Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 179729 times)

cassini · « **Reply #75 on:** October 23, 2024, 12:41:20 PM »

Fr Sean again.
Make Problems Opportunities

Someone defined a loser as an individual who when opportunity knocks at the front door, he or she is out back looking for four-leafed clovers. My father used to say that the problem with us humans was that we didn’t view problems as opportunities for enrichment. What he said didn’t make sense to me then. It does now. Two brothers were fighting with each other. Their father punished the one who started the fight by sending him to clean the stable. The other was rewarded by being allowed to play with his toys. After about half an hour, the father checked on both. The boy that was rewarded with the toys was crying. He was upset because he couldn’t make up his mind about which one to play with. The father expected the boy in the stable to be feeling bad because of the dirty task imposed on him but was amazed to hear him whistling. On entering the stable, he saw his son using a shovel throwing horse manure out the back door with a big smile on his face. The father asked the son why he seemed to be so happy. The boy replied, “Well, with all this horse manure there has to be a pony in here somewhere.” What makes the difference is whether we view what life hands us or what we create ourselves as problems or opportunities.

The world is full of problems. We’re bombarded with them every day in the media. When we meet one another more often than not the conversation centers on problems, personal and otherwise. Is it any wonder why more and more people are depressing? The T.V. news is usually bad news. If we don’t view problems as opportunities we doom ourselves to misery and hopelessness or we become cynics. When we focus only on our problems we can feel overwhelmed but God turns them into opportunities. God gives us the wherewithal to benefit from everything that happens to us if we put our trust in Him to show us how our problems can be blessings.

St. Augustine defined evil as the absence or deterioration of good. Evil is a negative reality. It cannot exist on its own. It needs a host like a leech needs a living creature. The host is the good in us. Therefore, wherever we see evil we know that good is not maintained. Evil tries to suck the good out of us like a mosquito or a leech. Without the existence of goodness, evil couldn’t exist since it wouldn’t have anything to feed off. When a person lives a good life evil has no power over him or her. It’s too easy to become overwhelmed by evil since it’s given much more press than goodness receives. We must view evil in light of the good that that is being attacked. Like the boy believing there’s a pony given all the horse manure in the stable, wherever there’s evil there must be good somewhere. The more good is identified and restored the more evil is starved and dies. We can’t eliminate evil unless we restore the good that it is attacking. Evil cannot exist if the good is maintained. This is why we need God because He is all good and the source of all that is good.

St. Mark records an event where Jesus eliminated the evil of blindness by restoring the goodness of sight (Mk 10:46-52). He turned a problem into an opportunity. A blind man along the roadside called out for help. He had been blind for many years and was relegated to begging for a living. His blindness was a huge problem because he couldn’t get employment and there was no welfare. He heard that Jesus would be passing by and took advantage of the opportunity to ask that his sight be restored. He had faith and hope that, somehow, an opportunity for healing would one day knock on his door and he made sure to take advantage of it. He couldn’t see Jesus, but he could hear and shout hoping to be heard. “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me,” he yelled. The apostles tried to hush him up, but the more they did the louder he shouted, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus heard the cry - He always hears the cry of the poor - and ordered His apostles to bring the man to Him. Jesus asked him, “What do you want to do for you?” The man said, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

The blind beggar was a man of faith and hope. He had learned from Jeremiah (31:7-9) that “The Lord has delivered His people … (and promised to) gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child … (and) console them and guide them … (saying) For I am a Father to Israel.” Jesus told him that it was this faith in God that healed him.

Here is a man who had a problem but turned it into an opportunity to have restored what he had lost. Jesus who came into a world full of problems in order to turn them into opportunities for experiencing His Father’s love. Every problem is an opportunity to turn to God where He meets us in our needs through His Church in faith, love, and hope. St. Paul was inspired to write in Romans 8:28, “All things work for the good of those who love God according to His design.”

As children of God we need to take advantage of every opportunity to ask for His help. The term “opportunist” has some negative connotations. It’s used to describe a person who takes full advantage of every opportunity to achieve his or her own ends without regard to morality. We must be opportunists to use the problem of evil as an incentive to ask God to help us by the power of the Holy Spirit to restore the good that is being attacked. That involves a commitment on our part to live the morally good life by upholding the good that is of God, since only He is good. Our commitment to the good commands us to take full advantage of every opportunity to protect it by nurturing, defending, and restoring it when it’s abused or undermined.

Every problem is a challenge to our faith and an opportunity to express our trust in God “who does great things for us; we are glad indeed.” He promises us that, “Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing” (Ps 126:1-6). Harry Emerson Fosdick, in his book, “On Being a Real Person”, wrote, “Life is a landscaping job. We are handed a site, ample or small, rugged or flat, picturesque or commonplace, whose general outlines and contours are largely determined for us. Both limitation and opportunity are involved in every site and the most unforeseeable results ensure from the handling – some grand opportunities are muffed, and some utterly unpromising situations become notable.”

The power of our faith in Christ lies in the belief that through, with, and in Him every problem is an opportunity for receiving what He has to offer us. We must become Christian opportunists. The next time you have a problem of one kind or another or when someone brings up a problem, instead of commiserating about it, focus on the opportunity that it presents for turning to God and trusting in Him to restore or give you what you need. Then you won’t be overwhelmed by it. Our prayer must be prompted by the man in the Gospel: “Master, help me to see opportunities for being blessed by You where others may see only problems. Amen!” We must ask Jesus to help us view our life through the eyes of supernatural Faith so that we can see every problem as an opportunity to receive His blessing. Faith in Jesus helps us to see what we could never see with our physical eyes. (fr sean)

Five Keys from The Bible For A Happy Home:

1. Give God the first hour of each day. Pray in the morning (St. Mark 1:25).

2. Give God the first day of the week. Serve in your church to save your community (I Corinthians 16:2).

3. Give God the first portion of your income. Keep books on what you give to be sure you do not think you are giving more than you actually are! (Proverbs 3:9, I Corinthians 6:2)

4. Give God the first consideration in every decision. This includes your choice of house, close friends, work, church, school, etc. (St. Matthew 6:33).

5. Give God's Son first place in your heart always. Live in His presence as though He were the unseen guest in your house - He is, you know! (2 Corinthians 8:5). Ord L. Morrow, Good News Broadcaster

cassini · « **Reply #76 on:** October 30, 2024, 08:50:19 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Why We Must Identify Ourselves as Sinners

Jesus revealed that He came to save sinners, not the self-righteous. “I have not come to call the self-righteous to a change of heart, but sinners” (Lk 5:32). St. Mark records Jesus announcing His mission: “This is the time of fulfilment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). The reformation Jesus called for is about changing our life from a sinful state to a state of grace and holiness. Self-righteous people are those who think they have no sin and, of course as a result, see no need to reform their lives. I have had the experience of people coming to Confession saying, “Bless me, father, I have no sin.” Because we can’t hide from God, Jesus’ Church requires us to “recall our sins” as we begin every Holy Mass. In the Penitential Rite of the Holy Mass we admit that we’re all sinners and in need of prayers so that we might receive the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness, which are gifts from Jesus in and through the Sacraments of His Church. God gives us His Commandments so that we can know what virtuous, righteous living is and what vicious, unrighteous living is.

God’s Commandments are the signposts that we’re loving Him through freely obeying them. Jesus revealed that, “You will live in my love if you keep my commandments, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and live in His love” (Jn 15:10). Prior to saying that, He warned that, “A man who does not live in me is like a withered, rejected branch, picked up to be thrown in the fire and burnt” (15:6). Jesus came to call sinners to be transformed from a state of sin to a state of grace by living in His love through obeying His commandments. Here Jesus is fulfilling what God said through Moses in Deuteronomy 6:2-6: “Fear the Lord, your God, and keep, throughout your lives, all His statutes and commandments… and thus have a long life … that you may grow and prosper and benefit from God’s promises.” God called His people to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.” Later God declared, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18).

Jesus was asked by a scribe which of God’s commandments was the greatest. The Pharisees had broken down the Ten Commandments to 613 laws so people wondered which one was the most important to keep. Jesus answered by quoting from both Deuteronomy and Leviticus where He combined love of God with love of neighbour, namely love God with everything you are and have and love your neighbour as yourself. Thus Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments into two groups integrally connected, the first three telling us how to show our love for God and the last seven showing us how to show our love for our neighbour, our father and mother being our first neighbours. Our love of God is no greater than our love for our neighbour. It’s against the backdrop of this Law of Love that we’re forced to admit we’re sinners who need to repent and seek forgiveness with a commitment to live a holy life.

The commandment (this is not just a suggestion) to love God, ourselves and our neighbour with all our heart, soul, and strength is impossible without God’s help. To have any hope of doing this we must humbly pray with the Psalmist (Ps 18:2-4): “My God, my Rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, My stronghold!” Why? Natural love isn’t enough to love God and neighbour consistently. We need supernatural love which only God can give us. Which of us loves God, ourselves, and our neighbour with all our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength consistently and constantly? If we’re honest, we have to admit that none of us, even the holiest among us, loves God and our neighbour with all we are and have. This is the kind of love that is unconditional love and is given without counting the cost.

So where does this leave us? It leaves us with the reality that we’re sinners because we don’t consistently love as God expects us to love. To the degree that we are inconsistent in our love, we’re sinning either by commission or omission. This is why we’re in constant need of the grace of reconciliation, which God, in His mercy and justice, has made possible through Jesus, who is sacramentally present in His Church, particularly in Reconciliation where we can repent and receive forgiveness for mortal and grave sins, the Anointing of the Sick where mortal and venial transgressions of the Law of Love are forgiven when a person is unconscious, if he or she has a repentant heart, and in the Holy Mass where venial sins are forgiven those with a repentant heart.

Sinners don’t go to Heaven. Heaven is for repentant sinners who seek forgiveness. Forgiveness is a gift even to the holiest among us because only God can forgive and none of us deserves it. God alone perfects us because He alone can free us from sin and its effects. But He won’t do that unless we admit our sin not just out of fear of punishment but because God is so good in Himself and so deserving of all our love.

The Catholic Church is the visible sign of God’s wish to save every man and woman from sin. The Church brings Jesus to us in each Sacrament in which He both purifies and strengthens us to do good and avoid evil. The Holy Spirit revealed that Jesus “is always able to save those who approach God through Him since He lives forever to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:23-28). The Catholic Church makes it possible to personally approach God through Jesus who is present in her, especially in the Holy Mass.

The Church traditionally devotes this month of November to remembering and praying for the souls in Purgatory, which “is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be released from their sins” (2 Macc 12:46). It’s also a time to think about our own death and the need to ask and answer this question: “How consistent am I in obeying God’s Law of Love?” Admitting that we don’t love as we could, and should, makes us conscious that we’re sinners who cannot save ourselves from hell. This prompts us to ask the Holy Spirit daily for the grace to repent, seek forgiveness, and double our efforts to love God, ourselves and our neighbour with all we are and have. We’ll be judged by how much effort we put into joyfully living in accord with God’s Law of Love. (fr sean)

Indulgence through Praying for the Souls in Purgatory

You can get a plenary indulgence any day this November? The Vatican grants Catholics a plenary indulgence if they visit a cemetery to pray for the dead, and follow the required conditions, on any day in the month of November.

Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Apostolic Penitentiary issued a decree that extended the availability of some plenary indulgences because of concerns about avoiding large gatherings of people in churches or cemeteries. The Vatican has issued the same decree this year during the month of November.

What is a plenary indulgence?

A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary, and all the saints to remove the temporal punishment due to sin. The indulgence cleanses a person of all temporal punishment due to sin. However, it must always be accompanied by a full detachment from all sin, including venial sin.

Requirements: Sacramental confession, Holy Communion and prayer for the intentions of the pope. Sacramental confession and receiving the Eucharist can happen up to about 20 days before or after the act performed to receive a plenary indulgence.

It is appropriate that Communion and the prayer take place on the same day that the work is completed. One sacramental confession is sufficient for several plenary indulgences. However for each plenary indulgence one wishes to receive, a separate reception of the Eucharist and a separate prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are required.

The Vatican decree issued due to the pandemic allows Catholics who are unable to leave their home, such as the sick or elderly, to still obtain a plenary indulgence by reciting prayers for the dead before an image of Jesus or the Blessed Mother. Examples of prayers homebound Catholics can pray include the rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, lauds or vespers of the Office for the Dead, or by performing a work of mercy by offering their pain to God.

cassini · « **Reply #77 on:** November 06, 2024, 01:30:02 PM »

Fr Sean again.
Would Jesus Draw Attention to Your Giving?

Sigmund Freud described the human psyche as a combination of three forces: ego, id, and superego. In Greek, psyche means spirit or mind. Our psyche is our spirit and it differs from our soul. Our soul is unchanging and eternal while our spirit develops and changes according to our values and circuмstances. Our soul is our vital principle, that which makes us human. Our psyche or our spirit is demonstrated in our thinking, acting, and through our personality. You could say that our spirit is our mental attitude towards the world. Freud attempted to show that our mental attitude is the result of the interaction between the ‘Id’ as our desire for pleasure, the ‘Superego’ as our conscience, and the Ego as the balancer between them. He rejected religion as a neurosis and believed that pleasure was our main motivating force. The Ego’s job, according to Freud, is to ensure Id’s desire for pleasure is balanced by the Superego’s sense of right and wrong. Ego, in Greek and Latin, means the personal pronoun, “I.” From it we get the words egotism, egotistical, egomaniac. All have negative connotations. Why? Because they reflect self-centeredness and selfishness. The unholy trinity is Me, Myself and I!

Because of our fallen nature we’re all prone to selfishness and, as a result, sinfulness. Do you enjoy the company of selfish people? Do we enjoy being selfish? Yes, but we don’t like to admit it. Does it makes us feel good? No, not in the long term. To be selfish is to be a taker rather than a giver. Our ego wants us to continually look out for ourselves even at the expense of others. Like Oprah, we “love expensive presents.” Someone noted that in Heaven the busiest angels are those answering the phones in the Office of Requests, while the least busy angels are in the Office of Thanksgiving. Selfishness and gratitude aren’t partners. We’re always asking God for help but how much time and effort do we put into thanking Him through sacrificing our time and effort for the benefit of others as He has sacrificed Himself for us? We see this selfishness loud and clear on Sundays and Holydays in our country where only a small minority worship God in the Holy Mass. Is it any wonder that a culture of death prevails? Egotism always leads to the death of the human spirit and the starvation of the soul’s need for God.

The antidote to selfishness is generosity. Jesus Christ epitomized generosity of spirit by sacrificing Himself to ransom us from Satan’s grip on our soul through his appeal to our ego. Christianity is about practicing generosity in imitation of Jesus. Through His Church’s Sacraments, Jesus gives us the grace to eliminate our selfishness by putting Him first and then, through His love, putting others first thus conquering our tendency toward Me-ism. God’s Spirit inspired St. Paul to write, “Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you – He will make sure that you will always have all you need for yourselves in every possible circuмstance, and still have something to spare for all sorts of good works” (2 Cor 9:6-8).

There are three kinds of giving: Giving out of our surplus, giving what we don’t need ourselves, giving to get something in return, and giving without counting the cost or expecting a reward. Only the last kind of giving provides the antidote to selfishness. The first two are self-serving. St. Ignatius of Loyola prayed: “Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will. Amen.” He prayed this prayer hoping to receive the grace to be selfless and thus Christ-like, a faithful Catholic Christian.

God has revealed in the Old and New Testaments what He considers to be a generous spirit, an attitude that comes from the heart. The Book of Kings relates the story of a widow of Zarephath whom God’s prophet, Elijah, asked to bake a cake for him from her last portion of flour and oil before she and her son faced certain death by starvation. She trusted in the Lord’s promise through Elijah that He would provide for her if she shared her last bit of food with him (1 Kgs 17:10-16). God is always faithful to His promises, which is why all reasonable people should have faith in Him. The New Testament records brings another poor widow donating her last pennies to the Temple treasury. Her generosity drew Jesus’ attention. As Jesus put it, “”She contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mk 12:44). He contrasted her donation to that of the scribes who donated out of their surplus, while she gave out of her poverty and trust in God’s providence. Their giving was self-serving. Her giving was selfless and an act of Faith in God.

One of Satan’s ploys is to convince us that we must rely on ourselves. That’s our unconscious motivation for why we’re selfish. But the fact is we can’t function without God who alone can save us from sin and death. That’s why Jesus tells us clearly, “The man who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin, whereas he who brings himself to naught for me discovers who he is” (Mt 10:39). We make ourselves naught for Jesus and discover ourselves as His followers when we give without counting the cost. As Proverbs reminds us, “The generous soul will prosper, he who waters will be watered” (11:25). We can’t be Christian and at the same time act selfishly. Giving isn’t always about money or things. It’s about being present to others, listening to them, praying with them, greeting them with a smile, offering them a helping hand, being patient with them, forgiving them, expressing gratitude for their existence – even those who annoy us or are our enemies, understanding them, encouraging them, affirming their gifts, recognizing, etc. I’m reminded of the last verse of a song made popular by Glen Campbell, “Let me be a little meeker/With the brother who is weaker, /Think a little more of others/And a little less of me.”

How do you and I want to face God’s judgment at death? The Holy Spirit reminds us: “Just as it is appointed that men die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him” (Heb 9:24-28). It is our choice now to decide whether we want to meet Jesus Christ as selfish or as generous people who give Him our total self - all our mind, heart, soul, and strength. He will judge you and me according to our deeds. Will our generous deeds outweigh our selfish acts, or vice versa? Now is the time to decide. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #78 on:** November 14, 2024, 11:37:52 AM »

Fr Sean again.
What’s Ahead for You?

What’s ahead for each of us is either the best or the worst, depending on whether we die as Jesus’ friends or His enemies. The best for each of us is to enjoy eternal happiness in the presence of God who is our Father, our Saviour, and our Sanctifier, accompanied by all the angels and saints. The worst is the loneliness and self-hatred of Hell that results from making someone or something else other than God the centre of our life here on earth. If we want the best, reason tells us that we should invest in the best, and there is no one better than Jesus Christ who is present in His Church. That entails lovingly obeying the Ten Commandments, the laws of Jesus’ Church, and humbly living the eight Beatitudes. Someone said that the only two things we can’t escape are death and taxes. Whatever about taxes there’s no escape from death. Regarding death Jesus warns us: “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you least expect” (Mt 24:44). Since none of us knows when we will die it makes sense to be ready every day to meet Jesus face to face as our Judge. Daily asking ourselves, “Am I following Jesus today in my thoughts and actions is like when you’re driving and you see a police car in your rear-view mirror you immediately check your speedometer.

The Holy Spirit revealed that: “Just as it is appointed that men die once, and after that be judged, so Christ was offered up once to take away the sins of many; He will appear a second time not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him” (Heb 9:27-28). At death each of us will be judged according to our deeds in this world. That judgment will bring us either the best or the worst, not just temporarily, but for all eternity.

God never stops warning us as to what lies ahead. Jesus’ Church reminds us that in the Old Testament He chose Daniel to encourage the people to continue to be faithful in the midst of persecution. He promised that because of their fidelity the best was still ahead for them. “At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, the guardian of your people … your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book” (Dan 12:1). God sent the Archangel Michael “to be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil” so that we might remain faithful to our Baptismal vows. The day we were baptized Jesus wrote our name in Heaven’s book as His adopted brother or sister. If we want to look forward to the best, we must strive to be a faithful and loyal brother or sister to Jesus by giving witness to our faith in Him to lead us through this world by the power of the Holy Spirit guiding us in His Church. As Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters we proclaim daily in the words of the Psalmist: “O Lord… You it is who hold fast my lot. I set the Lord ever before me: with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed … You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in Your presence, the delights of Your right hand forever” (Ps16:11).

God gave us the intellect to read the signs of the times and determine what choices we need to make in order to prepare ourselves for what’s to come. We’re able to read the signs that predict the coming of the seasons. We must also read the signs that tell us our end is near. Jesus reminds us that no one knows when the world will end. “But of the day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mk 13:32). It makes sense to be prepared. We should prepare ourselves to do what’s necessary in order to receive a favourable verdict from Jesus on how we lived our life. How do we do that? By faithful membership in His Church where He transforms us through His Word and Sacraments. He reminds us that, “The heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mk 13:31).

Everybody wants to bet on a winner. No one likes losing. If everything in this world will come to an end, betting on it or on anything in it means backing a loser. The only thing that lasts is God’s Word which becomes His flesh in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated by His Church? His Church will last because she is His Bride and He promised that “the gates of hell will not prevail against her” (Mt 16:18). Fidelity to Jesus in His Church means that evil cannot overpower us. Because God is everlasting everything He says and does is also everlasting. God’s word is God-become-flesh, Jesus Christ conqueror of sin and death, the One who alone promises an eternal life filled with joy. He is the only one who can assure us of winning in the end because he won in the end through His Resurrection. Does it make sense to invest our time and effort in anyone or in anything else? Jesus wants each of us to be a winner and to look forward to the best, namely to enjoy eternity in the presence of God and His angels and saints. This is why Jesus warns us that He is the true Messiah and there are no others. “If anyone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is here!’ ‘Look, he is there! – do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will appear performing signs and wonders to mislead, if it were possible, even the chosen. So be constantly on guard! I have told you about it beforehand” (Mk 13:21-23).

Finally, Jesus tells us not to waste our time worrying about when the world will end or even about when we might die. While He says there will be signs happening that remind us the end is coming but we mustn’t fall into the trap of predicting when the end will come. Our focus must be on living the Christian life in the present so that at the moment of death we’ll hopefully hear Jesus say to us: “Come, you have my Father’s blessing! Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world” (Mt 26:34). May these words of Jesus be ahead for all of us. So what’s ahead for you? It is up to you! (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #79 on:** November 21, 2024, 05:04:28 AM »

Fr Sean again.
This Year of Grace Ends Honoring Jesus as Our King

The Catholic Church devotes the last Sunday of her liturgical year to honoring Jesus as King of heaven and earth. St. John (Jn 18:13b-17) records an exchange between Pilate and Jesus prior to Pilate handing Him over to be crucified. “Pilate said to Jesus, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom does not belong to this world.’ … Pilate said to Him, ‘Then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king. The reason I was born, the reason I came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’” Jesus came into the world to grace us with the truth about God, ourselves, and what we need from Him.

Pilate was looking out for his own interests, which centered mainly on keeping his job. To do that, he had to keep the Jews happy. Otherwise, their report card on his governance might make him look bad to the Roman Emperor. Jesus, on the other hand, was also looking out for His interests, which centered on carrying out the will of His Father. His Father’s will was that every human being would experience His love through repenting their sinful state, seeking His forgiveness. While Pilate was concerned about himself, Jesus was concerned about all human beings. Pilate’s notion of kingship and Jesus’ concept were diametrically opposed. For Pilate being a king meant power, adulation, comfort, riches, servants, honor, and being first. For Jesus being a king meant being a servant to all. Which concept of kingship are you and I more attracted to? Pilate’s or Jesus’? What would the world be like if everyone adopted Jesus’ understanding of kingship? Imagine a world where people would be vying with one another over who could serve the most?

Have you ever reflected on what you are asking for when you say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come”? When we ask God to send us His Kingdom we must be willing to serve others and testify to the truth because that’s what membership in His Kingdom calls for. Jesus as the King sets the tone and standard for all in His Kingdom. Membership in Jesus’ Kingdom gives its members assurances that cannot be given by any other power: unconditional love, eternal life, eternal happiness, complete freedom, justice, and peace. His Kingdom is the only Kingdom that will not end. All earthly kings are subject to Jesus. All earthly kingdoms give way to Jesus’ Kingdom. A year of grace is a year of benefits from God’s presence to those who are members of His Kingdom

Jesus pointing out that His Kingdom was a Heavenly one he said to Pilate: “If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” Worldly kings use force to keep their positions. History attests to the belief that might is right and so the powerful rule the powerless. But in Jesus’ Kingdom the members express their power in serving others rather than making servants of others. That is what a member of Jesus’ Kingdom does as a graced person during each year of grace. A year of grace is a time period in which God is present in and to the members of His Kingdom, which is visible here on earth in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

If Jesus is King and His Kingdom isn’t of this world, it follows that reasonable people, especially Christians, would use their time in this world to be active members of His Church, the visible sign of His Kingdom on earth. Since so many are using this world to deny, ignore, or compete with Jesus, we can conclude they are irrational. Why would we focus on something that doesn’t last? The Holy Spirit revealed that, “Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth … Behold, He is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see Him… I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, ‘the One who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:5-8). This is the truth to which Jesus Himself attested. To refuse to believe it is stupid.

Given this fact about Jesus, why would we embrace someone or something other than Him? Nothing else lasts or enables us to cross from a world that’s temporary to a world that’s permanent - where every tear will be wiped away; where there is no death or dying, no suffering or crying, no conflict or deprivation, no betrayal or irritation; where there is only fulfillment and happiness forever. As human beings endowed with the ability to reason and freely make choices, our behavior so often reflects a woeful lack of intelligent choices. When we look at ourselves, we have to admit that too much of what we do and say ignores what Jesus tells us. We think and act more out of stupidity than intelligence!

Next Sunday we begin a new Liturgical Year. Jesus’ Church calls it a “year of grace” because it offers us a new opportunity to be receptive to Jesus’ presence in us and among us as members of His Church. In the Person of His Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father graces us with His presence. He is our Father who calls us to be present to Him as His adopted children whom He loves unconditionally. The highpoint of this grace-filled meeting takes place in Worship – the Holy Mass. The most central and vital action of every Christian is to worship God. As the priest proclaims in the Preface of every Holy Mass: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give You thanks …” In worship, we recognize that God is God and we are His creation, totally dependent on Him for every good thing. In worship, we express order in the universe recognizing that God is in charge. In worship, we express the truth about who we are and our need for community. At Holy Mass in the company of Jesus, we testify to the truth that He saves us through His sacrifice on the Cross and recognize that it alone sets us free.

We cannot testify to the truth without publicly witnessing our relationship with Jesus since He is the Truth. The truth about Jesus is that He is the King of all creation and before Him “every head will bow and every knee will bend” (Rom 14:11). Reason amplified by Revelation tells us that we should take every opportunity during this new year of grace to bow our heads and bend our knees in the presence of Jesus whose Kingdom is without end. As rational creatures we must admit that there is no other king or kingdom that can compare to Jesus and His Kingdom. Jesus is the only king whose kingdom will not come to an end. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #80 on:** November 28, 2024, 06:21:05 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Advent: God Fulfils His Promise

The word ‘promise’ literally means to ‘put forth or to send forth.’ The Oxford Dictionary defines promise as “a declaration or assurance that one will do something or that a particular thing will happen.” Promises always imply fulfilment. We should never make a promise that we can’t or don’t intend to fulfil. To do so is to be deceitful and untrustworthy. One of the things that makes God stand out is His total trustworthiness. He always fulfils His promises. This is why it is reasonable to have faith in what God says and does. Not to have faith in Him is irrational.

Since every human being has the use of reason, why do so many not believe in Him? It has to be that they don’t know Him. A person who doesn’t know God and His promises doesn’t know what gives man and woman life, meaning, purpose, power, identity, salvation from sin, and a bright future in which to hope. St. Philip Neri noted that “He who wishes for anything but Christ, doesn’t know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, doesn’t know what he is asking; he who works, and not for Christ, doesn’t know what he is doing.” Knowing God and His promises informs us what we should wish for, ask for, and work for and that He will deliver on all three beyond our wildest imagination.

God informed His people through Jeremiah that, “The days are coming when I will fulfil the promise I have made to the House of Israel ...I will raise up a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land” (Jer 33:14-16). What is “right and just” for every human being? The priest gives us the answer in the Preface of each Holy Mass, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give You thanks, holy Father, Lord of heaven and earth, through Christ our Lord.” Doing what’s right and acting justly is all about worshipping and thanking God.

The “shoot” God promised was none other than His Word that became incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, namely the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus in turn founded His Church on Peter as His instrument through which He would show and enable all peoples until the end of time how to be “right and just” in God’s eyes. Thus Advent, meaning the “Coming” is the time Jesus’ Church devotes to contemplating the impact of Jesus’ birth, His presence in His Church, and His promise to return as Judge of the living and the dead. It marks the beginning of another liturgical year during which Jesus continues to offer salvation through His Church to those willing to repent and do what’s right and just. It’s time for us to ask: “Am I wishing, asking, or working for something or someone that’s not of God? Do I truly believe that God means what He says and says what He means? Do I pay close attention to Jesus’ promises in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and what I must do if I want to be blessed? Just as God is faithful to His promises to me, am I faithful to my promises to Him?”

Advent is a time of prayer, repentance, contemplation, and worship in which the Holy Spirit purifies our mind and heart to more fully recognize Jesus as the fulfilment of God’s promise to love us and give us a joyful life that will last forever. To benefit from Jesus’ birth, His presence in His Church, and be prepared for His second coming as our just Judge, we must pray daily with the Psalmist, “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths, guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my saviour, and for You I wait all the day. Good and upright is the Lord; thus He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble His way” (Ps 25:4-5, 8-9). Since Jesus is “the way,” and His way is the “Way of the Cross,” which He taught His Apostles and they handed on to His Church, this Way is the only way to Heaven. He informs us that, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). Jesus is the only one who can make God’s ways known to mankind and guide us in His truth. “He alone shows sinners the way and guides the humble to justice” (Ps 25:8). The way to Heaven isn’t the so-called “Synodal way.” Jesus doesn’t need to listen to us because He knows us better than we know ourselves since He created each of us. But we need to listen to Him on a daily basis because we need Him to guide “our feet into the way of peace” (Lk 1:79) each day.

This is a time during which God is reminding us that the world is Satan’s kingdom still, and he tries to lull our minds and hearts into believing we can find hope, faith, joy, love, and peace independently of Jesus Christ and His Church. This is why at the beginning of Advent Jesus urges us: “Be on your guard lest your spirits become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap … Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man (Lk 21:25-36). The “great day” for each of us is when we face God’s judgment. The Holy Spirit tells us, “Conduct yourselves to please God” (1 Thess 3:12-4:2). When we do, Jesus assuages our fear of suffering and death when He ordered his listeners to, “Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is close at hand.”

Jesus’ Church uses the Advent Wreath to symbolize what we should be meditating on during these weeks before Christmas. The wreath, a circle of green palms with four candles, three purple and one pink, symbolizes that life is continuous, reminding us of eternity. A purple candle is lit on the 1st and 2nd Sundays, the pink candle on the 3rd Sunday, and the 3rd purple candle on the 4th Sunday. Purple symbolizes our recognizing of Jesus’ sovereignty – King of kings. Purple also symbolizes repentance and our need for forgiveness and commitment to do what’s right and just. Pink symbolizes joy at Jesus’ coming to save us. In the centre a white candle is sometimes lit on Christmas Eve symbolizing Jesus’ birth to be the Light of the World. The candle lit on the first Sunday is called the “Prophet’s candle” symbolizing the Hope that God’s promises will be fulfilled. The second candle is called the “Bethlehem candle” symbolizing Faith in the fulfilment of God’s promises in the Incarnation of His Son. The pink candle is called the “Shepherd’s candle” symbolizing Joy at Jesus’ birth. The fourth candle is called the “Angel’s candle” symbolizing the Peace that only Jesus can give and the world can’t.

This Sunday light the first candle on your Advent wreath and ask the Prophets, those who attested to the fulfilment of God’s promises, to intercede for you that during this holy season of Advent you may be made worthy of the promises of Christ! (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #81 on:** December 04, 2024, 12:04:40 PM »

Fr Sean again.
Time to Discern What Is of Value to You

God creates every human being to be a steward of the earth which He created for man’s use and benefit. Every man and woman is called by God to, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on earth” (Gen 1:26-28). That means that each of us must take what God gives us and use it to glorify and serve Him through our use of what He has given us. Thus He commissions us to “be fruitful.” As stewards of God’s creation we’re primarily managers of what He has given us for the benefit of all. For that purpose He has given each of us gifts to be used for the common good. The common good is the perfection of humanity through using our will to freely choose God’s will in all things. To make sure that we manage what God has given us fruitfully we must be in constant touch with Him in order to be faithful and productive. To ignore the earth’s Creator leads us to think we’re the creators and view ourselves as gods acting as if we have carte blanche to do whatever we want without any accountability. The notion that we’re our own god, self-created, masters of the world, so prominent in today’s world, is one of the deadly effects of Original sin, that blind us to injustices of all kinds. Therefore we need, periodically, to re-evaluate our values and recognize that God has come on earth in human form reminding us that He is the Creator and that we are accountable to Him for our stewardship.

Jesus’ Church calls us as we begin this second week of Advent to reflect on the role God has given to us as the stewards of the world. The Holy Spirit encourages us in the words of St. Paul (Phil 1:4-6, 8-11): “I am confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the Day of Christ Jesus … May your love increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless in the Day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness, that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” Advent is a time to “discern what is of value to us so that we don’t waste and desecrate what God has given us by using it for our own self-gratification. When we’re bad stewards we bring sorrow and distress to the world as is evident today in advocating the killing of the innocent in the womb and those who suffer physically or mentally. God wants us to “take off your dress of sorrow and distress and put on the beauty of the glory of God forever, and wrap the cloak of the integrity of God around you” (Baruch 5:1-2) by being good stewards who enhance the dignity and sanctity of human life in each of its developmental stages.

How do we discern what’s of value to us? What we spend our money on tells us a lot about our values. Our life centres around four main areas of involvement, namely God/Religion, Marriage/Family, Work/Career, and Leisure. Identify the three important things that you value most in each of these areas of your life. In each category rank the three values from 1 to 3 in order of importance. These constitute your core value system which directs your thinking, feeling and acting, both unconsciously and consciously. Are these the values that you want to live by and be known for or do you want to change them? Which of these values would you say that you would definitely die for? Remember that a real value is one that you would die for. If you discern that you have a value you wouldn’t publicly stand up for and be willing to die for, then it’s not a real value for you. It’s only superficial. Are these values that you have discerned real values for you that enable you to be a good steward in the eyes of God?

Good values must reflect God because only He is good (Mk 10:18), and all goodness comes from Him. So for something to be good it must lead to God. If it doesn’t, then the fact is that it isn’t good and what’s not good is evil. That’s the reality. As God’s stewards our actions must reflect His Spirit in order for them to have a good effect on the world. This is why we must always recognize and honour the fact that “The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed … Those that sow in tears will sing when they reap” (Ps 126:1-6) and “the Lord is leading Israel (His stewards) in joy by the light of His glory, with His mercy and justice for company6” (Baruch 5:1-9).

As stewards of the earth, God has given us the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes to teach us the difference between good and bad values. Our problem is that we too often choose what looks good but turns out to be bad because we view it through the lens of the world rather than through the eyes of Jesus Christ. As stewards, we have the capacity to use the resources available to us either constructively or destructively. It was with this in mind that St. John the Baptizer “went through the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins … A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” (Lk 3:1-6). Bad stewardship and wrong values can only be overcome and replaced through repentance and forgiveness. God made this possible through Jesus for whose coming John prepared the people.

Jesus came to show and teach us how to live fruitful lives through being constructive in all our thoughts, words and actions through possessing and upholding the Christian values He taught, namely freedom, justice, peace, and love. We learn about these in the Gospels and His Church’s teaching. These values lead us to be fruitful stewards, giving glory to God in all we say and do. God sent His Son, the Word Incarnate, as the perfect human being. Why? Baruch tells us: “God means to show your splendour to every nation under heaven, since the name God gives you forever will be, ‘Peace through justice, and honour through devotedness” (Bar 5:4). Justice means that we live the values of Christianity by doing what’s right according to Jesus’ teaching. Hence we need to discern whether our values are such that they sustain our relationships with God, others, and ourselves. Good stewardship is living justly. Justice brings us a peace and assurance from God that can’t be provided by New Age therapy, mindfulness, yoga, Reiki or any other worldly pagan programme. This peace and assurance comes from God alone. “Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you” (Jn 14:27).

To experience this peace we must “Make ready the way of the Lord. Clear Him a straight path” (Lk 3:4). So let us take the time to discern what is of value to us, repent of our selfish values and seek forgiveness so that the Lord who began this great work of redemption and salvation in us the day we were baptized can bring it to completion the day we die. This is our challenge this 2nd week of Advent. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #82 on:** December 12, 2024, 05:21:54 AM »

Fr Sean again.
What Should I Do?

Morality is distinguished from all other behavioral sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. because it alone prescribes or judges what we should or ought to do. The others describe what and why we do what we do. Morality asks and answers three basic questions: What kind of person should I be? What kind of action should I do? What kind of relationships or communities should I build? The reasonable answers provided by morality to these questions are: 1. You should be a person of good character. 2. You should do right actions. 3. You should build just relationships and just communities! Christian morality, based on God’s revelation and affirmed by reason, tells us the truth about what constitutes good character, right action, and just relationships. It’s important for us to examine what kind of character we’re building, what kind of actions we’re performing, and what kind of relationships and communities we’re building.

The question of what we should do is one we need to continually ask ourselves and answer as we live our daily lives. This is why we need an objective standard of morality as a measuring rod. What we do flows from our character, our sense of right and wrong, and the kind of relationships and communities we’re in. Our actions in turn affect our character and our relationships either positively or negatively. They’re all inter-related. As we continue our Advent preparation for the celebration of the sacred occasion of Christ Jesus’ birth and the cosmic event of His Second Coming, what should we be doing?

There is a marvelous scene in the Gospel according to St. Luke (3:10-18) which helps us answer the question of what we should be doing as preparation for celebrating Jesus’ birth, His sacramental presence now in His Church, and His second coming. John the Baptizer was preaching repentance of sin to the crowds. Their spiritual hunger drove them to seek out John’s guidance. The lies, deception, insincerity, violence, political intrigue, and materialism offered by false prophets have left them confused about what they should be doing. So, they’re curious to hear what John has to tell them. They want to know what they should be doing in order to find happiness and joy in their lives.

John gave them a lesson on moral living. He told them that, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” To be moral we must practice charity by developing the virtue of generosity. Our Christian morality tells us we should practice a spirit of poverty by sharing our time, talent, and treasure with others who are less fortunate and voiceless. Jesus teaches that, “Whatever you give to these the least of my brothers and sisters you give to me” (Mt 25:40). Jesus cautions us that “the measure you use to give to others will in turn be used to measure back to you” (Lk 6:38). Paradoxically, you will only get what you give. We receive only in proportion to what we give. If we give our all we’ll receive God’s all, which far outweighs our all. There are no misers in Heaven.

John told the tax collectors that they must, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” He tells them to practice the virtue of honesty. We must be truthful in our dealings with others. There are no dishonest people in Heaven.

John told the soldiers that they must, “not practice extortion, (or) falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.” We must practice the virtue of justice and not abuse our authority or power for our own gain at the expense of others well-being. We must be fair, truthful and grateful in our attitude. There are no greedy people or liars or ungrateful people in Heaven.

John’s morality is clear, simple, and direct. If we want to be Jesus’ disciples our conduct should be studded with charity, honesty, justice, truthfulness and gratitude. These virtues dispose us to the peace Jesus brought into the world and promised to all men and women of goodwill. This is a peace the world cannot give because it supports the opposite of these virtues. All human beings crave the peace Jesus offers but many deprive themselves of it because they choose vices instead of virtues and so do what they should not do. It was the absence of this peace in their hearts that drove the crowds out into the desert in hopes that John would show them how to possess it. He did so by telling them that Christ, the Prince of Peace, was coming and would give them His peace if they embraced Him as their Messiah and Savior and did what he asked.

What should we do to receive Jesus’ peace? We should be charitable, practice poverty, be honest, tell the truth, and be just in carrying out our obligations in our relationship with God, ourselves, and with one another. The result will be that, “God will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in His love” (Zeph 3:14-18). Knowing Jesus as the giver of the peace we crave and knowing what we must do to receive it motivates us to “Rejoice in the Lord always … our kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-7). So let us rejoice because now we know what we should do to have peace of mind, heart and soul. So, without further delay, let’s do it! (fr sean)

The 7 Ups for Advent
1. Wake Up !! Decide to have a good day. "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
2. Dress Up !! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. It is the most inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord doesn’t look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1st Samuel 16:7
3. Hush Up!! Learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He means for us to spend twice as much time twice as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3
4. Stand Up!! … for what you believe in. Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up !! … to the Lord. "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13
6. Reach Up !! .. . . for something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6

7. Lift Up !! … your prayers. "Don’t worry about anything; instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING." Philippians 4:6

Prayer for the Week

God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has been my Savior. I thank You Lord, I acclaim Your Name; I will make Your actions known to everyone I meet. I will proclaim how exalted is Your Name. I will sing praise to You Lord for Your glorious achievement. I want this to be known throughout the land. I will shout with joy, for You are in our midst, O Lord, Holy God. Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ is present in His Word and Sacrament in His Church, Christ will come again. Amen. (Based on Is. 12:2-6)

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #83 on:** December 12, 2024, 03:28:24 PM »

Thank you, Father Sean.

cassini · « **Reply #84 on:** December 18, 2024, 12:01:47 PM »

Fr Sean again.
See the Face of God in the Manger

To prepare us for the awesomeness of Christmas Jesus’ Church proclaims the beautiful story of two women who played a key role in God’s plan to save mankind from sinfulness. On this last Sunday before Christmas we read about these two women in St. Luke’s Gospel (1:39-45). After the angel Gabriel announced that the virgin Mary was called by God to enable His Word to become flesh, she left Nazareth to visit Elizabeth knowing that both were pregnant in a most mysterious and miraculous manner. All she knows is that the angel spoke about things that were naturally impossible. The angel assured her that God can do all things and she placed all her trust in Him. Therefore, she willingly said “Yes” to God’s request. Mary believed that God was all-good and wouldn’t ask her to do anything that would cause her disgrace or failure.

Pregnant with the Christ-child, Mary set out alone to visit Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah. Imagine the thoughts that went through her mind! Elizabeth was past childbearing age and she and Zachariah had resigned themselves to being childless. But while carrying out his priestly duties, an angel appeared to Zechariah with the news that Elizabeth would give birth to their child. He was dumbfounded. Was this a cruel joke? Well, as the angel said to Mary, he found out that “Nothing is impossible with God.” Have you ever tried to imagine what that meeting of these two women must have been like? Elizabeth, though elderly, was six months into her pregnancy while Mary, newly married to Joseph but not yet living together, was pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

God chose these two Jєωιѕн women through whom He would change the course of history. John would become known as the “Baptizer,” preaching a baptism of water calling for repentance for sin in preparation for Jesus Christ who would actually make forgiveness of sin possible for those who repented. God chose the Jews as His people to bring His blessings to all people. This mission was epitomized in John who announced that the Messiah had come to redeem and save “all the nations.” Through Mary God fulfilled His promise of a Messiah in the Incarnation of His Word in her womb. In Mary, Jєωιѕн faith in God reached perfection in her unconditional “Yes” to welcome His Word as Savior of the world.

What do Mary and Elizabeth teach us? First of all, both women lived their faith. Elizabeth’s words of praise for Mary, “How does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Blessed is she who believed that the Lord’s promises to her would be fulfilled” reflects her deep faith in the Lord’s promises in the Old Testament. She was “filled with the Holy Spirit” who enabled her to recognize Jesus’ presence in Mary’s womb. This was the same Spirit that empowered Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. The Holy Spirit brings people to Jesus, never just to Himself. Jesus explained the role of the Holy Spirit: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you” (Jn 14:26). St. John teaches us that, “This is how we can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that recognizes that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God” (1 Jn 4:2-3, 16).

The faith of these two women wasn’t just adhering to a set of Jєωιѕн beliefs. They demonstrated their faith through cooperating with God when He asked them to participate in a unique way in His plan to save mankind from self-destruction. Both of them challenge you and me to live the faith we say we have through seeking to do God’s will for us. It’s easy to say “I believe” until God asks me to do something that brings us discomfort. It’s easy to talk about faith in God but it isn’t easy to put all our trust in God. We need His Spirit to do so. The Spirit brings us to Jesus and Jesus brings us to His Father who has adopted us as His children and protects us from all our enemies. Both Mary and Elizabeth said “Yes” to the Holy Spirit and were able to put their faith in Jesus who had not yet been born. They were women filled with the Holy Spirit who united them with Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit calls us to Jesus even while we are still in the womb. Listen to Elizabeth upon Mary’s arrival: “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” God’s plan of salvation, through His Word-made-flesh in Mary’s womb, blesses all pregnancies from the moment of conception. Every baby is a sign of God’s hope for mankind. The womb is the locus for God’s greatest creativity.

What is God teaching us here? Here we see that life in the womb is human, a person, directly created by God and very much aware of God’s presence, even in this physically undeveloped stage. How do we know this? John, as a sixth-month old fetus, was aware of the presence of the God-man even as a fetus in Mary’s womb. Here God reveals that human life and personhood begin at conception. Abortion breaks God’s 5th Commandment, namely “Thou shalt do no murder” and destroys His new hope for mankind.

When Elizabeth identified Mary as “blessed among women,” she was speaking a truth that we all need to embrace. That truth is that God blesses all those who say “yes” to Him by embracing Jesus and bringing Him to others as faithful members of His Church carrying out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. The Psalmist’s prayer, “Let us see Your face and we shall be saved” (Ps 80:2-19) was fulfilled when Jesus was born. In blessing Mary for allowing her womb to be the first sanctuary for His Son, God was blessing all men and women who allow Christ to be born through them as they live their masculinity and femininity to the fullest by being life-givers in accord with their abilities. In Jesus’ birth God showed us His Face that radiates Faith, Hope, and Love. God’s love shone perfectly in Jesus but His love also shines forth in the face of every infant.

As Advent ends, Christmas begins. Christmas is the celebration of God’s act of love in letting us see His face in human form through Jesus’ entry into our world where He joins us in the Sacraments of His Church, especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In Jesus God blessed humanity by giving all men and women hope of eternal happiness through the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness. Christmas is a time when we remember how blessed we are despite our total unworthiness. God has sanctified us, thereby making us worthy of respect and protection – something that too many in our culture seem to have forgotten. Christmas isn’t a time to be merry. It’s not a time primarily for giving. Rather, it’s a time to remember. True giving flows from the memory that God has given us the gift of Himself by showing us His face in the Baby Jesus born in a humble cave because the world had no room for Him. It’s a time to remember that without Jesus we’re hopeless. Therefore, it’s a time of joy as we remember that God has come among us as one of us “in all things but sin.” Knowing that God blesses us with His presence, we’re equipped and encouraged to bless others with our presence. So when you view the Crib in your church and in your home see the Face of God in the Holy Child who radiates freedom, justice, love, hope, and peace. He is God’s present of Himself to you, so make your presence your present to those around you this Christmas. Jesus is Immanuel, God-with-us.

My prayer for you this Christmas is:

May you have Christ in your heart.
May you have Health in your body, mind, and soul.
May you Reap the reward of your labors.
May you Inform the world about the Lord.
May you Seek the truth.
May you Treat others well.
May you Mind what is precious.
May you Ask for God’s guidance.
May you Sow what you would be proud to reap.

Nollaig Shona agus Ath Bhlian Faoi Mhaise Dhaoibh Go Leir.

Fr. Sean

cassini · « **Reply #85 on:** January 01, 2025, 11:46:05 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Wisdom to Bring You Happiness in 2025

This New Year marks the end of the first quarter of 21st century. The beginning of each year brings new hope that is realized only by those who have faith in God because hope flows from faith, not wishful thinking. For some, 2025 will mark their beginning in the womb; for others it’ll be their last year on earth. One thing is certain for the followers of Jesus, namely that God makes everything work for our good if we act according to His design (Rom 8:28). The Holy Spirit advises us that, “If it should be God’s will that you suffer, it is better to do so for good deeds than for evil ones” (1 Pt 3:17). Suffering is inevitable but with Jesus residing in our heart we emerge from it better rather than bitter.

On New Year’s Eve people usually wish each other happiness. But how many realize that happiness is impossible without God? The wisdom of St. Thomas reminds us that whatever can be taken away from us can’t make us happy. Only God can’t be taken away from us against our will and therefore He alone can make us happy. We can reject Him ourselves but no one can separate us from Him. The wise person seeks what he or she desires only where it can be found. A wise person doesn’t seek gold in a piece of lead. The wise person seeks happiness by lovingly obeying God who is the only source of human fulfilment that lasts. Jesus, God’s Word-become-man, assures us that, “The heavens and the earth will pass away but my word will not pass away” (Mt 24:35). It’s foolish to invest in what doesn’t last.

This year the Church concentrates on the Gospel of Luke. To be wise in 2025, we would do well to read and reflect on this Gospel along with reading the Wisdom Books in the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, and Psalms). In these Holy Scriptures we grow in our knowledge of God’s wisdom as He teaches us how to live in freedom, justice, peace, and love. Here we find the divine truths to live by that are guaranteed to help us make wise decisions. But knowing God’s Word isn’t enough in itself. We must let it form our attitude towards God, ourselves, and our neighbour. Without formation there’s no transformation and so we don’t change for the better. How many people identify as Catholic but don’t practice the Faith? How many are baptized but live pagan lives? How many who call themselves “Catholic” but do not attend Holy Mass every Sunday? Why are some in the Church trying to change her to suit their own disordered desires? The answer is that they haven’t let God’s Word direct their spirits and do not benefit from God’s wisdom. Formation comes about when we build our life daily on what Jesus tells us through His Church’s Apostolic teaching in Word and Sacrament. Thus we become transformed into intentional children of God who live as His faithful sons and daughters. It’s important to ask whether the way we’re living is based on information that’s true or false. Will it lead me to happiness or misery in the long term?

As I said earlier, a wise man or woman is one who lives in a manner that brings him or her happiness. What is happiness? It’s the state of well-being mentally, spiritually, emotionally, morally, socially, and physically. The Dictionary defines wisdom as, “the ability to recognize or judge what is true, right, and lasting.” Our sinfulness makes it obvious that this ability is severely flawed in us. Wisdom is no longer innate in us. We can only acquire it through the power of the Holy Spirit whose gift it is. We are wise when we live according to God’s revelation.

We need God in order to be wise. Why? Because He is the Creator and knows us much better than we could ever know ourselves regarding what we need for fulfilment and contentment. He alone sets the moral standard for us in the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes demonstrating wise behaviour. Besides giving us this information so that in living it we’re formed and transformed in His image, we need God to help us embrace the truth about what’s right and what frees us to be fully human and alive. Our problem is that we’re sinful, short-sighted, and tempted by Satan, we arrogantly think we know what’s best for us. Just because something feels good doesn’t mean that it is good. The Holy Spirit reminds us that “The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom” (1 Cor 1:18). Many have knowledge of God from reason, the Bible, and the Church but are foolish because they don’t act on that knowledge.

Knowledge of God by itself doesn’t make us wise unless we put it into action in our lives. The Holy Spirit revealed that “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov 9:10). God has instilled the emotion of fear in each of us for our safety. Fear of the Lord protects us from the danger of losing our friendship with Him and dooming ourselves to eternal suffering and death. Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, (Is 11:2-3), alerts us to make sure we don’t separate ourselves from God through sinning. God seeks to communicate with everyone and for that reason He has “written His law in everyone’s heart. Their conscience bears witness together with the Law, and their thoughts will accuse or defend them on the day when, in accordance with the Gospel … God will pass judgment on the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Rom 2:15-16). The wise man or woman makes sure to develop a well-formed conscience through listening to Jesus’ authoritative teaching. The Holy Spirit warns: “See to it, then, that no one deceives you through any empty, seductive philosophy, a human wisdom based on the principles of this world rather than on Christ”(Col 2:8).

We just celebrated Jesus’s birth, God’s Word-become-man (Jn 1:1-18). He is Wisdom in the flesh. Jesus is God’s truth and the only One who can determine what’s right, just and enduring. Anything contrary to Jesus’ teaching is a lie, immoral, and corrupt. A wise person makes Jesus the centre of his or her life. How? Through repentance and faith in His Gospel as a loyal member of His Church. With Jesus as our centre, despite trials and tribulations, we’re able to proclaim: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens! God chose us in Him before the world began, to be holy and blameless in His sight, to be full of love. He destined us for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ such was His will and pleasure – that all might praise the glorious favour He has bestowed on us in His Beloved” (Eph 1:3-6). Thus the wise person, knowing that God has chosen him or her to be holy, blameless and full of love, is able to be happy despite pain.

During 2025 let God’s wisdom help you to see that only He can bring you a true sense of happiness that lasts, which you won’t find anywhere else! (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #86 on:** January 08, 2025, 07:39:33 AM »

Fr Sean again.
God’s Favour Rests on the Baptized

Jesus began His public ministry by seeking the baptism John was offering at the River Jordan. It was a momentous occasion when God revealed Himself as a Trinity of Persons. After John baptized Jesus the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, and God revealed Himself as Jesus’ Father speaking from the clouds affirming Him as His beloved Son: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you” (Lk 3:22).

To be beloved is to be favoured and to be favoured is to be loved. To be favoured is to be honoured. To be loved is to be held dear by another. That day in the Jordan River God the Father revealed that He honoured Jesus as His Son and held Him dear by bestowing the Holy Spirit on Him as He began the mission of telling everyone that God the Father wanted them to be able to enjoy His love. God’s love would be enjoyed in the act of receiving the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness for sin. God originally created man and woman in His image and likeness but they disobeyed Him and so lost their likeness to Him. St. Augustine referred to this as the Original Sin, the consequence of which was the loss of holiness and eternal life. Only God could restore what man lost, since man and woman couldn’t redeem themselves. They were no longer pleasing to Him and lost their right to life and love dooming themselves to hell. The Church teaches us that, “Original sin is the loss of original holiness and justice due to Adam's sin. As a result man is alienated from God and also other men. Man has a wounded nature inclined towards evil. A denial of this fact can only lead to serious errors in education, politics, social action and morals (CCC 407).

In requesting John’s baptism of repentance for sin Jesus signified how He was going to restore man’s lost holiness. This is why Jesus commissioned His Apostles to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Only a sinless man could make up for the damage caused by sinful man.

Because Jesus never sinned, His Baptism was a baptism of repentance, not for His own sins since He had no sin, but for the sins of men and women. His Baptism by John was by immersion of His body not just into the waters of the Jordan but the immersion of His human nature into the Holy Trinity in order to restore humanity to the state that it was in the Garden of Eden. John revealed to the people: “I am baptizing you with water but one mightier than I is to come … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16). John’s baptism called for repentance for sin. Jesus’ baptism called for personal transformation through becoming an adopted child of God and in the process becoming free from Satan’s grip through reconciliation with God and His Church. It wasn’t just a cleansing from Original sin. The Greek word “baptizo” means immersion in the sense of dye penetrating a piece of cloth. The Holy Spirit reveals that in Jesus’ baptism, “you put aside your old self with its past deeds and put on a new nature, one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator” (Col 3:9-10).

The Sacrament of Baptism that Jesus gave to His Church, is a rebirth into a redeemed nature with which God favours us. John’s baptism called for a radical change in behaviour, but Jesus’ baptism calls for a radical change in one’s nature. The “baptism of fire” which is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit’s actions in our soul, makes us a new creation, a re-born anointed child of God favoured and beloved by Him.

Baptism restores the capacity to be God’s true image and likeness – to be Christ-like. This makes the sacrament of Baptism so awesome and yet it is so little understood not only by those who receive it but all too often by those who administer it. It’s one thing to have the capacity for something but it’s quite another to exercise that capacity. That requires commitment, fidelity, and discipline. Hence the need to deeply understand this Sacrament that is essential for salvation.

God promised comfort to His people (Is 40:1ff). The greatest comfort a child can experience is the visible nearness of the parent’s love. God promised to come to His people so they would feel His nearness. “Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:9-11). This is what God is doing with us in Baptism. The Psalmist expressed the deep human need for God’s nearness: “If You take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:29-30). The Holy Spirit makes our spirit new in Baptism where He honours us and holds us dear. Through it God takes us into the love of the Father and Son for one another expressed in the Person of the Holy Spirit. We receive a new Father and Mother (God and His Church), a new family (the Church on earth and in Heaven), a new identity (God’s gifted child whom He calls by name), a new mission (save our soul), a new purpose (know, love and serve God here on earth and after death to be eternally happy with Him in Heaven), a new knowledge (God is among us and present in His Church), a new standard of love (love others as Jesus loves us), a new morality (love your neighbour as yourself), and a new destiny (Happiness in Heaven).

This is why Jesus gave His Church the Sacrament of Baptism so that, until the end of time, all men and women could experience God’s nearness as He prepares them for Heaven.

Take the time this week to reflect on your Baptism and what it means to you.

Do you realize that through Baptism God has favoured you and bestowed His love upon you calling you His “beloved”? That day Jesus began shepherding you and me as a member of His flock - His Church - cleansed from Original sin, and freed from Satan’s power over us. That day God the Father adopted us as His children and said to us individually as the water was poured over our head in the Name of the Holy Trinity, “You are my child, my beloved; my favour rests on you.” He was delighted that our parents put us up to be adopted by Him. He sent us His Spirit to guide our spirit to Jesus who showed us the way to live, taught us the truth about life and love, and offered us Himself as our life that’s eternal. “Because of His mercy He saved us through the bath of rebirth (Baptism) and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Someone said that “God meets us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there.” God, as a loving father, wants the best for us. He made us heirs to His Kingdom and all that the Kingdom offers, such as supernatural freedom, justice, peace, and love. He favours us with His presence in the person of Jesus in the confession boxes and on the altars of His Church. He gives us the gift of prayer and the divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity. He never abandons us.

How much of our time do we give Him – prayer, adoration, meditation, Holy Mass? Jesus continually knocks on the door of our heart seeking to enter our life with His warmth, compassion, and assurance that He is only too willing to help us shoulder our burdens.

He never asks anything of us that He doesn’t give us the wherewithal to accomplish. How grateful are we to Him for all His gifts, especially the supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity??

But what is our response? Do we reflect on the Baptismal vows that we renewed in the sacrament of Confirmation? Are we truly obedient children of God? Are we any different in our attitude and behaviour than someone who has no faith? Have we taken ownership of the vows our parents made on our behalf the day we were baptized? Remember that only the Creator can perfect the creature. You are I are creatures and God is the Creator who alone knows what is best and most fulfilling for us. I have included a prayer for the renewal of Baptismal Vows – will you take ownership of these vows, renew, commit yourself to be faithful to them from this day forward? Our eternity depends on our fidelity or infidelity to them. (fr sean)

Renewal of My Baptismal Vows

Almighty and Eternal God! You know all things. You see the very bottom of my heart, and You know that, however sinful I have hitherto been, I am resolved, by the help of Your grace, to love and serve You for the remainder of my life. And therefore, O my God, kneeling before the throne of Your mercy, I renew, with all the sincerity of my soul, the promises and vows made for me (by me in case of adult Baptism) in my Baptism.

I now renounce Satan with my whole heart, and will henceforth have no connection with him. I renounce all the pomp of Satan, that is, all his lies and the vanities of the world, the false treasures of its riches, honours and pleasures, and all its corrupt teachings. I renounce all the works of Satan, that is, all kinds of sin.

To You alone, O my God, I desire to cling; Your word will I hear and obey; for You alone I desire to live and to die. I believe in You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. This is my Faith. I am proud to profess it through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #87 on:** January 08, 2025, 09:17:45 AM »

Quote from: cassini on January 08, 2025, 07:39:33 AM

Fr Sean again.
God’s Favour Rests on the Baptized

Jesus began His public ministry by seeking the baptism John was offering at the River Jordan. It was a momentous occasion when God revealed Himself as a Trinity of Persons. After John baptized Jesus the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, and God revealed Himself as Jesus’ Father speaking from the clouds affirming Him as His beloved Son: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you” (Lk 3:22).

To be beloved is to be favoured and to be favoured is to be loved. To be favoured is to be honoured. To be loved is to be held dear by another. That day in the Jordan River God the Father revealed that He honoured Jesus as His Son and held Him dear by bestowing the Holy Spirit on Him as He began the mission of telling everyone that God the Father wanted them to be able to enjoy His love. God’s love would be enjoyed in the act of receiving the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness for sin. God originally created man and woman in His image and likeness but they disobeyed Him and so lost their likeness to Him. St. Augustine referred to this as the Original Sin, the consequence of which was the loss of holiness and eternal life. Only God could restore what man lost, since man and woman couldn’t redeem themselves. They were no longer pleasing to Him and lost their right to life and love dooming themselves to hell. The Church teaches us that, “Original sin is the loss of original holiness and justice due to Adam's sin. As a result man is alienated from God and also other men. Man has a wounded nature inclined towards evil. A denial of this fact can only lead to serious errors in education, politics, social action and morals (CCC 407).

In requesting John’s baptism of repentance for sin Jesus signified how He was going to restore man’s lost holiness. This is why Jesus commissioned His Apostles to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Only a sinless man could make up for the damage caused by sinful man.

Because Jesus never sinned, His Baptism was a baptism of repentance, not for His own sins since He had no sin, but for the sins of men and women. His Baptism by John was by immersion of His body not just into the waters of the Jordan but the immersion of His human nature into the Holy Trinity in order to restore humanity to the state that it was in the Garden of Eden. John revealed to the people: “I am baptizing you with water but one mightier than I is to come … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16). John’s baptism called for repentance for sin. Jesus’ baptism called for personal transformation through becoming an adopted child of God and in the process becoming free from Satan’s grip through reconciliation with God and His Church. It wasn’t just a cleansing from Original sin. The Greek word “baptizo” means immersion in the sense of dye penetrating a piece of cloth. The Holy Spirit reveals that in Jesus’ baptism, “you put aside your old self with its past deeds and put on a new nature, one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator” (Col 3:9-10).

The Sacrament of Baptism that Jesus gave to His Church, is a rebirth into a redeemed nature with which God favours us. John’s baptism called for a radical change in behaviour, but Jesus’ baptism calls for a radical change in one’s nature. The “baptism of fire” which is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit’s actions in our soul, makes us a new creation, a re-born anointed child of God favoured and beloved by Him.

Baptism restores the capacity to be God’s true image and likeness – to be Christ-like. This makes the sacrament of Baptism so awesome and yet it is so little understood not only by those who receive it but all too often by those who administer it. It’s one thing to have the capacity for something but it’s quite another to exercise that capacity. That requires commitment, fidelity, and discipline. Hence the need to deeply understand this Sacrament that is essential for salvation.

God promised comfort to His people (Is 40:1ff). The greatest comfort a child can experience is the visible nearness of the parent’s love. God promised to come to His people so they would feel His nearness. “Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:9-11). This is what God is doing with us in Baptism. The Psalmist expressed the deep human need for God’s nearness: “If You take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:29-30). The Holy Spirit makes our spirit new in Baptism where He honours us and holds us dear. Through it God takes us into the love of the Father and Son for one another expressed in the Person of the Holy Spirit. We receive a new Father and Mother (God and His Church), a new family (the Church on earth and in Heaven), a new identity (God’s gifted child whom He calls by name), a new mission (save our soul), a new purpose (know, love and serve God here on earth and after death to be eternally happy with Him in Heaven), a new knowledge (God is among us and present in His Church), a new standard of love (love others as Jesus loves us), a new morality (love your neighbour as yourself), and a new destiny (Happiness in Heaven).

This is why Jesus gave His Church the Sacrament of Baptism so that, until the end of time, all men and women could experience God’s nearness as He prepares them for Heaven.

Take the time this week to reflect on your Baptism and what it means to you.

Do you realize that through Baptism God has favoured you and bestowed His love upon you calling you His “beloved”? That day Jesus began shepherding you and me as a member of His flock - His Church - cleansed from Original sin, and freed from Satan’s power over us. That day God the Father adopted us as His children and said to us individually as the water was poured over our head in the Name of the Holy Trinity, “You are my child, my beloved; my favour rests on you.” He was delighted that our parents put us up to be adopted by Him. He sent us His Spirit to guide our spirit to Jesus who showed us the way to live, taught us the truth about life and love, and offered us Himself as our life that’s eternal. “Because of His mercy He saved us through the bath of rebirth (Baptism) and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Someone said that “God meets us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there.” God, as a loving father, wants the best for us. He made us heirs to His Kingdom and all that the Kingdom offers, such as supernatural freedom, justice, peace, and love. He favours us with His presence in the person of Jesus in the confession boxes and on the altars of His Church. He gives us the gift of prayer and the divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity. He never abandons us.

How much of our time do we give Him – prayer, adoration, meditation, Holy Mass? Jesus continually knocks on the door of our heart seeking to enter our life with His warmth, compassion, and assurance that He is only too willing to help us shoulder our burdens.

He never asks anything of us that He doesn’t give us the wherewithal to accomplish. How grateful are we to Him for all His gifts, especially the supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity??

But what is our response? Do we reflect on the Baptismal vows that we renewed in the sacrament of Confirmation? Are we truly obedient children of God? Are we any different in our attitude and behaviour than someone who has no faith? Have we taken ownership of the vows our parents made on our behalf the day we were baptized? Remember that only the Creator can perfect the creature. You are I are creatures and God is the Creator who alone knows what is best and most fulfilling for us. I have included a prayer for the renewal of Baptismal Vows – will you take ownership of these vows, renew, commit yourself to be faithful to them from this day forward? Our eternity depends on our fidelity or infidelity to them. (fr sean)

Renewal of My Baptismal Vows

Almighty and Eternal God! You know all things. You see the very bottom of my heart, and You know that, however sinful I have hitherto been, I am resolved, by the help of Your grace, to love and serve You for the remainder of my life. And therefore, O my God, kneeling before the throne of Your mercy, I renew, with all the sincerity of my soul, the promises and vows made for me (by me in case of adult Baptism) in my Baptism.

I now renounce Satan with my whole heart, and will henceforth have no connection with him. I renounce all the pomp of Satan, that is, all his lies and the vanities of the world, the false treasures of its riches, honours and pleasures, and all its corrupt teachings. I renounce all the works of Satan, that is, all kinds of sin.

To You alone, O my God, I desire to cling; Your word will I hear and obey; for You alone I desire to live and to die. I believe in You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. This is my Faith. I am proud to profess it through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thanks, Cassini. And Father.

cassini · « **Reply #88 on:** January 16, 2025, 04:33:03 AM »

Fr Sean again.
True Catholics Follow the “Mary Principle”

Can you identify the basic principles by which you live your life? What is a principle? The Webster Dictionary defines it as “a basic rule, law, or assumption that guides or explains something." A Catholic principle is a basic truth, rule, law, or assumption that explains why a person would belong to the Catholic Church. The “Mary principle” is the basic belief that doing what Jesus tells you enables you to be changed from being a sinner into being a saint and that you belong to the Catholic Church because that’s where Jesus is present and tells you what to do so that you can be converted and prepared for Heaven.

Someone pointed out the following principles as essential for human maturity. 1. I must actively search for my spiritual center, as that center holds all of me together and enables me to grow emotionally and spiritually. 2. I need to learn to give up trying to control anyone or anything outside myself and some things inside myself as well. 3. I must learn to become aware of, trust in and use God’s power to help me in my search for what fulfills me. 4. I am free to embrace God or not, as I will, but if I set my will against God, I suffer unnecessarily because I make it impossible for myself by not allowing this Power to help me. When I flow with God’s power, my life becomes beautiful and serene. The choice is entirely mine. 5. With the help of God, I must become increasingly honest with myself about my past and present attitudes, feelings, emotions, thoughts, behavior patterns, and motives. 6. I must become increasingly open with at least one other person, but preferably more, about all my emotions and emotional patterns as I discover them. 7. I must increasingly accept myself exactly as I am – without hiding, disguising, distorting, or rejecting any part of myself. 8. I must recognize my need to repent of my sins, seek forgiveness and come to freely forgive all who have wronged me and with the help of God to remove what blocks my growth as a Catholic. Without principles we’re doomed. To be principled is to base our lifestyle on particular truths that are time-tested and enhance integrity.

Life must be based on certain principles that must be upheld if we’re to be real, true, good and beautiful individuals. Our behaviour should be determined by the “principle of the thing” rather than by what’s popular, politically expedient, or pleasurable. When we’re principle-based nothing can shake us from our convictions. To be a Catholic Christian is to live our life according to the principles laid down by Jesus and His Church. The first principle of Christianity is that personal faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Son of Man through membership in His Church, who redeems mankind from Satan’s grip in order to enjoy an eternal life of happiness with God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit with the angels and saints. Adherence to this principle is essential as a true member of Jesus’ Church. “Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn17:3). To know God personally it is essential to know Jesus since He is God in human form. Knowing Jesus means having an intimate relationship with Him, which becomes visible and real in the Holy Mass. When we act out of our principles we are true to ourselves. When we don’t we betray ourselves.

Mary is our great example of living a principled Faith. At Cana Mary and Jesus were guests at a wedding when the wine ran out. Mary was concerned for the young couple’s inevitable embarrassment of having no more wine for the guests. She came to Jesus who seemed to initially rebuff her, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Undaunted in her faith in Jesus, she simply said to the waiters, “Do whatever He tells us” (Jn 2:5). This command of Mary to the waiters is known as the “Mary Principle.” It’s a basic principle that explains the heart of Christianity. Christianity is all about doing what Jesus tells us. This is the rule that says those who wish to be Christian must do exactly what Jesus tells them. This is what faith in Jesus is all about – total obedience and trust in Him. He reminded His disciples, “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love” (Jn 15:10). As Mary’s faith and love for God was visible in her obedience to God’s call to her, she calls us to show our faith and love for Jesus by doing what He asks of us. Doing what Jesus tells us is a basic principle of being a Christian. To call ourselves Catholic and disobey Jesus is to be unprincipled. To follow someone other than Jesus is to break the First Commandment. Like Mary, Christians must be willing to do whatever He asks of us through His Church. Similarly His Church must do what He asks of her, namely to faithfully hand on the Apostolic Tradition and traditional moral teaching to each generation. He places His Church and each of her members under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who provides the necessary gifts to accomplish what He asks of us. “The particular way in which the Holy Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.” (1 Cor 12:7) Like Mary, a principled Catholic does whatever Jesus tells him or her. Jesus tells us what to do in the Holy Scriptures and in His Church’s Catechism. So the faithful Catholic reads, listens and implements the Gospels asking the Holy Spirit to help discern what Jesus is telling him or her to be and to do. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #89 on:** January 22, 2025, 01:00:47 PM »

Fr Sean again.
Is Your Vision and Mission that of Jesus?

Everyone has some kind of vision for their life, even though they may not be conscious of it? Having a vision for our life is very important because it determines how we’ll try to live it. The vision motivates the mission. Vision and mission are bound together. A vision is a mental picture of what we ultimately want to achieve. A vision focuses our efforts and gives us a dot on the horizon toward which we move and hope to reach. Our mission, then, carried out in the present, is to procure and use the necessary resources that enable us to achieve our vision. A mission’s success is measured by how well it leads to attaining the vision. The vision inspires the mission and the mission makes the vision more tangible. Without a vision a mission is unfocused and ultimately fails. This is true in relationships, marriage, business, politics, education, careers, and Church.

God’s vision for everyone is that they would be like Jesus who is the perfect image of God because He is both God and man. “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27). God’s mission for man and woman as His image is to: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it .... cultivate the earth and care for it” (Gen 1:28; 2:15). Sadly, Satan tempted man and woman with a new vision, namely that of being gods themselves so they abandoned God’s vision for them. With this new vision of being gods came a new mission, namely using God’s creation to gratify themselves. This is called sin where ego is supreme. Sin is man’s distorted mission to achieve his egotistical vision of himself. God didn’t give up on stupid man, so He intervened. He called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then Moses to form a people who would embrace His original vision and mission for the salvation of humanity. He promised through Moses: “I will take you as my own people, and you shall have me as your God” (Ex 6:7). But again the people chose a vision and mission contrary to God’s will and abusing their freedom ended up being exiled. God inspired the pagan Persian, Cyrus, to free them and so return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and once again embrace God’s vision for them. The priest, Ezra, “opened the scroll so that all the people might see it … he read plainly from the Book of God’s law interpreting it so that all could understand what was read …Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad and do not weep – for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law” (Neh 8:5-9). The people wept because they were introduced once again to the vision of God’s love for them and the peace that came from participating in the mission that would restore their faith in God’s will and a true identity as His children that assured them of fulfilment.

God made His vision and mission for His people visible in the Person of Jesus Christ, His Word-made-flesh. After His baptism Jesus came to Nazareth, His home town, and entered the ѕуηαgσgυє on the Sabbath. Taking the Book of Isaiah He opened the scroll, like Ezra hundreds of years earlier, and read from it. Then He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:16, 21). What was in the passage? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favour to the Lord” (Lk 4:18-19). Jesus announced that He is indeed the Promised Messiah to reiterate God’s vision for His people and show how to attain it. What did God envisage for His people? He would lead them Himself bringing the good news that the poor would become rich, those captives of a fallen nature would be freed, those blinded by ignorance and false teaching would be able to see clearly, those imprisoned by sin would be released, and a time where people would be blessed by God was at hand. He founded His Church to keep that vision before all generations and establish a mission in which all can participate in order to attain the vision.

As a child in school I learned what God’s vision for me and everyone else was, even though I didn’t understand it. The teacher would ask us, “Who made you?” We learned to answer: “God made me.” Then he would ask, “Why did God make you?” We would answer: “God made me to know Him, love Him, and serve Him in this world and afterwards to be happy with Him forever in heaven.” God’s vision for all of us is to know Him, love Him, and serve Him here on earth and ultimately to be with Him in everlasting happiness. To attain this vision we need Jesus’ Church to participate in the mission of doing what is necessary in order to know, love, and serve God. We need Jesus’ Church because that is where He is present offering us the graces through the power of the Holy Spirit to hear His Good News and to be freed from our spiritual poverty, from what physically and spiritually captivates and imprisons us. We need Jesus Church to provide us with a visible sign of God’s favour in the graces which He bestows on us through the Sacraments, and especially in the Holy Mass. This is the reason why the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation.

Fidelity to God’s vision for us and active participation in the mission to attain it that’s provided by Jesus’ Church always fosters freedom, justice, peace, and charity. But sadly, when this vision is abandoned or distorted the mission becomes diseased, malignant, by man-made visions that bring confusion and division in the Body of Christ. Tragically this is a reality today in the Church. St. Paul addresses this problem and uses the metaphor of the human body to describe how all Christians must work together for the Church’s credible promotion of Jesus’ vision and mission. “The body is one and has many members; but all the members, many though they are, are one body; and so it is with Christ. It was in one Spirit that all of us … were baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:12ff). Jesus founded only one Church. God has only one vision and one mission for His people. Each person has been given gifts to participate in that mission so as to attain that vision which is a community endeavour. Each person, like each bodily organ, has a purpose making him or her necessary to the health of the whole Church. No one is unnecessary. Like the bodily organs, all Christians must use their gifts for the health and unity of the body of Christ if God’s vision and mission are to be brought to a fallen, spiritually and mentally captivated, blind, misguided and egotistical and sinful world. God favours us with His mercy by sending us Jesus who shows us how to be God’s servants, the stewards of His creation, and not its masters for our own selfish ends. God’s vision and mission, fulfilled and made visible in Jesus present in His Church, unifies all who embrace them. Thus your life is meaningful, purposeful and happy. Does your vision for your life correspond with God’s vision for you? What does your use of your resources tell you about your vision and mission? Any vision and mission other than that given by Jesus dooms us to failure. (fr sean)

Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 179729 times)

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

Viva Cristo Rey

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

Viva Cristo Rey

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

cassini

Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live