https://fatherbroom.com/blog/2022/01/60681/

In the Advent Season one of the Gospel Readings is the long list of the Genealogical Origin of Jesus, in the three sets of 14 names. Daunted by the long list and befuddled as to how to preach a homily on this long list of names, this thought occurred to me: the healing of our own Genealogical Tree.

ORIGINAL WOUNDS.  All of us who come into the world as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve inherit the Original Wound as well as its consequences. With the exception of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and the Virginal Birth of Jesus, we all inherit Original Sin and its consequences at the very moment of our conception. True! Baptism washes away the stain of Original Sin, but not the consequences that Saint Thomas Aquinas terms concupiscence.

CAPITAL SINS.  Those bad tendencies that are defined as the Capital Sins remain within our very being until we die. These are the following: Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Envy, Anger, and Pride. With the help of God’s grace and our collaboration with His grace, these bad tendencies have to be tamed and the opposite virtues must be practiced.

WOUNDED HUMANITY.  All of humanity, therefore, has this mortal wound stemming from the Original Sin. However, to compound the state of our wounded human nature is our own moral culpability that flows from our own personal sins. Original Sin wounds from the start; personal and actual sins aggravate the state of our wounded condition.

WALKING WOUNDED HUMANITY.  We live in a world walking side by side with a walking wounded humanity and we add our own quota to this wounded and broken world.

WOUNDED WOUNDER OR WOUNDED HEALER.  Taking into account our woundedness there are two possibilities or options. Either we are wounded wounders or we become wounded healers. If we do not come to terms with our wounded condition, then our woundedness grows, festers, and spreads like a disease, like a moral pandemic. And we wound others by our wounded condition.

WOUNDED HEALER.  However, if we recognize that we are wounded, if we admit it and we strive to seek healing, then being a Wounded Healer can become a reality. How? The only solution is to run to Jesus. Only Jesus can truly heal us. Indeed, He alone is the Wounded Healer. The Prophet Isaiah made reference to the coming of Jesus and His mission when he said: “By His wounds we are healed.” (Is 53:5)

JESUS’ PASSION: HIS WOUNDS AND OUR HEALING.  In His Passion, Jesus was wounded for our sake. His scourging at the Pillar, His crowning with thorns, His falling under the weight of the cross, the nails that pierced His hands and feet, His side that was pierced with the lance—all of these manifest the open and gaping wounds of Jesus.

FINDING REFUGE IN THESE WOUNDS.  If we sincerely seek refuge in the wounds of Jesus then we can experience His healing. Most specifically, the healing of our moral wounds can take place in the context of the Sacraments, and most especially in the Sacrament of Confession. In fact, every Sacrament communicates not only grace but a specific Sacramental grace that differentiates it from the others. The Holy Eucharist confers nourishment and spiritual strength. The Sacrament of Confession confers moral healing of the wounds that we have contracted due to moral evil that we call sin.

BLOOD OF CHRIST—HEALING POWER.  Every time we approach the Sacrament of Confession with a good disposition, then with the confession of our sins and Sacramental absolution, the Precious Blood of Jesus that poured forth from the cross on Calvary that first Good Friday washes away our sins. Jesus’ Precious Blood cleanses us and heals us.

HEALING OUR GENEALOGICAL TREE.  Recently, much has been written on the healing of our ancestors, our relatives of the past, the gaping wounds of past ages. Fascinating as this topic sounds and the variety of ways to approach the healing of our genealogical tree, I believe there is truly a most efficacious manner, means or practice that we can undertake. Indeed, going all the way back to our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, there are many wounds, gaping wounds, unhealed wounds of the past that have repercussions in the present and that can extend way into the future.

THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS AND UNIVERSAL HEALING.  Of all of the possible remedies for healing wounded humanity—past, present and future, there is an all- powerful means that we have at our disposal: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

MOST POWERFUL OF ALL PRAYERS.  Of all the prayers that can be offered in the past, present and future, there is no more powerful and efficacious prayer than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is truly OPUS DEI—the great work of God Himself. It is God offering Himself to God: Jesus (Second Person of the Trinity) offers Himself into the hands of His Heavenly Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit for the salvation of humanity.

CALVARY: THE MASS TRANSCENDING ALL TIMES AND PLACES.  Even though it is true that Jesus died on Calvary on Good Friday more than two thousand years ago, the presence and power of Calvary extends to all times and places—past, present, and future even until the end of time! How does this take place? Every Sacrifice of the Mass today, tomorrow, and until the end of time takes us back to Calvary. That First Good Friday as Jesus hung on the cross, He poured forth His most Precious Blood. That same Blood that Jesus shed willingly and most abundantly becomes present in every Mass. And it is through the shedding of the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world that the purification of our sins and salvation becomes a reality!

OFFERING THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS TO HEAL OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.  Now to the point of our topic: OFFER MASS FOR HEALING! Have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for your family, and the two different lines if you are married: the husband and his family of the past; the wife and her family of the past.

THE INTENTIONS.  By way of example, that Mass intention can be specified in the following way: Families Lopez and Garcia—healing of the past, present and future.  Therefore, this intention includes the paternal side (Lopez) and their past, present and future; and the maternal side (Garcia) and their past, present and future. This intention is universal, all-inclusive. In a real sense it is Catholic which means universal! Let us now explain the three time dimensions of past, present and future.

HOLY MASS: META-HISTORICAL EVENT.  By meta-historical is meant that it transcends all times, places, events and cultures—that it encapsulates the entire past, present and future. The power and efficacy of EVERY HOLY MASS transports back to Calvary 2000 years ago and is actually present with its fruit and effects right now, but also its power extends into the past and into the future until the end of time. It is through the Precious Blood of Jesus shed on Calvary that wounds are truly healed and wounded wounders can indeed become wounded healers!

THE PAST.  By the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—this meta-historical event that transcends time—the Precious Blood of Jesus can be applied to family members, both maternal and paternal over years, decades and even centuries in the past. In concrete, in the Lopez and Garcia family there are countless numbers who have passed away. Many of these members were not ready to have direct access to Heaven, and may still be detained in Purgatory. Therefore, this Mass offered in the present can serve as a most efficacious means to help purify these souls detained in Purgatory; and some may actually be released from Purgatory and arrive finally at their Heavenly Home for all eternity! Their healing total and complete!

THE PRESENT.  These two families have immediate family members, as well as other blood relatives, such as cousins and aunts and uncles. Now the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered on their behalf can serve in the present as a most powerful means to sanctify many, convert others, prevent still others from making egregious moral blunders, and can serve as a shield against the wily but persistent attacks of the enemy—the devil who is always on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour! Also, countless lights, inspirations, insights can flow invisibly but most powerfully to these family members, and all by means of the Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on the cross on Calvary on Good Friday but applied in the present moment in Holy Mass!

THE FUTURE.  It is God Himself who created time with all of its ramifications. However, God is not confined to time and space as we the living experience it. In a real sense God lives in the eternal present! This being the case, even though the Mass is being offered for the Lopez-Garcia family right now in the present moment, its effects can extend into the future. In all truth, the effects of every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can extend into the future, way into the future. If you like, this Mass offered right now can extend in its power and efficacy until the very end of time and into eternity. How might this be the case? Say a family member of the Garcia-Lopez clan living in the year 2500 is on his deathbed after living an immoral, sinful life for many years. Shortly before he expires, he receives a light, an insight, an inspiration to repent and turn his heart back to God. His last words before giving up his spirit are: “Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner” or “Jesus, I trust in your mercy” or simply, “Jesus, save me”! Or other words similar to these. These words are not only expressed with his lips but deeply intended in his heart. He is saved! What is fascinating is the following: the Mass offered close to five hundred years earlier by a family member in the Garcia-Lopez clan was the means by which on his deathbed, this hardened sinner received the grace of final conversion!

In conclusion, all of us can tap into this source of infinite value: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Even one Mass offered for our family members can have universal repercussions.  The Precious Blood of Jesus poured forth on Calvary but applied in every Mass has a universal and timeless extension. Holy Mass can purify our deceased relatives who perhaps lived hundreds of years in the past. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can serve to convert, sanctify, and save family members living in the present epoch. Finally, far into distant and future years, Holy Mass can prevent sin, sanctify souls, and convert the most hardened sinners of our family. How great and powerful is God through Jesus’ Passion, death and Resurrection, all applied in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! Let us pray that through Holy Mass and the Precious Blood of Jesus, we indeed will not be wounded wounders but rather wounded healers in a broken and wounded world!

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Father Ed Broom, OMV, serves as Associate Pastor at St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens, California. He is a member of the Religious Order, Oblates of the Virgin Mary, and was ordained by Saint John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica on May 25, 1986. Fr. Ed is a Retreat Master and teaches Catholic Ignatian Marian Spirituality through articles, podcasts, a radio show, retreats and spiritual direction. He is the author of three books: From Humdrum to Holy, Total. Consecration to Jesus through Mary through the Mysteries of the Rosary and Road Map to Heaven, A Catholic Plan of Life.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Father Ed Broom, OMV, serves as Associate Pastor at St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens, California. He is a member of the Religious Order, Oblates of the Virgin Mary, and was ordained by Saint John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica on May 25, 1986. Fr. Ed is a Retreat Master and teaches Catholic Ignatian Marian Spirituality through articles, podcasts, a radio show, retreats and spiritual direction. He is the author of three books: From Humdrum to Holy, Total. Consecration to Jesus through Mary through the Mysteries of the Rosary and Road Map to Heaven, A Catholic Plan of Life.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in his classic meditation The Two Standards presents a marked contrast: Jesus humble and attractive standing in the city of Jerusalem, and Satan ugly and horrendous sitting on a dung hill in Babylon. Jesus invites us to enlist under His Standard by embracing poverty, insults, contempt and humility, as well as all of the other virtues. Satan, on the contrary, invites us through riches, empty honors, and overweening pride, then all the other vices. (Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: The Two Standards: No. 136-147). Being free individuals, God leaves it up to us to make our own personal choice.

NAMES FOR THE DEVIL.  There are many names for the devil found in Scripture and expressed by the saints. Biblical names are the following: devil, demon, Prince of this world, serpent, ancient serpent, accuser, Satan, Lucifer. Jesus calls the devil two names in one sentence in the Gospel of John, Chapter 8: a liar and a murderer from the beginning.

PURPOSE AND THRUST OF THIS SHORT ESSAY.  The purpose and thrust of this short essay is to highlight the many ways that the devil, “the enemy of our human nature” according to Saint Ignatius, constantly lies to us, but most especially in trying to convince us to give up our prayer life, or at least to pray less, or to pray less fervently. The following will be certain typical lies that Satan launches at disciples of Christ to destroy their prayer life or diminish its fervor and efficacy. The Word of God reminds us that if we have decided to follow God, then our life is a militancy, our life is warfare, our life is a combat zone. However, as Saint Paul encourages us: “If God is with us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31)

TYPICAL TEMPTATIONS OF THE DASTARDLY DEVIL WHO DESIRES OUR DOOM!

1. LATER!!!  The devil will often say: “Why don’t you pray later, just a little later, there is no hurry. Calm down and wait a bit! And later becomes never.”

2. CUT IT SHORT!  The enemy says: “Look, you are praying too long, you are going to hurt yourself. You pray for an hour??? That is way too much; just do a half an hour.”

3. PRAY TOMORROW.  Lucifer can come at you as such: “Look, you are not feeling good today; get some rest and get healthy. Then you can pray. God understands your weakness!”

4. WORK IS YOUR PRAYER.  Satan whispers in your ear: “Just work hard and offer that up as your prayer. Work is even better than prayer because by working you are helping others. After all, Paul says: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12)  Never forget: the devil can even use and distort Scripture to meet his end—which is our condemnation.

5. WASTING YOUR TIME.  The demon can deceive you with these or similar words: “To be honest, you are wasting your time praying; your time which is so valuable, so very important, time that you could be using in a much more profitable fashion. Ben Franklin did not pray that much and look how famous he was!”

6. YOU ARE REALLY A FANATIC!  Lucifer has many tactics and one of these is simply this: to rouse up your loved ones to start attacking you, deriding you, and making fun of you with words like these: “You really are a religious fanatic! You have lost your marbles (meaning, you have lost your mind.)” Remember that Jesus was called crazy by those close to Him.

7. HYPOCRITE: A REAL FAKE!  The enemy has many weapons in his armory and here is yet another. “You think you are so holy because you pray so much, yet you fall and make mistakes—indeed, what a hypocrite you are.”

8. GOD IS NOT HELPING YOU.  The accuser can hurl this or similar words at you: “If God were close to you through your prayers, then you would never have fallen into that sin. Just give up on these useless prayers.”

9. DEVIL OF IMPURITY.  Many saints, like Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Benedict, Saint Margaret Mary, and Saint Thomas Aquinas have been virulently assaulted by the devil of impurity; some even in prayer, some even while praying in the presence of the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar! With this, the enemy can attack us with this firearm: “If your prayer is so important, God would not allow these humiliating and embarrassing thoughts to cross your mind.” Indeed, the devil never gives up in his assaults.

10. DEVIL OF GLUTTONY.  How often does it occur that just when you are in the middle of your prayer period, the devil comes in as a Chef presenting an exquisite gourmet meal that he is inviting you to taste and devour right now! The devil knows our weaknesses.

11. THE DEVIL OF WEARINESS AND SLEEP.  We all know too well what happened that first Holy Thursday night after the Last Supper, when Jesus was praying fervently in the Garden of Olives. Not far from Jesus were His three best friends: Peter, James, and John. (All of them saints now.) They fell asleep when they should have been awake and present to the Lord, accompanying Jesus in prayer. How common, indeed, it is that when we want to pray, and even begin to pray, we become drowsy to the point of falling asleep in our prayer period. Absence in prayer contributes to abandoning Our Lord and then falling into sin—as is evidenced by the Apostles who fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane.

12. THE DEVIL OF RIGHT PRIORITIES.  Then the ancient serpent, the devil, can tempt us using these or similar lies: “Helping the poor, the sick, the handicapped and the disabled is more pleasing to God then wasting your time in prayer. In fact, Jesus said that He is truly present in the poor, hungry, thirsty, sick and imprisoned. Help out these unfortunates and that is enough for your relationship with God.”

13. VOCAL PRAYER ONLY.  The devil can even use good means, so that the better and the best will be neglected. Here comes the enemy again: “Just race through those vocal prayers without stopping to think about them; that is enough.” Or “Mental prayer, meditation, contemplation, and the Holy Hour—all of that is for nuns and monks, but not for you. You are confusing your vocation!”

14. SO YOU THINK YOU ARE A SAINT!!!  Once again, often from friends or relatives, especially family members who have little or no faith, these words can be placed in their mouths by the devil: “You must think because you pray so much that you are a saint, ready to be canonized! Before long they will be making holy cards of you!”

15. RECALL OF PAST SINS.  The tempter can attack interiorly with this insidious but persistent thought: “In the past you committed so many sins; who are you to be spending so much time in prayer now???”

16. THOUGHT WORLD AND PRAYER.  Then the devil, taking advantage of the mind, can assault with other poisonous arrows, especially in the thought world, with such verbiage: “Your mind is so dirty, so filled with ugly thoughts, and there you are kneeling in prayer. You are not worthy to be praying much.”

17. HORIZONTAL MEDITATION.  Next the devil of comfort and laziness can convince you to simply stay in bed and do your prayers there, and you end up falling asleep again. This is called the devil of Horizontal Meditation; or if you like, the devil of Horizontal Contemplation.

18. THE DEVIL OF GOD’S DEAF EAR.  Astute and wily as he is, the devil can convince you that God does not listen to your prayers. Why? For the simple reason that you have been begging the Lord with a request for a prolonged period of time and God has not granted your request. Why? Because God does not hear you!!! So why waste God’s time and yours in prayer???

19. THE DEVIL OF NEXT WEEK.  We all need a vacation; so should you from prayer! The devil reasons this way: “Give yourself a break and give God a break too. You can start praying again next week. God understands.” Only next week becomes next month, or year, or never!

20. JUST MASS AND THAT’S ENOUGH.  Lucifer, once the Star of the Morning but now perverted, can pit one prayer against another prayer. He can come at you with this: “The Mass is the greatest prayer. You can’t improve on that. So just go to Mass and give up that mental prayer, the meditations that you are doing.”

21. RELIGIOUS FANATICS IN ASSYLUMS.  Then the devil can attack as such: “There are many fanatics who have ended up in the asylum for praying too much. You are on the way; you are next! Pack your bags and suitcase.”

22. BAD CONSCIENCE.  The devil can prevent sinners from having recourse to the Sacrament of Confession – through guilt and shame, or pure laziness! Living with a bad, accusatory conscience can be a real detriment to turning to prayer.

23. THE DEVIL OF PLEASURE.  In our modern, hedonistic society, the devil can convince you with these words to move you to give up prayer. “You only have one life to live: live it up! Get all the GUSTO out of life! It is Miller time! Forget prayer time.”

24. TRIALS AND CROSSES, AND THE DEVIL.  Now the devil, masked as an angel of light, tries to scare you away from prayer with the idea: “Ever since you started praying you have had so many crosses and trials! Give up that mental prayer and you will have less trials and crosses. Life will be easier and much more pleasant.”

25. FAMILY NEGLECT AND PRAYER.  Finally, the devil can even accuse you of neglecting your family with these or similar words: “You are praying so much that your family is being neglected. Give up prayer, tend to your family, and that will please God.”

In conclusion, Saint Alphonsus asserts emphatically that prayer is the key to salvation. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church on prayer, Saint Alphonsus is quoted: “He who prays will be saved; he who does not pray will be damned.” What air is to our lungs, so prayer is to our soul! Keenly aware of this fact, the devil, the enemy of our salvation, will do all that he possibly can to attack our prayer life. If the devil cannot win one battle, he will use a different strategy to win the next battle! It is incumbent upon all of us who are in spiritual combat to be keenly aware of the insidious temptations that the devil launches, especially against our prayer life, and to counter his attack by praying more often and with even greater fervor! May Our Lady, who crushes the head of the infernal serpent, help us to forcefully reject all the devil’s temptations to give up our prayer life, and instead, cling to Jesus as the anchor of our prayer life, the anchor of our faith, the anchor of our salvation!