couple come in late for Holy Mass, distracted and not paying attention. In essence the Angel says that this couple—as well as many people—get little out of Mass because they do not pay attention to Holy Mass. They do not really participate in Holy Mass.

Holy Mass has infinite value; indeed, it is THE GREATEST MIRACLE! However, Sacramental Theology teaches with a penetrating clarity that the graces one receives are in direct proportion to the disposition of one’s soul. This is called the Theology of Dispositive Grace. In a word, the better the preparation and the more active and intense the participation, the more abundant the graces received from God, the author of all graces. The Dogmatic Constitution, from the Documents of Vatican II, states unequivocally that in Mass the laity should strive to participate fully, actively, and consciously.

PRIESTHOOD.  Vatican II also points out the two forms of the priesthood: the Ministerial priesthood—that is to say, the person who has received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and then the Common priesthood of the faithful—every baptized Catholic.

OFFERTORY AND HOLY MASS.  One of the most important manners in which the Laity can live out their Common priesthood is by living out Holy Mass, by participating to the max in this greatest of all prayers—the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

GUARDIAN ANGEL AND THE OFFERTORY.  In the movie The Greatest Miracle, the Guardian Angel insists that everybody should participate in Holy Mass with their own personal offerings. True, the Parish priest may have a specific offering/intention for that Mass. However, that does not exclude private intentions. You can offer as many intentions as your heart desires.

Therefore, we would like to help all to derive more abundant fruit from every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The remaining part of our conversation will be to offer various suggestions to motivate all to make a concerted effort to live out to the max the Mass by living out the Offertory. By this we mean, before Mass make sure that you offer your own intention, better said, your own many intentions! The more intentions you bring to God, the happier God is. As expressed in the Diary of Saint Faustina: “Ask with BOLD CONFIDENCE!!!”

Jesus Himself ordered us:  “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7) The intentions can be as many and as varied as your imagination brings to mind!

INTENTIONS TO BRING TO THE HOLY MASS…

1. THE SOULS IN PURGATORY.  These poor, suffering souls are saved because they died in the state of sanctifying grace. However, the Book of Revelation speaks clearly that nothing impure can enter the Kingdom of God. The movie THE GREATEST MIRACLE has a scene where the elderly widow, Dona Cata, a very pure soul, receives Holy Communion and the Guardian Angel immediately enters Purgatory and brings a soul detained there to Heaven. The souls in Purgatory yearn for the Precious Blood of Jesus to wash away their sins so that they can take flight to Heaven. We can never go wrong by praying and offering our Mass and Holy Communion for the souls in Purgatory! It is a huge act of charity!

2. CONVERSION OF FAMILY MEMBERS.  All of us are surrounded by family members who are heading in the wrong direction, and some of them at an accelerated pace. Some might even be very close to the precipice ready to plunge into the eternal flames. This being the sad state of affairs, offer your Mass and Holy Communion for their conversion to the love of God and for their eternal salvation. Many of your family members depend upon your Mass and Holy Communion!

3. CONVERSION OF DEATH-BED SINNERS.  Of even greater importance in the offering of your Mass and Holy Communion, is to pray for those who are on their deathbed, about to leave this world and go before the judgment seat of God. Once again, in the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus insists that prayers be offered in a most special way for the dying. To overcome suffering, desolation, or even more important, to renounce mortal sin in this most critical time of life, special graces are exceedingly necessary. No more abundant graces flow through the Sacred Heart of Jesus than those offered to the Eternal Father in Holy Mass!

4. VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE.  On one occasion Jesus, looking out at people who were like sheep without a Shepherd, expressed with a heavy heart: “The harvest is rich, but the laborers are few. Beg the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers.” (Mt 9:37-38) Therefore, a very important intention for which you can offer your Mass offering would be that of praying for vocations—more vocations, and most important, holy vocations to the priesthood and Religious Life. How true and how sad, the harvest is rich but the laborers all too few.

5. THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE.  As a sequel or follow up to the fervent offering for future vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life should be the offering of Mass and Holy Communion for priests and Religious already ordained and consecrated. How important it is to pray for the perseverance of both priests and Religious. Even more, we must pray that priests, Bishops and Religious strive to become great saints. Many souls depend upon the holiness of both priests and Religious!

6. IN REPARATION FOR THE VAST DELUGE OF SINS.  Our Lady of Fatima, through the Guardian Angel, invited the three little Shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta to receive Holy Communion, but a Communion of Reparation for the many sins that offend God so much. There is no more powerful and efficacious means to offer due reparation to God than the offering of Jesus, the spotless Victim on the altar, in reparation for the many sins of the world, a real deluge of sins.

7. YOUR OWN PERSONAL SINS.  On a personal note, we all have our own personal moral failures; we call these personal sins. By far, there is no more efficacious means by which we can offer due reparation for our own sins than by offering Mass and Holy Communion. Indeed, one Mass and Holy Communion is sufficient to repair for all the sins of the world, including our own many failures. “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your only begotten Son in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” What a great penance this would be from the priest to repair for our many sins!

8. A PERSONAL HEART-TRANSPLANT.  As a result of Original Sin, we all struggle with our own sinfulness, our own bad habits, our own Kryptonite (our major weaknesses). In all truth, until the Lord calls us from this life to the next, our life is a struggle between the flesh and the spirit, the good and the bad, the dark and the light that are waging fierce battles within our souls. If we wage this battle wielding only our natural resources, then we are doomed to die. As Jesus reminds us: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:41) However, if we rely upon the Lord and His holiness, then the victory is ours because it is the Lord’s! “Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.” (Ps 124:8) Therefore, when we attend Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion, in all truth, we receive the Total Christ (Saint Augustine): His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This of course includes His Sacred Heart.

Now all of the virtues in the highest degree are present in every Mass and every Holy Communion. So, we can beg the Lord to fill us with all the virtues, especially the virtue that we most need. Patience, obedience, meekness, purity, kindness, mortification, faith, trust, burning love, fortitude, intelligence, prayerfulness and many more are the virtues that are present in every Holy Communion well received because we truly receive the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Sacred Heart of Jesus in Holy Communion is truly a burning furnace of charity that desires so much to consume all that is ignoble and sinful within us. Our goal in life should be that expressed by Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

9. PRAYERS, SUPPLICATIONS, PETITIONS, INTERCESSIONS IN GENERAL…  What the world needs now more than ever is prayer and Eucharistic prayer-warriors. As we prepare for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we can place on the altar the many prayer intentions that are related to international affairs, national affairs, Church affairs, local Church affairs, family matters and problems, the many friends or relatives who have asked for our prayers, the pandemic, the sick, the suffering, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, and once again the dying, as well as the souls in Purgatory. All should be prayed for with the perspective of God’s holy will, the salvation of souls and eternity. In other words, the intentions that we can deposit on the altar, on the paten and chalice of the priest, have no limits. Indeed, God is very pleased when, like little children, we constantly beg for what we and our world desperately need.

10. THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MARY IN THE MASS AND OFFERTORY.  In the fourth Joyful Mystery, we contemplate Mary offering Jesus in the Temple. As Simeon takes the Divine Child in His arms, he praises and thanks God. He also makes a prophecy of the future suffering of Jesus and Mary. Jesus would be a sign of contradiction and Mary would have her Heart pierced by a sword. Our Mass offerings and intentions will become all the more efficacious if we offer them through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Often the saintly Mother Teresa of Calcutta prepared for Holy Communion by asking Mary to lend her Mary’s Immaculate Heart so that she could love Jesus with Mary’s Heart. Saint Louis de Montfort, and many saints, agree that Mary is the shortest, quickest and most efficacious path to Jesus. Therefore, place of all your many intentions in the hands of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The results will be extraordinary! 

In conclusion, my friends in Jesus and Mary, let us humbly beg for the grace to live out the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the best disposition possible. Before Mass let us always offer our own special intentions. Let us not be timid or fearful in our offerings. Quite the contrary, let us offer as many intentions as possible and ask with bold confidence! How pleasing this is to God! And never forget to go to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Holy Communion, through the most pure and holy Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Monday, October 11th   Lk. 11: 29-32   “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.’”

Today’s Gospel is on the Virtue of Faith. Our meditation has two parts.

PART ONE: A review of our knowledge and understanding of the Three Theological Virtues – Faith, Hope and Charity from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

PART TWO: Practicing the Virtue of Faith according to the Faith of Old Testament Figures that St. Paul refers to as the “ancients”.  

PART ONE: The Three Theological Virtues – Faith, Hope and Charity.

FAITH:

CCC 1813:  The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.⁷⁷

CCC 1814: Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith “man freely commits his entire self to God.”⁷⁸ For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God’s will. “The righteous shall live by faith.” Living faith “work[s] through charity.”⁷⁹

CCC 1815:  But “faith apart from works is dead”.

HOPE:

CCC 1817: Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

CCC 1818: The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.

CHARITY:

CCC 1822: Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

CCC 1823: Jesus makes charity the new commandment.⁹⁶ By loving his own “to the end,”⁹⁷ he makes manifest the Father’s love which he receives. By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive. Whence Jesus says: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.” And again: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”⁹⁸

PART TWO:  Practicing the Virtue of Faith according to the witness and faith of Old Testament figures.

We have the fullness of the Faith in the One, Holy, Catholic (meaning universal), and Apostolic Church and the Sacraments established by Jesus Christ through His Passion, Death and Resurrection and the institution of the Priesthood.

Should not our Faith be all the stronger for 2000+ years of the practice of the Faith, in particular the witness of the Saints and Martyrs – shining like stars in the firmament of Heaven?

Following is a beautiful Litany of Praise by St. Paul honoring the Faith of the ancients! Remember, they had faith based on a Promise, whereas we have faith based on the fulfillment of that Promise! We believe because we have eyewitness accounts of the Person of Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, who came to teach us all truth, then suffer, die and rise from the dead, with this promise: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (Jn 14:1-3)

From the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, Chapter 11 – Faith in Action

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.

They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

End of the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, Chapter 11.

Truly, we are God’s spoiled children!!!

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

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

Sunday, October 10th   Mk. 10: 17-30   Alleluia Verse: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” Today we will revisit two meditations from the Spiritual Exercises – the Capital Sin of Greed and the Remedy.

PART ONE: 

PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL—EXAMPLE OF GREED / HAVING! By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

We invite you to read and meditate upon this Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk 12:13-21) for the purpose of looking to see if something in this parable is present in your own life.

1. POINT PRECEDING THE PARABLE.  Even before Jesus teaches this short but powerful Parable related to the Capital Sin of Greed, a man approaches Jesus. What does he request of Jesus? The man wants Jesus to tell his brother to divide an inheritance with him. This request triggers Jesus’ intervening to teach this Parable of the Rich Fool.

2. TEAR DOWN THE BARNS AND BUILD BIGGER ONES.  After the man in the parable has had a most abundant harvest and realizes that there is no longer enough space in his barns, he brainstorms and comes up with a brilliant idea: tear down the old and build new and bigger barns.

3. WHY?  The reason is clear: so that he can store up his abundant harvest in these more spacious barns. In other words, if we can put it this way, he will have more possessions, more stored up, more for the future. He is consumed with possessing more and more.

4. CONSEQUENCE: A LIFE OF EASE AND PLEASURE.  Then as a consequence of the abundant harvest and the bigger barns with overflowing storage, he can simply sit back, take it easy and enjoy life to the fullest extent possible.

5. HIS MONOLOGUE—TALKING TO HIMSELF.  This man has no reference to God in the least, but rather enters into conversation with himself, in these or similar words: “My soul, you have much in store for many long years; rest, eat, drink, and be merry.” In other words: Live it up!

6. GREED AND MATERIALISM LEAD TO HEDONISM.  Greed, an expression of the false philosophy of Materialism, all too often leads to Hedonism—which is nothing less than the philosophy of pleasure: the purpose of life is to maximize pleasure.

7. EGOTISM-SELFISHNESS.  In this Parable, the Rich Fool never makes any reference to God, nor to his wife, nor to his family, nor to anyone except himself. How he can enjoy his material possessions.

8. THE DOMINO EFFECT OF SIN.  Observe how one sin can easily open up the door to another sin and another, like the slippery slope that leads to perdition. Materialism, manifest in Greed, leads to Hedonism, the philosophy of pleasure. These two lead to Selfishness/Egotism wherein such a person makes himself the center of the world—all revolves around him and his desires.

9. A SHOCKING SURPRISE AND RUDE AWAKENING.  Little does this Rich Fool realize that before the sun rises the following day, he will already be dead and judged by Almighty God! Jesus points out with stark reality that the man will die, and then where will all of his possessions go? More important, where will he go???

10. CONCLUSION.  Jesus points out with utmost clarity that having many possessions cannot assure anybody on the face of the earth a long life. And the human experience on earth is brief in comparison with eternity. Moreover, nobody knows the day, the hour, nor even the way that they will pass from this life to the next, to stand before the Judgment Seat of God, to be judged by Jesus who will judge the living and the dead.

PART TWO:

A SURE REMEDY TO THE CAPITAL SIN OF GREED: TRUST IN GOD’S LOVING PRESENCE AND DIVINE PROVIDENCE. By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

To remedy the Capital Sin of Greed/Avarice in our daily lives there is a key and essential attitude that we must understand, embrace, and strive to attain and instill in our thought processes, then translate into our daily actions.

This attitude can be summarized in three words: TRUST IN GOD!!! Or if you would like to transform this attitude into a short, concise prayer it is this: JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!!! Of course, this is the very essence and heart of the teachings of Jesus through the Secretary of Divine Mercy—Saint Faustina Kowalska in the spiritual classic, “Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul.”

THE TEACHING OF JESUS AGAINST WORRY AND A CALL TO TRUST! (Mt 6:25-34)

Read and pray upon this passage taken from the very heart of the Sermon on the Mount. Allow these words of Jesus to penetrate and permeate to the very depths of your soul. The following are points to fill in some of the gaps.

1. WORRY.  Many times in these few verses Jesus tells us not to WORRY! Enter into your heart: are you always worrying about things?

2. TIME AND WORRY!  Do you relive and worry about your past? Are you worried and preoccupied about the future? Are you living with constant tension and worry in the present? Even though challenging, Jesus commands you to stop worrying and TRUST in Him!

3. EXAMPLES FROM GOD AND NATURE.  To instill trust and conquer this dominant attitude of worrying, Jesus uses examples from nature as a means to motivate us to cultivate greater trust in Him. He offers us two very simple and clear examples that anyone can understand, even a child.

4. THE BIRDS OF THE AIR.  Jesus invites us to contemplate the birds of the air. When you have a chance, you might contemplate the birds in the morning—flying, landing, and hopping around on the ground having their simple meal. They lost no sleep the night before worrying over the meal that God would provide for them the next morning. If God provides for the birds of the air, will He not provide for us, His beloved children? Have you ever seen a bird flying to a psychologist or renewing a prescription to cope with anxiety and depression?

5. THE LILIES OF THE FIELD.  Hopefully all of us have had the uplifting experience of a nature walk in which our eyes fell upon a meadow or field decked and scattered with an enormous array of flowers—be it lilies, daisies, roses, daffodils, sunflowers and so on. There was something in common among this vast array of spring flowers: their differences, but also their elegant beauty. Jesus says that even Solomon with all his wealth, power, and elegance could not compare with the lilies of the field. It is God who provides for them and it is God who decorates them with celestial beauty.  

6. WORRY ABOUT FOOD.  Then Jesus gently rebukes us for worrying about the food that we will eat. Pagans worry about that. God indeed will provide. You will not die of hunger.

7. WORRY ABOUT CLOTHES.  Then Jesus comes at us with another preoccupation: worry about our attire. How often have we worried about our clothes, what we will wear? How often, as a result of greed and an insatiable desire to have more, we have gone off to buy and buy when we already have too much???

8. CLUTTERED WITH THINGS: NO ROOM FOR GOD.  Jesus will go on to say that we cannot serve God and serve money at the same time. A heart that is filled with a desire for things and possessions has no room for God.

9. SELF-EXAMINATION.  Is your life dominated by greed, avarice, your possessions, and desiring more, even though you already have so much? Have you allowed your possessions to possess you? Are the things in your life pushing God to the side? Unless we come to a humble and honest admission of our failures, they can never be corrected!

10. THE KEY TO OVERCOMING GREED: THE WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS!  These words of Jesus in this same passage are the key. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will be given to you beside.” (Mt. 6: 33) Meditate deeply upon these words of Jesus. Pray over them from your heart.

A CLOSING COLLOQUY/CONVERSATION WITH JESUS.  You may feel moved to conclude with this prayer: 

Lord Jesus, I humbly admit that a desire for things, an attitude of materialism, has in the past dominated my vision of life. I have focused more on having things than in possessing you and allowing you to take possession of me.

Dear Lord, grant me the ardent desire to put into practice your words: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will be given to you beside.” Lord, may you be the true meaning and ardent desire of my heart, my soul, and my life!

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

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

Saturday, October 9th   Lk. 11: 27-28    “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” Jesus replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

There was only one perfect disciple of Jesus, and that was His Mother Mary! Preserved from original sin at the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, Mary remained impeccable (meaning without sin) her entire life.

Thus the poet Wordsworth wrote of her: 

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost with the least shade of thought to sin allied. Woman! above all women glorified, our tainted nature’s solitary boast.

10 WAYS YOU CAN LOVE MOTHER MARY by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

We often discuss who might be the best athletes, the best artists, the best writers, the best musicians; also, it must be said, there are the best of mothers. By far—and in a class by herself—the Blessed Virgin Mary was, is and always will be the best of all mothers.

This being said, mothers should recognize the fact that Mary is the best of all mothers and contemplate Mary’s words, actions, gestures, looks, intentions and life, so as to become better and better mothers.

For our great consolation Mary is the Mother of God and she is the Mother of the Church, but also Mary is our dearest Mother too! Let us try to please Mary our Mother and as a consequence, the many mothers in the world will make huge strides in becoming better mothers all the days of their lives!

Below we will present ten different ways that we can show Mary, our Mother, our great love for her and without a doubt, through her most powerful intercession, she will attain for us the most choice graces to help us become the saints that we are called to be, and many of us as mothers.

1. TALK TO MARY

First, we have to get in the habit of talking to Mary, our dearest Mother, very often. To confide in her, speak to her from our heart, love her and entrust all of our life to her is most pleasing to her, as well as to her Son Jesus, Son of God and Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is our Model, our Guide, our Friend and our dearest of Mothers. She loves us so much and desires to have frequent conversations with us. Let us start today! Good friends think about each other and talk frequently! Mary is our Mother, but she is also our friend and confidant.

2. START YOUR DAY WITH MARY

Upon waking every morning, our first action should be that of prayer, and what prayer? Why not start your day by giving yourself totally to Jesus—all you think, say, and do, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Give to Jesus through Mary your eyes, your ears, your mind, your heart, your body, and even your intentions—in a word, give everything to Jesus through Mother Mary. How important it is to start our day well through the Heart of Mary!

3. LOVE HER

A Mother never gets tired of hearing her child say: “Mom, I really love you; you are the greatest!” The temptation might be to say: “Well, she already knows it, why tell her something that she already knows.” True, a good Mother most likely already knows it. However, it should be expressed in words. By saying: “Mom, I really love you”, the heart of your mother will leap with joy. The same must be said about Mother Mary. In the simplest of words when we say: “Mother Mary, I love you”, then Mary, Mother of God and our loving Mother, experiences great joy in her most pure and Immaculate Heart. Therefore, during the course of the day, we should simply say: “Mother Mary, I love you!”

4. WALK WITH HER

There is a well-known song in both Spanish and Italian dedicated to Mary related to this topic with the title: Santa Maria del Camino—meaning, “Our Lady of the Way”. Therefore, when we travel, and it can be a short trip or a very long one, we should invite Mother Mary to come along with us. She is a good traveling companion and can protect us from many dangers in our travels, perils both physical and moral. How many accidents, physical and moral, have surely been prevented by traveling with Mary—Santa Maria del Camino!

5. IMITATE MARY

If we come to know somebody in a very deep way, that often leads to imitation, and imitation to following, and following to a deep love for that person. Saint Louis de Montfort highlights the ten principal virtues of Mary that we should strive to imitate: her deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. (True Devotion to Mary, St. Louis de Montfort #108) Which virtue do you need most? Why not start there and ask Mary to help you practice that virtue!

6. TRUST AND ENTRUST TO MARY

If we truly have confidence in a person then we can entrust our cares to that person, knowing that this special person will care for us and protect us. God the Father entrusted His only begotten Son to the care of Mary. Therefore, we can entrust our lives totally to the care of Mary, our dearest and most loving Mother. “Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection was left unaided.” (The Memorare, St. Bernard)

7. TELL MARY OF YOUR SORROWS AND FAILURES 

We could be tempted by the enemy, the devil, who truly hates Mary, to feel inhibited in telling Mother Mary our sorrows and deep sufferings. The contrary should be the case! The best of mothers, Mary knows very clearly that when a child is most hurt and wounded, that is when the child needs the most tender love and care. So it should be with us! When the days seem to be the most cloudy, bleak, gloomy and downright depressing in the depths of our soul, it is then that we really need to open up and talk to Mary our Mother! Mary is both refuge of sinners and health of the sick—two titles for Mary in her famous Litanies!

8. CALL UPON MARY WHEN TEMPTED

Our life is a constant battle; we are soldiers of both Jesus and Mother Mary. That means that we are on a constant battle-ground. Our enemies are three: the devil, our own weak flesh, and the world. Aware of this intense reality of spiritual combat, we should call upon the Holy Name of Mary in the midst of the battle and the victory will be ours! The famous Battle of Lepanto (1571) proved a striking victory for the Catholics against the Moslems through invoking Mary and the recitation of the most Holy Rosary at the insistence of Pope Saint Pius V. May we entrust our battles to Mary, more powerful than a whole army in battle array! The mere name of Mary causes fear and terror in all of hell!

9. PROMOTE LOVE FOR MARY AS MOTHER

If indeed we have truly experienced the love, care, and tenderness of Mary in our daily lives, then undoubtedly we will want to make Mother Mary known far and wide. Mary is not loved and honored due to one principal reason: she is not known! How can she be made known? In many ways! Encourage the reading of good books on Mary like The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori and True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort. Also, the Encyclical Mater Redemptoris, and the Apostolic Letter The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary, both by Pope Saint John Paul II. Encourage recitation of the Holy Rosary and praying it daily by giving out Rosaries with pamphlets on how to pray the Rosary. Finally, encourage wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

10. DIE IN THE ARMS OF MARY

The most important moment in our life is the moment that we die. This moment will determine for all eternity, our eternal destiny—heaven or hell. Why not prepare to die a holy death at least 50 times a day? How? Simply by praying the most Holy Rosary. Every time we pray the Hail Mary, we are preparing ourselves for a holy and happy death: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Therefore, let us rejoice with the keen awareness that we all have a heavenly Mother, Mary the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, and our dear Mother. She knows us, cares for us, protects us, but especially, she loves us! Indeed, in the midst of the trials, struggles, and intense battles of life let us find our refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

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

Friday, October 8th   Lk. 11:15-26  “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

The question we should be asking ourselves is, “How can I make sure that I am “with Christ” and not against Him??? Fr. Ed gives us the answer boldly and fully in the following meditation.

KEEP THE FIRE OF GOD’S LOVE BURNING IN YOU! by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

Jesus said: “I have come to cast fire on the earth; I am not at peace until that fire is blazing.” (Lk 12:49) Right now, that fire should be burning in your heart. That is the fire of the Holy Spirit. A bonfire to be kept ablaze must be fed constantly. Wood, leaves, brush, old papers must be constantly cast into the fire. If not, the fire extinguishes and soon there is only a pile of ashes.

As a result of the social and spiritual milieu in which we live, how easy it is for the fire of the Holy Spirit, the Fire of Divine Love to wane, decline, diminish and extinguish. Too many Catholics today are like smoldering wicks, smoldering embers that have lost their fire, lost their zeal, lost their enthusiasm, lost their joy for living. As T.S. Elliot penned poetically: “They will go out not with a bang, but with a whimper!”

A SERIOUS WARNING.  The last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation/Apocalypse warns us: “You have lost your first love.” (Rev 2:4) And, “You are neither hot nor cold, I wish you were, but you are lukewarm; so I will vomit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16) Startling or even shocking as these words sound, they come from the Holy Spirit who is the Author of all of Sacred Scripture. May God save us from mediocrity! 

A FERVENT PRAYER. Let us make a heartfelt and fervent prayer from the depths of our heart that the fire of God’s love will never extinguish in our soul. However, if it has, let us beg the Holy Spirit to rekindle that fire. Then let us pray for the grace to ignite many fires—the fire of God’s love—wherever we go, with whomever we meet, in whatever circumstances God places us!

JUMP-STARTS TO SET OUR HEARTS ABLAZE.  This being the case, let us use all the tools, all the means that God has placed in our path to jump-start the flame of God’s love in our heart. May we follow in the footsteps of the Master, Jesus, making His words our own: “I have come to cast fire on the earth, and I am not at peace until that fire be enkindled.” (Lk 12:49)

THE BIG TEN JUMP-STARTERS!

1. RE-IGNITE THE FLAME.  Go to Confession! If we have lost God’s grace through Mortal sin, then God’s fire has been extinguished in us. Have no discouragement on your part; rather trust in God! Like the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32) get up and return to the loving embrace of the Father through a good Sacramental Confession. The loving arms of the Father are wide-open to receive you. He patiently awaits your return!

2. CONSECRATION TO MARY AND THE SCAPULAR.  At the crack of dawn upon awakening every morning, consecrate your whole being, your day, and all your activities to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and then kiss your Scapular. Paintings depict the Immaculate Heart of Mary with fire flowing out from her heart—the fire of love, the fire of the Holy Spirit – for you and your eternal salvation!

3. SHORT ASPIRATIONS IN THE DAY.  During the course of the day lift up your heart in short prayers, like arrows piercing the heavens, such as: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you; save souls” Whenever a short, fiery dart occurs to you, shoot it up to heaven as an act of love. Keep the fire aflame!

4. RECOGNIZE YOUR DIGNITY.  Through Baptism our souls were radically transformed: we became Temples of the Holy Spirit! Among the many beautiful, mystical, and poetic titles for the Holy Spirit in the Sequence of the Holy Spirit is that of “Sweet Guest of the soul”. As Pope Saint Leo the Great reminds us in his Christmas homily: “Christians, recognize your dignity!” With a constant awareness of your dignity and destiny—“I am a child of God, a Temple of Holy Spirit, and Heaven is my destiny”—the fire leaps up unceasingly!

5. HEAVEN: RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.  The virtue of Hope enflames the interior of your soul. With your feet on the earth and your spiritual eyes lifted on high towards Heaven that awaits you, God’s fiery flames will ignite your soul. Life is short, like the flower of the field that rises in the morning and withers and dies as the sun hides its face. (Ps 103:15-16) Life has its contradictions. But if you carry your cross patiently and with love, Heaven awaits you!

6. EXTINGUISH THE FIRE OF GOD’S JUSTICE BY THE FIRE OF YOUR LOVE—PURGATORY! Frequent prayers, sacrifices and alms-giving—acts of love offered for the souls in Purgatory, can mitigate the Fire of God’s Justice that purifies the souls in Purgatory. That is to say, the Fire of your Charity can result in these souls arriving sooner at their final destiny—Heaven. In turn, their prayers from heaven will serve to ignite and enflame God’s fiery love within you!

7. FIERY LOVE FOR GOD AND MY NEIGHBOR.  The fire of love that burns in your heart towards God whom you do not see, must rush forth impetuously towards your neighbor whom you do see, and who is created in the image and likeness of God! “I was hungry, thirsty, naked, a foreigner, sick and in prison, and you tended to my needs!” (Mt 25:31-46) Every time you serve Jesus in others in either the Corporal or Spiritual Works of Mercy, the fire of God’s love ignites and burns brightly in you. Read the lives of the saints as your model!

8. THE HOLY HOUR: THE HOUR OF POWER, THE HOUR OF FIRE! If you come inside out of an icy winter night and sit before the hearth where a fire is blazing, you will thaw out. The flames shooting from the brick hearth will even dry your wet, soggy winter clothes. In a similar fashion, it is easy for worldliness and mundane values to permeate our inner being with a wet, soggy indifference! It is precisely the Holy Hour, the Hour of Power, the Hour of Fire that sets our minds, our hearts, and our wills aflame! In the Tabernacle lives the Lord of Lords and King of Kings in all of His Majesty, fire, and power! Pope Saint John Paul II stated that the Tabernacle is the living heartbeat of the Church. May His fiery Heart set our hearts on fire through faithfulness to our daily Holy Hour!

9. SPIRITUAL READING/LECTIO DIVINA.  For us to cast fiery darts into the minds and hearts of others, it is necessary for us to have firm convictions in our mind that translate into actions. All too many are sluggish, lethargic, anemic, and half asleep in their spiritual life. They lack the fire of motivation that is sparked and ignited by solid spiritual reading. Consult your spiritual director or regular confessor on your choice of reading. May the choice help you to put on the mind of Christ, in the words of the fiery Apostle Saint Paul. Then you will be able to say: “I have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor 2:16)

10. HOLY COMMUNION AND FIRE.  Whenever possible, receive Holy Communion. In a very real sense Holy Communion results in a Spiritual Heart Transplant. You truly receive the Total Christ—Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This means that you receive the Sacred Heart of Jesus! If you contemplate any image of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, you will see that blazing fire rushes forth from His Heart! He suffers so much, as He said to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque: “Behold the Heart that loves so much and receives only coldness, indifference, and ingratitude.” If your reception of Holy Communion is indeed fervent, then Jesus’ Heart takes your heart and floods it with the fire of His Divine Love so that you can share it with the whole world!!!

Thanksgiving Prayer after Holy Communion:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of death, call me,
bid me come to Thee,
that with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.