Some of our greatest saints had a strong devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist, turning to Him frequently in times of trial.
Once, at Christmas time, St. Francis said a special Mass in the woods where he invited all of the children and their families to come and help make a Nativity scene. They brought animals and made a little crib for the Baby Jesus. When St. Francis raised the Sacred Host after the consecration, the Baby Jesus suddenly appeared in his arms! All of the children and their parents saw that the Eucharist is really Jesus, and they gathered close to the Newborn King to offer Him their love and adoration just like the angels and shepherds did on that first Christmas night in Bethlehem. Whenever they passed a Catholic Church, St. Francis led his brothers in lying face down before the Living Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and proclaiming "We adore Thee most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here in all Thy Churches, which are in the whole world, because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world."
St. Francis also wrote about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament in his letters. He said, "in this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood." And, "What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this and hide under the form of a little bread, for our salvation."
Link
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
We are in a War!
Evil has an origin - the Devil. Lucifer said "no" to God and was cast out of paradise. Our personal suffering at times comes from evil. We are in a war and need spiritual protection.
So, exorcism might seem like fiction. But did you know that the Vatican has actually encouraged every Catholic diocese to have a trained exorcist on staff?
A local psychologist is an expert who is traveling around the world to train those priests.
Link
So, exorcism might seem like fiction. But did you know that the Vatican has actually encouraged every Catholic diocese to have a trained exorcist on staff?
A local psychologist is an expert who is traveling around the world to train those priests.
Link
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Interior Prayer
A good meditation for suffering:
“I send graces down upon your world. Indeed, at this time, I begin to flood the world with heavenly graces that will heal souls and convert hearts. Dear children of the one true God, your Saviour prepares to return. I want each one of you to welcome My return to the world. In order to do that, you must quiet your heart and accept the gift of My divine grace. I hold the greatest acceptance and forgiveness for you all. My heart bursts with the love I have for you all. And I am returning to reclaim you all. Children of heaven,feel My joy. The time of desolation for souls is at end. I am returning.”
Link
“I send graces down upon your world. Indeed, at this time, I begin to flood the world with heavenly graces that will heal souls and convert hearts. Dear children of the one true God, your Saviour prepares to return. I want each one of you to welcome My return to the world. In order to do that, you must quiet your heart and accept the gift of My divine grace. I hold the greatest acceptance and forgiveness for you all. My heart bursts with the love I have for you all. And I am returning to reclaim you all. Children of heaven,feel My joy. The time of desolation for souls is at end. I am returning.”
Link
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
God is Father
Fathers should be the ones who love and protect. Good fathers help us in our time of suffering, struggle and need.
Unfortunately, many men fail in their responsibilities making it more difficult for their children to understand God as a good heavenly Father.
The pope recognizes this and recently stated:
God is a parent who “weeps” for his children and desires them to be close to him. “Our Father responds” to us even in our difficulties, the pontiff spoke of Abraham and Isaac when they were carrying the wood up the mountain for the sacrifice.
Link
Unfortunately, many men fail in their responsibilities making it more difficult for their children to understand God as a good heavenly Father.
The pope recognizes this and recently stated:
God is a parent who “weeps” for his children and desires them to be close to him. “Our Father responds” to us even in our difficulties, the pontiff spoke of Abraham and Isaac when they were carrying the wood up the mountain for the sacrifice.
Link
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Modernism
To endure suffering like Christ helps us to become saints. Our modern way of thinking obscures this fact.
Modernism itself was the fruit of the calamity of the Renaissance and the Protestant Revolt, and it took a long historical process to unfold. If you were to ask a typical Catholic in the Middle Ages to name a hero or heroine, he would answer with the name of a saint. The Renaissance began to chant that. Instead of a saint, people would think of geniuses as persons to emulate, and with the oncoming of the industrial age, they would answer with the name of a great scientist. Today, they would answer with a sports figure or cinema personality. In other words, the loss of the sense of the supernatural has brought an inversion of the hierarchy of values.
Even the pagan Plato was open to a sense of the supernatural. He spoke of the weakness, frailty and cowardice often evidenced in human nature. He was asked by a critic to explain why he had such a low opinion of humanity. He replied that he was not denigrating man, only comparing him to God.
With the loss of a sense of the supernatural, there is a loss of the sense of the need for sacrifice today. The closer one comes to God, the greater should be one's sense of sinfulness. The further one gets form God, as today, the more we hear the philosophy of the new age: "I'm OK, You're OK." This loss of the inclination to sacrifice has led to the obscuring of the Church's redemptive mission. Where the Cross is downplayed, our need for redemption is given hardly a thought.
The aversion to sacrifice and redemption has assisted the secularization of the Church from within. We have been hearing for many years from priests and bishops about the need for the Church to adapt herself to the world. Great popes like St. Pius X said just the opposite: the world must adapt itself to the Church.
Link
Modernism itself was the fruit of the calamity of the Renaissance and the Protestant Revolt, and it took a long historical process to unfold. If you were to ask a typical Catholic in the Middle Ages to name a hero or heroine, he would answer with the name of a saint. The Renaissance began to chant that. Instead of a saint, people would think of geniuses as persons to emulate, and with the oncoming of the industrial age, they would answer with the name of a great scientist. Today, they would answer with a sports figure or cinema personality. In other words, the loss of the sense of the supernatural has brought an inversion of the hierarchy of values.
Even the pagan Plato was open to a sense of the supernatural. He spoke of the weakness, frailty and cowardice often evidenced in human nature. He was asked by a critic to explain why he had such a low opinion of humanity. He replied that he was not denigrating man, only comparing him to God.
With the loss of a sense of the supernatural, there is a loss of the sense of the need for sacrifice today. The closer one comes to God, the greater should be one's sense of sinfulness. The further one gets form God, as today, the more we hear the philosophy of the new age: "I'm OK, You're OK." This loss of the inclination to sacrifice has led to the obscuring of the Church's redemptive mission. Where the Cross is downplayed, our need for redemption is given hardly a thought.
The aversion to sacrifice and redemption has assisted the secularization of the Church from within. We have been hearing for many years from priests and bishops about the need for the Church to adapt herself to the world. Great popes like St. Pius X said just the opposite: the world must adapt itself to the Church.
Link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)