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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Jesus Heals Our Infirmities

This is the message of the Gospel today.  When God incarnated into this world as the Divine Person of Jesus Christ He didn't eliminate illness and suffering from it, rather He healed people on an individual basis.  More importantly, Christ Himself endured suffering as an example for us. 

Our mission in life is to keep the faith.  If God wills that we are healed we give Him thanks, if not we too must endure through grace.

Friday, June 29, 2012

We Are Always Wrong

Only God gets it right.  It takes much humility to admit ignorance.  Even the great philosopher Socrates realized he didn't know everything.  This was the basis for his wisdom.

In the Readings today Jesus asks a question.  Everybody gets the answer wrong except Peter who answers correctly through the inspiration of the Father in heaven. 

Truth comes only from God.  If we want to live in truth we must submit to it.  Because Peter holds the "keys" to truth on earth we have access to it through the teachings of his successors and the Church.  If we are faithful to these teachings we will be given the strength to endure as Peter did, who was eventually crucified upside down for his faith.

                                                    

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Who Is Your Authority

It is important to submit to the authority of God in order to achieve peace and balance in life.  The failure to do so often results in personal suffering.  God knows what is good and wants the best for us. 

It is more than a matter of saying we follow God, we must also submit ourselves to the Lord by doing His will.  A Christian must follow Church teaching because the Church is the authority of God.  It is a mistake to think we are our own authority, this is a divergance from Truth.

The Church

Monday, June 25, 2012

Do Not Judge

When we judge we suffer personally and add to the suffering of others.  Forgiveness on the other hand, reduces suffering and brings peace.

This is why Jesus commands His disciples not to judge.  He challenges us to consider our own faults over the faults of others.  He wants us to be at peace. 

Part of the problem is making decisions based on "feelings".  In order to overcome our judgemental attitutudes we must make "willfull" decisions to change.  Michael Voris has an interesting take on this.     



Thursday, June 21, 2012

A True Father

Our Father in heaven loves His children.  In this sense God is a true father.  Our biological fathers should love us perfectly as God does but fall short (because of Original Sin).  We shouldn't however, hold grudges toward them when they fail us.

The key is forgiveness.  Jesus commands us in the Lord's Prayer to "forgive those who trespass against us".  In order to overcome resentment we must do this.  

When praying the Our Father always keep your earthly (as well as heavenly) father in mind and ask God to help you to forgive when need be.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Love Your Enemy

It's the only way to overcome evil.  It is also a command of Christ. 

Remember that true love is not a feeling or emotion, it is a decision.  Love also correlates with forgiveness.  We must decide to forgive those who hurt us, not to hold on to grudges.

Through grace this type of love is possible.  If we accept the love and forgiveness of God (through Confession) and receive Him in Communion on a regular basis Christ will then live in our hearts enabling love (rather then resentment) to reign in our lives.  

Monday, June 18, 2012

Offer No Resistance To Evil

In the Gospel today Jesus tells us exactly that.  Much of our own suffering results from our own attempt to fight against evil (a battle we cannot possibly win by ourselves).

Only Christ can truly beat the devil (in fact He already has).  He did this through forgiving His persecutors from the cross.  If we pridefully and stubbornly think evil can be overcome without Christ's goodness we will lose.

We must remain in God's grace to overcome the evil in our lives.  The best way to do this is to live a Sacramental life.  That is our main focus should be the Mass, Eucharist and Confession.  There is no need to "work" against evil.  Christ will do that for us through His Sacraments. 

A priest exorcist once told me that the graces from the Sacraments of the Church are much more powerful against the devil then an exorcism.  All Christians should take advantage of these gifts.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Honor Thy Father

The scriptures tell us to honor thy father.  Sadly this seems to be a lost idea in contemporary culture today.  Quite frankly men are losing the concept of what it means to be a true father.

Today is Father's Day.  Fathers are honored because they love and sacrifice.  Jesus gives us the best example of what it means to have a relationship with a father.  The Father in heaven was the center of Christ's life.

Jesus wants to share that relationship with us.  When we accept Our Father's love and love Him in return we fulfill our mission in life.  Men who are "Christ-like" reach true manhood and become true fathers.

God the Father

Be A Dad

Friday, June 15, 2012

Sacred Heart

Some Christians in the 17th century focused a lot on sin.  A theological movement in France called Jansenism arose which emphasized original sin, human depravity, and predestination.  As a result, God began to be seen as a punishing figure who is out to damn us when we sin.

During this time a nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque began having visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which empasized unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity.

This is the better represenation of God.  Although God is just, He is also merciful.  One cannot separate the two.  When thinking of our own suffering we should remember that God takes no pleasure in it.  Neither does He will that it be our destiny.  Rather, God wishes that we become better for it and realize that it will lead to a greater glory.  This is the whole point of the crucifixion.

When we struggle, reciting the Sacred Heart Prayer could be a great help.

                                                       

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Anger Destroys

Although we all get angry at one time or another, it is an emotion we must control.  Often the root cause of our suffering is the result of either unreconciled, inward anger or an external source.  In any case, we must not succomb to it.

Jesus calls us to reconcile with our anger in the Gospel today.  We do this through not reacting to it.

The more one reacts to the idea of anger, the more one is under it's control.  Through prayer and meditation anger can be subdued. 

The next time an angry thought comes, do not subjectively react to it.  While in an objective state let it pass through your thoughts.  Don't internalize it.  Ask the Lord to pardon the source of the angry thought.  Anger has no power over us if we remain in a calm and composed state of being.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Rejoice and Be Glad

Today's Gospel encapsulates Christian suffering.  Jesus tells His followers to "rejoice and be glad" when they are persecuted. Why?  Because their "reward in heaven will be great".

Suffering in life is not the result of a punishing God, but rather freedom.  Since without free will there is no true love, love is the root of suffering.

Jesus epitomizes this with his own passion.  He shows us that through suffering love springs eternal.  When we patiently and compassionately endure our own suffering we arrive at an understanding of true love.    

                                                                        

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Eucharist is the Answer

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of ChristThe Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the center of the Catholic faith.  Receiving Jesus daily in communion is the answer to any problem.

This blog is dedicated to Christian suffering.  One becomes fully incorporated into Christ through the Eucharist and the other Sacraments.  This puts suffering into perspective and makes it bearable.  Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ regularly and devoutly is essential.

The Eucharist correlates intimately with another Sacrament; Reconciliation.  To prepare oneself for communion, confession of mortal sins is necessay. 

The hidden power of confession



Friday, June 8, 2012

God on Earth

The Real Presence of Christ  processed through the streets of Rome in the appearance of bread the other day. 

This is one of the most remarkable and mysterious realities of God in the world today.  Christians are so blessed to experience the true presence of the Lord. 

Sometimes the best remedy to suffering or pain is to silently sit before Christ in the Eucharist in any Catholic Church.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Loving God

The greatest commandment is to love God through loving our neighbor.  Love is not a feeling.  An emotion cannot be "commanded". 

Christians must decide to love others, even when someone gives us reason not to.

We suffer when we fail to love those who hurt us.  This is a difficult reality.  Christians are called to love their enemies, this is what sets us apart.  When we effectively do this, the resentment and anger in our hearts dissipates and we are set free.

God will give us the grace to love.  This means we must not react to our negative thoughts, but instead allow God's grace to fill us with peace.  We are not necessarily called to "feel good" about our enemies, but we are called not to harbor hate toward them.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Heal the Past

The Daily Readings speak about life on earth and eternity.  In God's time (past, present and future) are one.  God can heal and renew in the present our mistakes from the past.
God can reverse harm we have done or shortcomings that have stymied us. He can give us now the opportunities we missed -- perhaps in a different way, but with the same future effect.
He can restore lost opportunities.
He can go back in our lives and rearrange if we are truly repentant, if we have confessed, and especially if we ask in faith. This brings a taste of Heaven to earth.

Are there children you would have liked to have had a closer relationship with? He can now make it so close that it makes up for past distance. Is there a friend you ended up not being friends with? He can rejoin you, spiritually. Is there a task you should have achieved? He can grant you another opportunity that bears identical prospects (in ways you will never anticipate).
In prayer, go back and meditate on the situation and ask God to remedy it. Pray until you feel the flow of grace.
Soothe past feelings. Send love where you had not sent love. Forgive, forgive, and forgive again. In eternity, you will see it the way it should have been and even here will reap the benefits!
Ask God to go back and adjust matters. Ask Him to turn back the clock. Ask God to restore lost moments -- or even lost years.
Spiritual failings? He can greatly increase your development -- in such a way that the failure no longer serves as a negative. A career failure? He can recover whatever you think went down the drain.
When we die,  there is a period of self-discovery during which the social masks we wore on earth dissolve away and the true self is revealed. Make your true self heavenly right now. Get a vision of your future and head for that.
If you did things that were unhealthy, ask God to go back and heal your body from the abuse (or neglect). God is eternal. He knows no such bounds. This is power.
All is now. And in that flow is the Power of His Hand in the Name of Jesus!
Promise Him your love, give Him your faith, forgive those who have wronged you -- and He will make up for whatever you need made up. There are no efforts you ever made (except for selfish evil ones) that was wasted.
In Heaven there is forward and backward and in prayer we can do that even now. We do so in forgiveness. In Heaven, it is said, we remember our real identities.
Let there be no self motive. Extinguish all greed. Let selfishness be unknown to you. Act out of pure goodness.
Fight the good fight, do it for Him, and the Lord will reverse the curse and course of the past and you will attract grace like a magnet!
Live solely to serve God and He will especially rectify your history. Actions done solely out of love for Him are spiritual dynamite (whereas vanity is like striving after the wind).

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Be At Peace

Jesus is the essence of peace.  He always kept his composure no matter the circumstance.  Despite personal loss, deep spiritual suffering and severe torture, Christ always maintained a peace about him.

We are called to this peace as the scriptures indicate today.  Even in the face of our own personal suffering, peace is possible.  The more we become like Christ the better we can bear our cross.

To become like Him we must always pray.  Through prayer, God will give us the grace to forgive, that is to drop our resentments toward others.  When we do this God will freely give us the grace to endure and persevere through anything.

The most effective prayer is the one Christ taught us, because it commands us to forgive.  A Christian should spend at least 15 to 20 minutes each day alone silently meditating on the Lord's Prayer for strength. 

Sunday, June 3, 2012

God is Relationship

Christians understand God as love.  God is Triune; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father through the Holy Spirit.  For Christians God is mysteriously one in three Divine Persons

The essence of God therefore is relationship.  In order to enter into God's love, we too must enter into a relationship.  We do this primarily through baptism.  In the Gospel today Jesus commands His disciples to "baptize" all nations in the name of the Trinity.  A Christian thus experiences the love of God through this Sacramental grace.

Because we are loved by God we are then truly able to love others.  Like God our love should never be static.  It must be shared, therefore we must not be afraid to enter into relationships. 

When we close ourselves off we suffer.  Out of fear we refuse loving kindness and help from others.  If we want to be free from that which binds us, we must accept God's love through other people.