Saturday 2nd Week of Advent

 

Prayer to the Virgin Mary by Pope Benedict

O Mary, Virgin of expectation and Mother of hope, revive the spirit of Advent in your entire Church, so that all humanity may start out anew on the journey towards Bethlehem, from which it came, and that the Sun that dawns upon us from on high will come once again to visit us, Christ our God. Amen.

Friday 2nd. Week of Advent.

St. Juan Diego

The Blessed Mother one day appeared to Juan Diego and told him to pick some roses and carry them in his cloak to the bishop.

When he opened up his cloak and the roses fell to the ground,

On his cloak was the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The image of the Blessed mother may not be on our coats or our clothes.

But that is okay,

Because it is far better to have her image on our hearts!

So that our hearts reflect her to all we meet

And bring others to believe in Jesus.

Wednesday 2nd week of Advent Immaculate Conception

 

Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches us that through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus,

Mary was conceived in the womb of St. Anne her mother without Original Sin;

That Mary never committed any personal sin;

And that she is full of grace.

What a wonderful blessing for Mary.

But how can we relate to someone who is so holy?

What does the Immaculate Conception mean for us

We Who were conceived in Original Sin;

We Who struggle with our own personal sins everyday of our lives

We who do not feel or appear to be full of grace;

In Baptism we were washed clean of Original Sin.

In Confession our personal sins are forgiven.

And in communion, we receive the fullness of grace in the Eucharist.

So through the Sacraments

We are washed clean of Original Sin;

Our personal sins are forgiven;

And we become full of grace.

So through the Sacraments, we can become like Mary.

We can begin to become Immaculately conceived in this world

And reach its fullness in the Kingdom of Heaven

where we too like Mary

will be without sin and full of grace in the eyes of God.

Tuesday 2nd. Week of Advent

 Speak Tenderly Is. 40:1-11

When people think of prophets they often think of Firebrands.

Pointing out sins and condemning sinners.

Isaiah the prophet however was told by God today

to speak “tenderly.”

To “Give Comfort.”

Sometimes a “tender” word dials down the temperature and the emotion so that people will stop and listen.

After all, who likes to be yelled at!

And who couldn’t use a little comfort!

Monday Second Week of Advent

 

Young in the Lord. Is. 35:1-10

What will it be like when Christ comes again?

Hands that are weak will become strong

Knees will become firm;

The blind will see;

The deaf will hear;

The lame will leap like the deer;

The must will sing.

Christ will come not only to renew our souls;

But our bodies as well.

All our infirmities will disappear in the Healing Light of His Glory.

God Bless

2nd Sunday of Advent

 The Kingdom is Coming

Don’t mess with a man who has been living in the desert

Eating locust and wild honey and wearing camel skin.

John came out of the desert with both guns blazing.

Firing away at the Pharisees and Sadducees

As he called them “a brood of vipers.”

The Kingdom of God was coming

And they had to bear good fruit as evidence of their repentance.

For every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

How much fruit do we bear?

The Kingdom of God was coming.

And Christ will have His winnowing fan in His hand.

And he will clear the threshing floor.

The wheat He will gather in His barn,

But the chaff He burn with unquenchable fire!

And the only way to escape the unquenchable fire

Is to repent.

To repent means to change;

Not for a day but for a life;

To repent means to turn around;

Not to keep going the same direction.

Most people however feel absolutely no need to repent.

To change or turn around.

Well if no one needs to repent

Then why is the world the way it is?

Violence, crime; division; war; racism; sexism;

Bullying; arguing; greed; anger; selfishness; self centeredness;

Jealousy; gluttony; bitterness, grudges, revenge, lust.

Do I need to go on?

Where does this all come from?

It comes from Humanity.

It starts off seemingly harmless but grows like a weed

Impossible to uproot.

There is absolutely no room for any of this in Heaven.

Not even a fraction;

Not even a drop;

Zero, zippo, nada!

So to get into Heaven we have to Repent of these things.

Some people may have to repent only a little, Others a lot.

John warns us

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

The train is at the station;

it is leaving soon;

And it is time to get on board.

Or we will be left behind.

Saturday 1st. Week of Advent

 

Prayer to the Virgin Mary by Pope Benedict

O Mary, Virgin of expectation and Mother of hope, revive the spirit of Advent in your entire Church, so that all humanity may start out anew on the journey towards Bethlehem, from which it came, and that the Sun that dawns upon us from on high will come once again to visit us, Christ our God. Amen.

Friday 1st. Week of Advent

Open our eyes. Mt. 9:27-31

Two blind men asked Jesus to open their eyes,

As they cried out “Son of David, have pity on us.”

What however is the greater blindness,

Those who cannot see with their eyes;

Or those who cannot see with their minds?

Do we dare call out to Jesus and ask Him

To open our minds to see?

To see ourselves?

To see what we have done and what we have failed to do?

And when we do see,

All we will be able to say is,

Son of David, have pity on us!

Thursday 1st. Week of Advent

 

The Key to Heaven. Mt. 7:21

Everyone wants to go to Heaven.

But how does one get there?

Simple; do the Will of God.

Jesus said only those who do the Will of His Heavenly Father

Will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

That makes sense because it IS God’s House.

And if we want to enter His House,

Just calling on His Name,

Lord, Lord is not enough.

We. Need to do God’s Will;

Not our will but doing the Will of God

Is the Key to entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

Tuesday 1st. Week of Advent

Everything! Lk. 10:21-22

Jesus is truly the Son of God,

Because “Everything” that the Father has,

He has given to His Son. Lk. 10:22

Everything that the Father is and has He has given to His Son.

This is why No one knows the Son except the Father

And no one knows the Father except the Son.

And for this reason,

ONLY Jesus can reveal God the Father.

And no one else.

For the Father has given EVERYTHING to His Son.

And Jesus gives what He has received from His Father to us.

The Feast of St. Andrew

Thomas Merton said that just as there are seeds that are blown about by the wind waiting to land on earth and take root, so there are spiritual seeds blown about by the Holy Spirit everyday of our lives waiting to land in our hearts and take root.

But three things are necessary for them to take root,love,freedom and spontaneity.

How spontaneous are we? 

Our lives seem to be run by calendars, appointments and things to do.

Yet the Lord calls us everyday.

Like St. Andrew are we able to drop what we are doing and immediately follow Him?

Maybe He is calling us to forgive someone, to reach out and help someone, to spend time with Him in prayer.

Do we hesitate?

Do we think about it?

Do we procrastinate?

The true heart of a disciple is spontaneous who like St. Andrew immediately drops whatever they are doing to follow the Lord.

Monday 1st Week of Advent

 

Jesus comes for everyone Mt. 8:5-11

Ever since Abraham

The Jews were God’s chosen people.

They were set apart from the rest of the world.

But when Jesus came and opened His arms on the cross,

He welcomed all who came to Him.

So when the Roman Centurion came to Jesus;

He welcomed Him too.

Jesus welcomes everyone who comes to Him.

But they must first believe in Him.

For Faith is the key for Jesus to enter our hearts.

First Sunday of Advent

 

The Comings of Christ

Advent is a time of Preparation because Christ is coming!

We prepare for His First coming at Christmas.

This coming seems to take up most of our time.

Usually for all the wrong reasons.

We spend most of our time decorating and buying presents

Rather than preparing to celebrate the Time when God became Flesh

And was born in Bethlehem.

Then there is the Last Coming.

When the Trumpets will sound

And Christ will come in glory on the clouds

When will He send out His angels to the Four Corners of the earth to separate the sheep from the goats.

The good from the bad.

And then there is the Middle Coming of Christ.

Jesus promised that He would come back to us and take us to Himself;

So that where He is, we also will be.

On that day one is taken and one is left behind.

Two men are out in the fields and one is taken and one is left behind.

Two women are grinding grain and one is taken and one is left behind.

That is the Day when the Lord comes for someone we love and takes them with Him;

And we are left behind.

Everyday Jesus comes and takes someone to Himself and His Father’s House

And leaves someone behind.

And He leaves those left behind,

His Body and Blood, His very Self

That we receive at every Mass at Communion;

To comfort us and remind us

That one day He will return for us

And take us to Himself.

So that where He is and all of our loved ones,

We too will be one day!

Friday after Thanksgiving

 

Friday after Thanksgiving

Don’t stop now!

Keep giving Thanks.

Thanks for leftovers;

Thanks for elastic;

Thanks for sales;

Thanks for family;

Thanks for freedom;

Thanks for football;

Thanks for yesterday;

Thanks for today;

Thanks for Faith;

The more one gives Thanks for everything great and small,

The lighter one’s heart becomes so that nothing can ever weigh it down.

 

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving we give thanks for all we have on this earth.

Be it great of small.

But to whom are we giving thanks?

where did all of our blessings and gifts and life itself come from?

Ultimately God!

There is nothing that ultimately did not come from God;

Our existence; our life;

Our talents and gifts by which we do what we do;

Even friends and family are a gift from God.

So often however we fail to give God the credit.

When we get to Heaven however

We will realize all that God has done for us.

And we will be so stunned and grateful and overwhelmed for all that we had been given and did not even realize it

that we will spend all eternity thanking God

For that is how long it will take.

Wednesday 34th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Pope Clement

Pope Clement I was the third Pope after Linus and Cletus.

He was said to have been consecrated a bishop by St. Peter himself.

Becoming the 3rd Pope was not an honor.

There were no parades or banquets.

For At the time every Pope was a martyr.

Clement was no different.

He was martyred by having an anchor tied around him and thrown into the sea.

Saints are only glorified in Heaven

After having sacrificed themselves on earth.

Tuesday 34th Week of Ordinary Time

 

The Harvest Rev. 14:14-19

Every year the farmers go out for the harvest.

Working long hours to bring in what had been planted last Spring.

On the Last day

Christ will wield his sickle

And send out His angels for the harvest.

The good fruit will be gathered into His barn

And the rest will be thrown into the wine press of God’s fury.

So the question is,

Have we born good fruit in our lives

So that we will be gathered into His Barn,

Or thrown into the wine press?

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Monday Nov. 21

As a child, Joachim and Ann took Mary to the Temple

where they presented her and consecrated her to the Lord.

In the Presentation, Mary placed herself in God’s hands

and God did great things in her;

She became the Mother Of God.

Because Mary presented herself in the Temple,

She was able to later present Jesus in the Temple.

It all begins with the gift of oneself to God.

We may give money or other sacrifices to the Lord,

But what the Lord really desires is ourself!

The Gift Of Self is the greatest gift we can give to God.

For when we give ourselves to God,

God can do great things in us.

On this feast of the Presentation Of the Blessed Virgin,

Let us place ourselves in her hands,

So that through her Intercession and example,

God may do great things in us!

Christ the King

 

Stealing Heaven

Most Royal Courts are made up of the rich and famous.

The powerful and influential

So as to assist the King in running the Kingdom.

It is the same even with our Democracy.

Presidents pick their cabinet and staff

according to their ability to help run the country.

Jesus however is different.

He came to call not the Righteous but sinners.

So He surrounded Himself with sinners and tax collectors.

Quite a motley crew.

Even as He was dying

He was surrounded with criminals

One on His left and one on His right.

And one of the thieves knew that his life was ending

and that the kingdom of this world was going to disappear

Being a good thief he decided for his final theft

to Steal Heaven.

That is why he is called the “The Good Thief!”

He was Good at what he did.

So he asked Jesus to remember Him when He comes into His Kingdom.

And since Jesus came to call sinners and tax collectors

He knew that the Good Thief would fit in well in His Kingdom

And He promised Him to have a place waiting for him that day in Paradise.

We are all thieves in a certain sense.

Stealing everything this world has to offer.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Only one day to find out that we have to give it all back.

As Death and the Devil come along only to steal all of it from us.

And if we call out to Jesus even with our last breath

Jesus will come along at the last second and steal us from the

Jaws of death and the clutches of the devil.

And grant us a place in Paradise

Along side all the other sinner, tax collectors and thieves

Who managed to get in

By the Grace of God.

Saturday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows for the Souls in Purgatory

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, my Mother, I turn to you in supplication and by that sword which pierced your sorrowful heart at beholding your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, suffer on the cross, I pray and ask thee to help the holy souls in Purgatory and particularly those for whom I now pray N.N.

O Mother of Sorrows, Queen of Martyrs, for the love of your Divine Son whose Precious Blood was shed for us, help us who are in danger not only of falling into Purgatory, but of losing our souls for ever in hell, with your powerful intercession.

O Mary our Mother, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. O Eternal Father through the most Precious Blood of Jesus and through the Sorrows of Mary have pity upon the holy souls in purgatory. Amen.

Friday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul

Peter and Paul are two sides of the same coin.

The coin of Faith on which the Church is built.

This is why a church is built on the remains of Peter and Paul

In Rome where both were martyred.

St. Peter’s Basilica on the Vatican hill where Peter was martyred upside down on a cross,

And at St. Paul outside the walls where St. Paul was beheaded.

Our churches may not be as famous as these,

But they are just as important,

As long as they too are built on Faith.

Thursday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary. 1207-1231

St. Elizabeth of Hungary was a queen.

And was rich beyond compare.

Yet St. Elizabeth embraced poverty

and gave all of her riches away so that she could care for the sick.

In what are we rich?

Money?

Love?

Time?

Talent?

Friendliness?

Whatever we are rich in,

Give it away and become even richer in Christ.

Wednesday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Holy, Holy, Holy. Rev. 4:1-11

At every Mass we practice singing in the Heavenly choir.

For at every Mass we sing Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts.

This is what the angels and saints sing day and night before the throne of God.

At every Mass we join our voices with those of the angels and saints in one great chorus of praise.

Because God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power

For everything we see was created by God.

Including us!

Tuesday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time

 

Hot or Cold Rev. 3:15

The Church in Laodicea excelled in mediocrity.

It was neither Hot nor Cold.

It did not burn with Love for the Lord,

Nor was it cold.

It was worse.

It was apathetic.

And Jesus wished that it would be either Hot or Cold,

Because if it is Lukewarm he will spit them out of His mouth.

The one thing that saints and sinners have in common

Is passion.

Passion for holiness or passion for sin.

And the Lord can take the fire of that passion and refine it like gold.

But a heart that is mediocre is already dead

And will not hear the knock of the Lord when He comes.

Whoever has ears, ought to hear! Rev. 3:22