Truths of Church

Christ continues His work today through the Church (His Body).  Priests continue His Sacramental work, nuns express His marriage to mankind, His Body feeds us through the Eucharist, His beauty is expressed through art and His Resurrection through the saints.

5 Videos that make the point

Faith is an Act

God has given us free will.  We should all take personal responsibility for our actions.  When our actions have negative consequences we suffer.  It isn't enough therefore, to expect God to fix it for us.  We must act in collaboration with His will to straighten things out in our lives.

This is what the Holy Father meant the other day when he said that faith is an act.

"Faith is not simply a matter of man’s intellectual assent to truths about God; it is an act whereby I freely entrust myself to a God who is a Father and who loves me; it means clinging to a “Thou” who gives me hope and confidence. To be sure, this adherence to God is not devoid of content: it enables us to know that God himself revealed himself to us in Christ."

We must act like Christians to stay in God's grace and receive His benefits.  Simply saying , "we are Christian" or that "we love the Lord" will not do.

 
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The Devil is Tricky

Satan uses our pride against us.  It is better to be humble.  We must always stay on guard against the devil's influences through prayer, the Sacraments of the Church, fasting and self-surrender for the sake of others.  Much suffering can come from evil while true peace comes through the Holy Spirit.

Be careful of Satan's deception. Even the most well-intentioned can be deceived -- in matters of the world or spirit. In the realm of mystical, this can even happen with "gifts of the Spirit" -- such as healing. It's one reason the Church is so careful.   

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The Holy Mass

One of the best things a Christian can do during times of personal suffering is to participate in the Holy Mass.  Align your sufferings with Christ and offer them to God as a redemptive act. 

The Power of the Mass if for you! It is the sacrifice of sacrifices, because it is the sacrifice of God for US. There is NO better activity that anyone in the entire world can do than attend a Mass in the state of grace, and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we become living tabernacles of God after Communion! Through time and space, we connect with the original Last Supper (the Church does not re-sacrifice Jesus at each mass; rather, each Mass is a re-creation of the original Mass).

St. John Vianney said,

 

All Good Works together are not of equal value with the sacrifice of the Mass, because they are the works of men, and the holy Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison; it is the sacrifice that man makes of his life to God; the Mass is the sacrifice that God makes to man of His Body and of His Blood. Oh, how great is a priest! if he understood himself he would die. . . . God obeys him; he speaks two words, and Our Lord comes down from Heaven at his voice, and shuts Himself up in a little Host. God looks upon the altar. "That is My well-beloved Son, " He says, "in whom I am well-pleased. " He can refuse nothing to the merits of the offering of this Victim. If we had faith, we should see God hidden in the priest like a light behind a glass, like wine mingled with water.

A Guide to the Holy Mass

The Humble Servant

Suffering humbles us while humility strengthens our faith.  Suffering therefore, serves a purpose in the spiritual life. Recently the Holy Father said:

The New Evangelization calls for new humility. The Gospel cannot thrive in pride. When pride seeps into the heart of the Church, the Gospel proclamation is harmed. The task of new evangelization must begin with a deep sense of awe and reverence for humanity and her culture. Evangelization has been hurt and continues to be impeded by the arrogance of its messengers. The heirarchy must shun arrogance, hypocrisy and bigotry. We must punish the errant among us instead of covering up our own mistakes. We are humans among our human flock. All our beauty and holiness we owe to God. This humility will make us more credible New Evangelizers. Our mission is to propose humbly not to impose proudly.

When you look to rid your own pride you are free to love because you then can see the layers of imperfection around others as something not to criticize but to pray to cast off (in His Name, cast it out!) so you can love the essence of a person. This is the "true" you: the one who is "prideless."

As Catholics, our Spiritual Leaders can be effective models of humility for us.  Perhaps no greater characteristic can a priest possess than that of a humble  servant. 

 Fr. Andrew Apostoli C.F.R.  is an example of a humble priest.  As a founding member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Father Apostoli has an acute awareness of the "deep sense and awe of humanity" and he always strives to "love the essence" of every person, especially the poor. 

His order is dedicated to the humble service  of others.  Father Apostoli brings a great wealth of spiritual and practical wisdom gained from personal experience.  His classical book on the Works of Mercy is just one of many examples.  He states, "The works of mercy provide us with the opportunity to let every person know he is a child of God and a brother in Christ. From the works of mercy will emerge a community of love and peace centered on Christ."  

Fr. Andrew is one of the 100 individuals highlited on Brandon Vogt's blog in an effort to promote Catholic Speakers. 

The following is a link to more of Fr. Andrew's books and tapes.