Mary and Suffering

The Blessed Mother suffered tremendously because of evil, thus her intercession is necessary for our sufferings from evil.


We all know the Blessed Mother is unusually powerful -- uniquely potent -- against the enemy.


But why is that? Do we simply think of it as another one of what the Church calls "mysteries"? Perhaps. But in his groundbreaking book on generational deliverance (The Healing of the Families), Father Yozefu-B. Ssemakula of Uganda (widely known as "Father Joseph") takes a stab at an explanation.  Mary's power over the devil? He answers that question with another question. "Have you ever wondered why former sports stars always turn into coaches later in life?" writes Father Yozefu. "It is because there is something about the game that they know how to do that their peers did not know and they want to impart that to future players. They have a specific power in the game.  "And so does Mary in the battle with Satan, and she imparts that power through intercession.  "There is, therefore, no place where Satan is defeated on earth without that unique intercession of Mary -- the intercession that only she can offer. A unique role that if she doesn't play, no one else can, because no one else ever had or will ever have what she got and has.   "This is why when we are thanking God for His deliverance of us, we also turn to thank Mary for her fervent intercession for us to Christ her Son, which happens wherever this activity happens, regardless of whether those involved knew or know about her involvement or not."


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How Many are Saved?

It is sometimes said that many people suffer "hell" on earth.  Especially during times of war, crime, famine and extreme poverty.


Unfortunately eternal hell (the loss of one's soul) is a real possibility and something Jesus warned us against.


It has become fashionable in some Catholic quarters these days to question where there are now or will ever be any souls populating hell. Hell, it is taught, is a "real possibility," but whether there are any souls actually there, or whether there will ever be any souls there, is unknown to us.


It is, of course, true that hell is a "real possibility" for each of us. And that is a sobering thought. But it is also true that souls are actually in hell now, and will be for all eternity. This is a teaching of our Catholic Faith.


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Descent into Hell - Holy Saturday

The Church celebrates Christ's descent into Sheol (the place of the dead) on Holy Saturday.  Imagine Christ entering deep into our own souls (dead through sin) and restoring them to life.  this is an image of salvation.


HOLY SATURDAY
On Holy Saturday the Church is, as it were, at the Lord's tomb, meditating on his passion and death, and on his descent into hell, and awaiting his resurrection with prayer and fasting. It is highly recommended that on this day the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer be celebrated with the participation of the people.  Where this cannot be done, there should be some celebration of the Word of God, or some act of devotion suited to the mystery celebrated this day.


The image of Christ crucified or lying in the tomb, or the descent into hell, which mystery Holy Saturday recalls, as also an image of the sorrowful Virgin Mary can be placed in the church for the veneration of the faithful.


On this day the Church abstains strictly from the celebration of the sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Communion may only be given in the form of Viaticum. The celebration of marriages is forbidden, as also the celebration of other sacraments, except those of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick.


The faithful are to be instructed on the special character of Holy Saturday. Festive customs and traditions associated with this day on account of the former practice of anticipating the celebration of Easter on Holy Saturday should be reserved for Easter night and the day that follows.


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12 things you need to know

Passion of Jesus

Good Friday is a day to contemplate the suffering of Christ (and our own suffering).  The following are 10 steps for doing so:


1.    GOSPELS.  Meditate prayerfully the Passion accounts in the four Gospels; each Gospel has two chapters on the passion of Christ:  Mt.26-27, Mk. 14-15, Lk.  22-23; and Jn. 18-19. Go to the ultimate source; the Word of God!


2.    CONTEMPLATE THE CROSS.  Spend some time in silent contemplation before a graphic crucifix. Contemplate with love the head crowned with thorns. Then contemplate the five sacred wounds from which blood flowed for your eternal salvation.  Draw close and kiss these wounds expressing your heartfelt gratitude!

 

3.    WAY OF THE CROSS.   Make the Way of the Cross. Walk slowly and prayerfully contemplating the fourteen Stations of the Cross. Be with Our Lady and John and the Magdalene accompanying Jesus the man of sorrows in His passion that He suffered for you and me. In prayer, ask the Holy Spirit, which of the fourteen stations touches your heart deepest!

4.     MOVIE/FILM: THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.   View the film of the Passion of the Christ. However, do not view it simply as some Hollywood rendition winning an Oscar for the season. No!  Rather contemplate the film as if it were a prayer! Enter into the Ignatian mode of contemplation. Be present there and ready to accompany the Lord Jesus in body, mind and heart with Our Lady of sorrows!

 

5.    MOVIE/FILM: MIRACLE OF MARCELLINO.  View this charming film!  Focus on the little boy Marcellino and his intimate and growing friendship with Jesus as He hangs on the cross. Become Marcellino yourself. Contemplate Jesus as He hangs on the cross. But go deeper! Become Jesus’ loving friend. Talk to Jesus; share your feelings with Jesus, your sorrows, your struggles, your fears, your doubts, your insecurities, anxieties, your temptations and even your sins. Tell Jesus, as He hangs on the cross, how much you love Him, how much you want to give up your sin and how you want to be with Him in heaven for all eternity!


6.    CONFESSION!   Why not kneel before Jesus hanging on the cross and with the deepest contrition of heart express your sorrow for having been responsible for His horrendous and heart-rending passion. Then terminate this Act of Contrition by making a good—better yet the best—confession in your entire life!  The Suffering savior awaits you in this Sacrament of Mercy with His arms and Heart open to love and forgive you! He invites you:  “Come to me all and I will give you rest… “(Mt. 11: 28)


7.    Meditate upon the seven last words that Jesus expressed from the cross:

·       “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

·       “I thirst!”

·       “Woman behold thy son; son behold thy mother.”

·       “My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me.”

·       “Amen I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

·       “Father into your hands I commend my spirit.”

·       “It is finished!”

8.    HOLY MASS!  By far the greatest act on earth is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated on the altar. In an invisible but real way in every Mass the fruits of Jesus’ Passion and death on Calvary (that first Good Friday) are renewed.  Attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; participate fully actively and consciously. Most important, receive the Eucharist (of course if you are in the state of grace) with the greatest impulse of love from the depths of your heart.  No greater way beneath the heavens on earth to enter into the life-giving passion, death and Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!9.    CONTEMPLATION ON THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS.   Jesus shed His Precious Blood several times for the salvation of the human race and for your soul that you might be with Him forever in heaven. Ponder slowly and prayerfully the various moments that He shed His Precious Blood, starting with the Circumcision as a little Child.  Then enter into the various scenes in His life--- specifically His Passion in which He poured forth His Precious Blood for love of you and me:

·       GARDEN— Huge drops of Blood came pouring forth from His pores.

·       SCOURGING—He was brutally scourged by the Roman flagellum, lacerating His flesh and leaving His Body an open wound! He suffers this to repair for sins against the virtue of purity.

·       CROWNING WITH THORNS—His Sacred Head penetrated from scalp to His very brain with sharp, piercing thorns, razor sharp!

·       OPEN SHOULDER ON CALVARY—St. Bernard and others saints comment on the excruciating pain He must have experienced with the cross and its splinters piercing and penetrating His shoulder.

·       RIPPING OFF OF HIS GARMENTS—Upon reaching Calvary the soldiers brutally ripped off His garments thereby reopening the wounds inflicted on Him in the scourging at the pillar; once again to repair for sins of impurity!

·       CRUCIFIXION—nails pounded through and penetrating His Sacred Hands and Feet.  His Sacred Blood comes gushing forth.  As he hangs on the cross His Sacred Blood oozes forth dripping to the ground.

·       OPEN HEART—Even after He dies, he still gives of His Precious Blood. With the lance, the soldier pierces His side penetrating His Sacred Heart and Blood and water gushes forth!

10. OUR LADY OF SORROWS.  As in the film of Mel Gibson, “The Passion of the Christ”, why not try to live all the different moments of the Passion, suffering, and death of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through both the eyes and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, and our Mother!


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Unite to Christ's Suffering

Holy Week helps Catholics to focus on the meaning of suffering.  We must take up our crosses as Christ did.


One purpose for the Church’s yearly re-presentation of the events of our salvation is to make it easier for us to take up our crosses, big and little, offering them up in love and thanksgiving to Our Savior who out of love for us endured a cross beyond our comprehension. As Catholics, we know that God’s divine condescension permits us a share in his redeeming action, “filling up what is lacking,” as St. Paul daringly put it to the Colossians, in the sufferings of Christ.

We do this when we embrace our daily challenges and opportunities to help others, from the spiritual to the mundane. For instance, we can offer our Communion with a special intention for sinners or the deceased. We can also offer up work in the office or at home for sinners and the souls in purgatory; we can practice self-denial in food and drink and entertainment and engage in corporal or spiritual works of mercy (you can read about them in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which no doubt is on the table beside you as you read this).

We can pray the Holy Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, picket or pray before an abortion clinic, make pilgrimages to holy places with family and friends. We can read books on the Passion by saints, mystics, and sound spiritual authors (Pope Emeritus Benedict’s concluding volume on Jesus offers great insights).

And of course there is the Way of the Cross itself, available with commentary in dozens of worthwhile versions, including those of (soon-to-be) St. John Paul and St. Josemaria Escriva. The intercessory value of such offerings to God, even the smallest, can be immeasurable, since that value comes from Christ.

In any event, none of us will escape life without suffering. Whatever form it takes – bodily pain, mental illness, addiction, poverty, loneliness, bereavement, persecution. It is in experiencing this suffering that we truly are able to identify to some extent with HIS Suffering, which was both incalculably worse (because he bore the sum total of human sin and suffering) and completely unmerited.

It is then, in our own affliction, that we grasp something of how he – true God and true Man – suffered for each one of us.

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Christian Mysticism

Just as Christ overcame pain and suffering so can souls united to Him.  In the season of Lent we consider Christ's Passion, during Easter we celebrate His Resurrection.  The soul must unite itself to the Risen Christ.


Mysticism means relating to God on the deepest level of our being. It means knowing and loving him in a transcendent way, in keeping with his infinite and unfathomable nature. This profound communion with the Triune God is the reason for our existence, the true meaning of our lives.


Christian mysticism is rooted in the soul’s encounter with the Risen Christ, and our reception of the divine life that is his gift. The grace that Christ gives is not merely a created substance, but the indwelling personal presence of the Holy Spirit. The “Spirit of Sonship” conforms us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29) – allowing us to share, by grace, in Jesus’ own relationship of oneness with God the Father.


Mysticism thus revolves around a central paradox – a central mystery. That paradox is the closeness of the transcendent God, which makes it possible for us, finite creatures though we are, to be united to him.


We humble ourselves before God’s infinitude; but in this very act of worship, we find he is, as St. Augustine said, “closer to us than we are to ourselves.” We cannot reach God by our own power, yet by his grace, we are re-united with him as the very ground of our own being.


The mystical relationship with the Trinity goes beyond human thoughts and words, although thoughts and words can help us enter into it. Mysticism is also deeper than emotions and desires – though they, too, can help us reach the depths of spiritual life. The mystical life is neither mindless nor emotionless, but it puts the intellect and the emotions at the service of something greater.


The word “mysticism” is related to the idea of “mystery.” From a mystical perspective, the paradoxes of faith are not intellectual puzzles to solve, but sacred realities to approach with awe. God reveals himself, yet remains infinitely mysterious – always more unknown than known.


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Confession

The Sacraments of Confession removes sin from the soul.  As such the consequences of sin, pain and suffering are also removed.


Here are 21 reasons to go to Confession:

1. God commanded we confess our sins to one another in the Bible. (James 5:16)
2. It is the ordinary way to have our sins forgiven.
3. We receive grace to resist sin through the Sacrament, as well as forgiveness.
4. We learn humility by having to confess to another person.
5. There is built-in accountability.
6. Our relationship with the rest of the Church is healed.
7. We receive counsel from the priest.
8. We can be comforted hearing the words of absolution.
9. All are sins are wiped away.
10. Helps give you the strength to forgive others.
11. It doesn't cost anything.
12. We may not be positive that we have "perfect" contrition without it.
13. Helps us go deep within and think about how we can improve.
14. It feels good emotionally.
15. When we realize (again) we are sinners, it is easier to be patient with others.
16. Always confidential - what is said in the confessional stays in the confessional.
17. No more guilt.
18. We are better prepared to receive the Eucharist.
19. Forgiveness is a necessary part of growing in holiness.
20. Our consciences can be better formed.
21. If we have mortally sinned, then Confession brings us back into the family of God - The Church as well as restores sanctifying grace in our souls!

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Silence

AS IN THE DESERT, SILENCE GRANTS A NEW PERSPECTIVE AND VISTA THROUGH WHICH WE RESIST EVIL AND SOLVE PROBLEMS

Have power in silence.

Find power in wordlessness.

Halt the tongue.

Stop the mouth.

It is a "word" for this week.

It says in the Bible: the tongue can torch the world. "If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well," states James 3.

How many times in your life have you found that talking only made things worse?

How many times in your life has it given power to a negative?

When there are problems, it's a great temptation: to talk about it, on and on, in circles, without end. We spin our wheels. We fret out loud. We waste much time that could be spent in prayer handling the circumstance. We hash and rehash and rehash again when we could be silently meditating.

Key word here: temptation. It's what the devil wants from us -- to talk to others instead of to Jesus. When we look to Christ, we see how, in the quiet of a desert, He was able to handle the most powerful, direct temptations from Satan.

The same is true for us: When we are quiet we are clear of spirit and when we have clarity we can see the guises of darkness.

Have clarity -- and thus power -- in silence.

Silence anger.

Silence your angst.

Silence your emotions.

Silence your temper.

Silence your body -- subdue it.

Silence all the fretting which may tend to evil. "For thus says the Lord God, the holy one of Israel, 'By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust, your strength lies'" (Isaiah 30:15).

Jesus said it: that worrying can serve the negative. Perhaps that's because besides being a lack of faith, and besides wasting valuable time, besides burning a hole in our emotions, and running down the body, worry sends forth an emotional energy -- a spiritual dynamic -- that feeds the enemy. Antagonistic spirits wait for the energy of anxiety, fright, and anger (and try to cause it to begin with). Talking about a negative can spark a flame and then pour fuel on it.

"See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!" says James 3:5-6. "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell." 

Silence is a golden rule. This has been true from "silent night" to the silence at Calvary (a silence so powerful that it caused a quake, shaking the Temple). Actions speak louder than words (many arguments are won by simply keeping our mouths shut) and silence weakens the devil, who by nature is loud and likes distractions; he likes to hide behind clamor. He is in the first shout (and the first accusation). He is blaring rock music. He is a chatterbox. He is always speaking. He is always sending thoughts. He is always sending us a ticker-tape of worry. He is always sending worst-case scenarios, which are banished only when we take time out.

It is banished because silence leads to sanctity.

Silence bequeaths power.

Silence heals.

Silence unites.

Silence has mercy.

Silence prays for others.

Silence does not luxuriate over the bad news of others.

It is humble, which is also why the devil flees it; it is where we hear the "still, small Voice." (How many of us hear the Voice of God while we're talking?)

There are times to correct. There are times to speak out.

Never should this be, however, with "angry indifference."

That's when we get mad about something but then do nothing about it.

Instead, say only what is necessary. Pride is loud; humility is understated.

Silence takes discipline. It certainly doesn't gossip.

Have power in silence -- power over the enemy.

Have power in silence, in the way Jesus found power in silence in that desert. When you're worried about something -- maybe even darkly depressed (perhaps in a panic) -- pray for others and you will see your worry diminish.

There is no depression in direct contact with God.

Silence answers many questions.

It solves many crises.

In the beginning was silence; the Creator can be found there, creating new worlds for us.

When we are silent, our thoughts and emotions gather into a cogent pattern that lets us better face whatever good challenge the Lord has sent by which can should find growth (instead of trauma).

Michael Brown

Real Men

True masculinity is rooted in protection and service.  Any man incorporated in the principles of Christ is able to bring peace and healing to a chaotic world.   Through humbly serving God in prayer and worship, a father and husband serves his wife and children in love and protects them from evil.


We need men to focus on their families and to provide an example, to stand up and be counted as the Christian men that we are, to not be afraid to use the word ‘Jesus’ in a daily conversation, to bring our faith into our daily lives.


This is an era of absent men.


It takes a brave man to be charitable and to put his family first. Because society tells us to put yourself first. To be a steward, to be a warrior for Jesus, a man must defend and protect his family. Are you loving your family and raising your sons to be honorable men, to love women, to defend women? Are you raising your sons and daughters to be chaste and—if called to marriage—to seek a spouse for lifelong marriage? Are we open to God’s gift of children and not mangled in the false promises of contraception and abortion?


It’s time for brave hearts.


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No Return

People sometimes have the attitude that it is o.k. to sin because God will forgive me.  But this is deceiving.  It's important not to sin in the first place.  Sin causes us pain and suffering and it can be difficult (but not impossible) to return to a life away from sin.


Pope Francis celebrated his daily Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, before 500 members of Italy's Parliament.

During his homily, he talked about corruption. In particular, the Pope explained how back in the time of Jesus, politicians lost touch with people by following their own ideology, which led them to power and corruption.

POPE FRANCIS

"So the heart of these people, of this little group, was so closed that it was impossible for them to hear the voice of God.  From being sinners they spiraled down to corruption.  It's so difficult for a corrupt person to turn back. Sinners can repent, because the Lord is merciful and He waits for all of us. But corrupt people are just centered about their own concerns. Just like corrupt people back then.” 

The Pope then added that, especially during Lent, one must be open to the salvation that can only come from faith and God.

EXCEPRT OF THE POPE'S HOMILY

Source: Vatican Radio

"The hearts of this people, this group, with time became hardened so, so, so much - so that it was impossible to hear the voice of the Lord. And as sinners, they slid (downwards); they became corrupt. It 's very hard for a corrupt person to go back (on his tracks). The sinner, yes, because the Lord is merciful and awaits us all. But the corrupt person is fixated on his affairs, and these people were corrupt. And for this, they justify themselves, because Jesus, with his simplicity, but with his strength in God - he made trouble for them (it: dava loro fastidio). "

"They rejected the Lord’s love and this rejection put them on a path that was not the dialectic of freedom offered by the Lord, but that of the logic of necessity, where there is no room for the Lord. In the dialectic of freedom, there is the good Lord who loves us, who loves us very much! Rather, in the logic of necessity, there is no place for God: this must be done, this must be done, this must…They have become behavioral (it: comportamentali): well-mannered men, but with bad habits. Jesus calls them ‘whitewashed tombs’.”

"On this path of Lent it will do us well to think about this invitation from the Lord to love, about this dialectic of freedom where there is love, and to ask ourselves, all of us, …am I on this path? Do I risk justifying myself and take another path? A road with many junctions (it: strada congiunturale) because it does not lead to any promise ... And we pray that the Lord gives us the grace to always go down the path of salvation, to open ourselves to the salvation that only comes from God, through faith - not from what was proposed by these 'professionals of duty,' (it: dottori del dovere) who had lost the faith, and who led (it: reggevano) the people with this pastoral theology of duty.”