Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 38746 times)

cassini · « **Reply #30 on:** January 11, 2024, 05:21:51 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Are You Listening to God Calling You?

Having entered this New Year it would be good for us to ask, “Am I listening to God calling me?” God, as the loving Father who provides for us, the Redeemer who died to save us, and the Holy Spirit who makes us holy, continuously calls each of His children to some service. Therefore, in the words of the psalm (40:2 -10), if we listen, you and I learn that “…the Lord is attentive to me. He heard my prayers and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs … He directed my steps and He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God… Blessed is the man whose trust is in the Name of the Lord; and who has no regard for vanities and lying follies …to do Your will, O God, is my delight, and Your law is within my heart! I announced Your justice in the vast assemblies; I do not restrain my lips as You, O Lord, know.” What God calls us to be and do He also gives us the wherewithal to accomplish.

The purpose of listening is to learn. God talks to us in our conscience, in Holy Scripture and His Church’s Tradition, but if we don’t listen we won’t learn and so remain dullards in our ignorance of what He calls us to be. The Holy Spirit urges us to, “Act on this Word. If all you do is hear it, you are deceiving yourselves. There is, on the other hand, the person who looks into freedom’s ideal law and abides by it. That person is no forgetful hearer, but one who carries out the law in practice. Blest will this person be in whatever he or she does” (Jas 1:22, 25). Ignorance and forgetfulness are the root of all evil, particularly regarding how much we need God, hear and listen to Him and follow His ways. Hearing and listening aren’t the same. They are two stages in the process of understanding. We must hear with a listening ear. Too often we hear without listening and so we receive only the content but not the intent. It’s the intent that’s most important. Content can be misunderstood but intent cannot. What we think we hear isn’t always what is intended. Listening requires presence, empathy, and reflection. This is how understanding comes about.

This Sunday the Church proclaims God’s call to Samuel (1 Sam 3:3-10, 19) to be His prophet, Jesus’ call to His first Apostles (Jn 3:35-42), and St. Paul’s call to focus on the purity of the body ( 1 Cor 6:13-20).

Samuel was awakened one night by a voice calling his name. He thought it was the prophet Eli. Eli advised Samuel it might be God and so to say, if he heard the voice again, “Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.” This prayer prepared Samuel to hear and listen to what God wanted. Thus “Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.” Listening leads to understanding what we’re being called to do.

Our daily prayer each day must be, “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening,” if we want to understand what God is telling us. We have to develop our ability to listen because we’re not automatically good listeners. We have to learn listening skills. Listening requires the following ingredients: be respectful toward and have faith in the speaker; empathize with the speaker, ask true questions to deepen our understanding, and give good feedback to make sure we’re grasping the speaker’s intent. These apply in every relationship including with God. In the absence of these qualities we’re not listening and so we miss the message and abort the communication.

Every sin signifies a refusal to listen to God. When we don’t listen we become “forgetful hearers.” Listening calls for an investment of oneself in the speaker. Merely hearing the person doesn’t. When I invest myself in a speaker I allow myself to be influenced and to learn from him or her. When God speaks to us and we listen we cannot help but be influenced by Him. We can hear Jesus, but because we don’t listen we’ll walk away and remain untouched. Where there’s no investment there’s no change.

Samuel listened and invested Himself in God. So did Andrew and Peter. The Holy Spirit empowered John the Baptizer to recognize Jesus with the words, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” These words have rung continuously down through the generations in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Holy Communion time. Having listened to John, Andrew asked Jesus where he lived. He replied, “Come and see!” Having listened to Jesus, Andrew was so influenced that he went and told his brother, Simon, “We have found the Messiah” and brought him to Jesus who named him “Cephas – Peter.”

What do we see here? Andrew listened to Jesus and invested himself in Him with the result that he felt compelled to share the experience with his brother. This is what happens when we listen to Jesus and invest ourselves in Him. We can’t keep the good news to ourselves. If we don’t listen we won’t let Jesus influence us and so we’ve no good news to share. Perhaps that’s why so many say, “I get nothing out of going to Church.” Jesus calls each of us to listen, invest ourselves in Him, and respond, “Here I am, Lord, I come to do Thy will” (Ps 40). Then Jesus invests in us and we’re able to proclaim with the Psalmist, “To do Your will, O God, is my delight, and Your law is written on my heart. I announced Your justice in the vast assembly; I didn’t restrain my lips, as You, O Lord, know.” Thus we have great news to share.

We invest ourselves in God’s call not just spiritually but also bodily. Therefore we must use our body in accord with His word. The Holy Spirit warns us through St. Paul to “avoid immorality/fornication” (1 Cor 6: 13-20). “The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord … You know that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I, then, take the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? God forbid … He who is joined to a prostitute is made one body ... Flee from fornication. Every sin that a man commits is outside his body, but he that commits fornication, sins against his own body. Do you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own. You are bought with a great price, therefore glorify God in your body.”

God calls us to unite with Him as body-soul creatures. If we use our body selfishly we separate ourselves from God. We cannot be united with God spiritually without being united with Him bodily. We listen to God with our whole self – body and soul. If we use our body for immoral purposes we insult our Creator by investing in evil rather than in Him. None of us is immune to sɛҳuąƖ urges which can overpower us if we stop listening to God.

In the listening process our whole self must be involved if we’re to understand and be influenced by what we’re hearing. Therefore we must use our body in such a way that we give glory to God as our Creator and redeemer. Immorality or fornication, adultery, sex abuse, desecrate our body that became a temple of the Holy Spirit the day we were baptized. What we do with our body affects our soul and vice versa. So to fully listen to God, answer His call, and be transformed by Him we must be united with Him both in body and soul in order to receive His blessing and be a blessing to others. Our bodies aren’t our own to do what we want with them. We must use them to serve God and not our disordered desires. That means avoiding sins of the flesh that pollute the body and soul. Immorality impedes us from carrying out God’s call to live as His gifted children destined for eternal happiness. May we be willing listeners, in body and soul, to God’s daily call each day of our life. (fr sean)

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #31 on:** January 11, 2024, 08:51:51 AM »

Thank you, Father Sean.

cassini · « **Reply #32 on:** January 17, 2024, 10:44:17 AM »

Fr Sean again:

Are You Seeking Fulfilment?

Erik Erickson identified eight stages of psychosocial development from infancy to old age. Each stage involves a choice between a positive or negative approach to life, such as choosing to trust or mistrust the world in infancy. The last stage in old age involves the choice between facing the end of life with integrity or despair. Choosing integrity would reflect the belief that one lived a fulfilled life and have no regrets. Facing the end of life in despair would reflect the opposite. A life well lived would give a person a sense of fulfilment as he or she approaches death. A life well lived is a life of integrity. It’s one that is lived honestly, principled, and to the best of one’s ability. It is a life wherein a person has fulfilled his or her hopes and dreams.

The dictionary defines fulfilment as the achievement of what we long for? So what do we long for? There are as many answers as there are people. As creatures we consciously or unconsciously long for the Creator. Why? Because we need to understand ourselves and get answers to questions about ourselves and our world that we cannot answer on our own. Also we have yearnings that we cannot satisfy on our own. Because we haven’t created ourselves we need our Creator to show us what our potential is and how to achieve it. Can we achieve this on our own? No. We need God’s wisdom to guide us. This is why the Holy Spirit tells us that, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps 14:1). The fool is the person who thinks he or she can function independently of God. Sadly, the majority of people in the world today are infected by such foolhardiness and so doom themselves to despair. We see the results in the drastic increase in ѕυιcιdє, euthanasia, abortion, transgenderism, and Malthusianism. The root cause is the rejection of God and the vain attempt at self-fulfillment and self-salvation. This is the legacy of Adam and Eve which they created by letting Satan tempt them into thinking that they didn’t need God. To expose this delusion, this sin, Jesus to show and tell us what we need to do to avoid despair and achieve the fulfillment for which we yearn. It takes the Creator to enable us as His creatures to achieve our true purpose, namely to know, love and serve Him here on earth and after death to be with Him forever in Heaven. This is why God sent Jonah to call the Ninevites (Jon 3:1-5, 10) to repent and turn to Him so that they could realize their true purpose in life.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Mark (1:14-20), Jesus speaks about fulfillment. “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” In Jesus, God has fulfilled His promises to bring us back to Him by saving us from our sinfulness and hopelessness. He shows us how to be free, just, love, and at peace. He shows us how to integrate body and soul and live a fulfilled life so we don’t have regrets at the end. Having requested John’s baptism of water, Jesus started forming His community that He would designate as the visible sign of God’s Kingdom on earth wherein people would unite with Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Simon and Andrew were the first members of His Church calling them to, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Imagine the looks on their faces when He told them they would become “fishers of men.” Later on He said something similar to James and John, who immediately left their father and their boats to follow Him. They were all fishermen fishing for fish. How did Jesus mean them to be “fishers of men”? Their culture had steeped them in expectation of a Messiah whom God would send to liberate them. They hoped that Jesus would be the promised Messiah. This whole episode is connected to the notion of human “fulfillment,” namely to be free. The freedom Jesus would offer was not political or economic, but spiritual – freedom from sin. Jesus’ formula for achieving fulfillment was through repentance and belief in the Gospel. Worldly people, fools, laugh at this. But does the world provide human fulfilment? The world’s news is that the worst is ahead so we have to save the planet. Jesus’ news is that the best is ahead and He will save us. We attain it by repenting and believing the Gospel. The Psalmist knew the best was ahead when he proclaimed, “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me… Guide me in Your truth … For You are God my Savior … Good and upright is the Lord; He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice and teaches the humble His way” (Ps 25:4-19). His way calls us to be humble, repent and have faith in the Gospel.

St. Augustine wrote, “You have created us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” The heart of every person is restless since it cannot find fulfillment in any created thing. Only the Infinite can perfect the finite. Our jobs cannot provide us with the level of satisfaction or achievement sought by our soul. Our relationships cannot completely satisfy us because we’re all imperfect. Our education, degrees, wealth, popularity, etc., cannot make us permanently happy unless they lead us to God. Only God can do this. And the great obstacle that prevents our hearts from resting in God is our sinfulness. So the first step on the path toward fulfilment is the recognition of our sinfulness and our need for the grace of repentance which comes from God.

It’s sad today, despite all our scientific knowledge and material progress, to see the amount of energy and effort being put into an attempt to eliminate God from the world. It’s a perfect example of people shooting themselves in the foot. Why are people so intent in making despair inevitable? Instead of emphasizing the importance of God’s presence in society as the only effective means to overcome restlessness, violence, depression, and disrespect for human life, immorality, and the insane blurring of the differences between man and woman. Why? Because sin is the root cause of all of them. The world’s cure focuses on offering more material things, more antidepressants, more physical pleasure, more egotism, and less responsibility, which actually makes things worse. When are we going to heed the message that humanity has to be saved from sin before it can be perfected? Man and woman need God for their fulfillment. The time to start on the path to fulfilment is now. The Kingdom of God is here, visible in Jesus’ Church announcing His revelation that if you want to live a fulfilled life, a life of integrity rather than despair, then accept that “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” This is the formula for happiness. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #33 on:** January 24, 2024, 02:01:48 PM »

Fr Sean again:
Jesus Spoke with Authority

The Church opens this week by proclaiming Jesus as the One who speaks with authority. “The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes” (Mk 1:21-28). What is authority? The dictionary defines authority as “the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.” Where does that power or right come from? It comes from the one who is all-powerful and who determines what is right and, by default, what is wrong, namely God. All authority comes from God who shares His power with men and women for the benefit of His creation.

The purpose of power is to change and improve ourselves and creation according to God’s will. That means eliminating what’s sinful so we can grow in God’s image and likeness thereby achieving our true purpose and the fullness of our potential. To show us how to do this God sent His Word to take on our nature in the womb of a virgin and become man. This man is Jesus whose coming was prophesied hundreds of years earlier in the Old Testament. Moses told God’s people, “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to Him you will listen” (Deut 18: 15-20). Listening to Jesus is crucial because He shows us that God shares His power with us and how to use it in service to Him and to our neighbor. The Psalmist emphasizes the urgency of listening to Jesus when he proclaims, “Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation,,, Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us. For He is our God and we are … the flock He guides. If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:1-9).

The fact that all authority comes from God is a reminder that whoever is in a position of authority in this world will be held accountable by Him for the way they use it. No person or institution has authority or power independently of God. The notion that a person or the State authorizes itself and uses power for its own agenda leads to dictatorship and abuse that destroys humanity and creation. The State receives her authority from the people and the people receive it from God. Since the State can’t exist without the people, and people can’t exist without God neither entity has authority apart from God. When the State attempts to deprive the people of the power God has given them it abuses its authority. Such use of authority translates into dictatorship, oligarchy, or some such absolutist form of authoritarian government. Such a government has no authority in the eyes of God and mustn’t be obeyed.

Parents are given authority over their children by God in the Sacrament of Matrimony. From that authority flows the power to raise their children in accord with the teaching of Jesus and His Church. That means listening to Jesus and following in His footsteps as faithful members of His Church. The purpose of this authority is to serve the children by teaching them, through word and example, how to unite with God as their Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier, and Guarantor of eternal happiness. To use their authority and power to deprive the children of the knowledge and grace of God, parents abuse their authority for which God will hold them accountable.

The people were impressed with Jesus because He spoke what He believed, namely the truth of which He is the Author, and what He wanted for every man and woman to know, namely that He would make it possible for them to be saved from their sins and enter Heaven. They saw Him use the power that came from His authority to conquer evil and death. The demons recognized His authority and power over them. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” Jesus silenced them: “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” In amazement the onlookers said to one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the evil spirits and they obey Him.” Jesus demonstrated how God means for authority and power to be used, namely to conquer evil in all its manifestations.

To continue demonstrating God’s authority and power Jesus founded His Church on Peter and authorized him to be the keeper of the keys of God’s Kingdom empowering him to teach the truth. The truth being Jesus Himself. Jesus gave the Apostles, and through them His Church, the authority to speak in His Name. “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the One who sent me” (Lk 10:16). He shared His power with them when He said, “Whose sins you shall forgive they are for-given; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. Whatsoever you bind on earth is bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in Heaven” (Jn 10:23).

The Apostles, in turn in the Name of Jesus, handed on to the whole Church the authority Jesus had personally given them to continue to bring that deposit of faith to all generations, undiluted. Jesus has authorized His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to preach and teach His Gospel in His Name guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised, “I will be with my Church all days until the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). The Church in which Jesus is present is the Church to which He has given the authority to speak authentically in His Name under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The authenticity of authority is judged by whether power is being used to facilitate obedience to the Ten Commandments and living the Beatitudes, or it’s being used for egotistical glorification. The Church’s proper use of her authority and power is determined by her emphasis on fidelity to preaching the Gospel. God created the universe as an expression of His love. He created men and women to be stewards of the earth and use it for their benefit. We are stewards of the earth, not saviors of the planet. As its stewards, God authorizes us to use the earth in a manner that unites us with Him. The authority Jesus gave the Apostles and they in turn handed on to the whole Church is authentic only when it’s used to call and enable men and women to convert from sin and receive God’s grace.

Sadly, the Church is made up of sinful human beings and therefore her Apostolic-given authority from Christ has often been abused by her ordained leaders and lay members. That is why Christ instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We’re all sinners, prone to egotism and temptation. The greatest temptation is to try and appropriate authority and power for our own selfish purposes. There is something in our fallen nature that has difficulty trusting in God and doing things His way. We would rather be gods ourselves and create our own truth which is a disguise for the lies we tell ourselves and others. False gods always wield authority and power as weapons for dominating others rather than as instruments of service. Let us pray that we may use the authority Jesus has given us in Baptism and Confirmation to speak and live the Gospel with the power of conviction that will astonish the Woke-infected world and quieten its demons. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #34 on:** January 31, 2024, 10:50:19 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Everybody Is Looking for Jesus

How do you feel when a lot of people call on you for help? Do you become irritated and wish they would go away? Jesus had gone to “a lonely place in the desert; there He was absorbed in prayer” spending time alone with His Father when the Apostles interrupted Him. They said, “Everybody was looking for you!” The people kept chasing Him. Why? He offered them freedom from their physical and spiritual diseases and maladies. We all want to be healthy. No one wants to be sick because illness implies pain, weakness, and the reality of death. But we can’t always avoid it. Everyone suffers in one way or another. We can empathize with Job (Jb 7:1-7) when he asked, “Is not man’s life a drudgery? I am filled with restlessness … my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again …” He recognized his need for help to cope with his misery that he couldn’t give himself. We need God to rescue us. The Psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reveals that in our misery we should, “Praise the Lord for He is good … He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds … To his wisdom there is no limit. The Lord sustains the lowly; the wicked He casts to the ground.” Jesus came to fulfil what the Holy Spirit revealed.

In the Gospel of St. Mark (1:29-39) people witnessed Jesus freeing those suffering from physical and spiritual sickness. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering with a fever when Jesus visited. He took her hand and helped her up from her sickbed. She was down but He raised her up. The word about Jesus’ miracle spread. By that night several people suffering physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental illnesses were brought to Jesus in the hope of being lifted up from them. Jesus helped helpless people to regain their strength and freedom. Was it any wonder that the Apostles located Him as He prayed and said, “Everybody is looking for you”?

Jesus said: “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10). He came to restore fallen human nature to its original state by re-uniting it with God. Thus He empowers all who believe in Him to turn their life of drudgery into an exciting and productive one where they’re no longer bored living meaningless lives. The creature needs a positive relationship with the Creator in order to know what his or her potential is. The creature needs to be constantly in the company of the Creator in order to know what is natural or unnatural for him or her. The Creator energizes the creature to be creative and fulfil his or her potential.

Is everybody looking for Jesus today? Yes, even though many don’t know it and look for fulfillment in all the wrong places. As creatures we’re looking for our Creator who alone can fulfil us. Jesus is the only one who can tell us who the Creator is and what His directions are. Without Jesus we can’t have a personal relationship with God and so are easily tempted to follow false gods. When I know my Creator He enables me to know my true identity and purpose as His creature. The Creator creates the creature and gives it its nature. That nature has a built-in law directing it to its true goal or destiny. That is called the Natural Law. When nature goes against that law it behaves unnaturally. Unnatural behavior does an injustice to the integrity of the creature, turning it into something it was never meant to be. The result is disorder, confusion, and destruction. When we act in a manner that contradicts our nature we become disordered internally and externally. We twist our soul into a grotesque shape by feeding it with what is poisonous. Our human nature has a built-in law that acts like the white lines on the road. When we cross these lines we leave the safety zone and endanger our life as well as the life of others. The law of nature isn’t there to limit us, but to keep us on track as we confidently move forward to our true destiny. Thus we have order in our life and are able to be fully present to ourselves and to all of God’s creation. The moment we reject the law of our human nature is also the moment we ignore the laws built into the natures of other parts of creation. When we ignore the law of our human nature, because we’re the high-point of earthly creation, we automatically cause disorder in the rest of the universe. As we go, so goes the world. If we lead the world away from God by rebelling against the law He instilled in our human nature the result will be chaos since we’ll try to redefine our own purpose and the purpose of creation as we want it, not as the Creator ordained it.

The more we deny or ignore the law of human nature the more we’ll enact laws that promote what’s unnatural to humanity. The legalization of abortion is a perfect example of a law enacted by men who have rejected the built-in law of human nature to continue our species. It’s unnatural to kill one’s young. Margaret Mead, noted anthropologist, said that any species that kills its young dooms itself to extinction. Attempts to enact laws legitimizing assisted ѕυιcιdє are examples of man acting against his nature, which is to live. Death is unnatural because God didn’t create us to die but to live eternally. Promoting the legalization and blessing of ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ unions exemplifies the attempt to reject the natural law that God created man and a woman to naturally complement one another and use their sɛҳuąƖity to transmit life. Due to Adam and Eve’s sin we suffer from a fallen nature. Jesus redeemed it so that we don’t fall into the trap of trying to make a behavior that flows from fallen human nature into an accepted behavior of redeemed human nature. That would be an aberration. The natural law is always bolstered by the revealed will of God expressed in Jesus’ teaching. It doesn’t change.

Man-made laws must always reflect the natural law if they are to promote the common good of all men and women. What’s legal isn’t always what’s moral. The morality of a law is always judged by whether or not it reflects the natural law. If it doesn’t - as in the case of abortion, same-sex unions, transgenderism, euthanasia, etc. - it is immoral and fuels disorder in the world. We need Jesus to help us put order into our disordered lives.

Everybody needs Jesus because He alone enables fallen human nature to obey the law instilled in it by His Father. He came to cure and make whole those who suffered disorders, of one kind or another, namely sin. He called everyone to become holy. Holiness is attained through walking in the company of God. This walk automatically leads to wholeness, which involves adherence to nature’s laws.

Jesus reminds us that He came to bring order to a disordered humanity through hearing and living in accord with His word of truth. He said to His Apostles, “Let us go to the nearby villages so that I may preach there also. For this purpose I have come.” St Paul (1 Cor 9:16-23), inspired by the Holy Spirit, felt the urgency to introduce Jesus to the world. “Woe to me if I do not preach it (Gospel) …I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.” Jesus handed the task of preaching His Gospel to His Apostles as the first leaders of His Church and they in turn handed it on to their successors down to today. He said, “Go forth and make disciples of all the nations… Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:18-20). What He commanded them to do was preach the Gospel that called everyone to know that “The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). This is how order is restored. Everyone is seeking, in one way or another, to improve their life and that requires putting Jesus first in our life. Since only Jesus can help people do that, everyone needs to find Him. Hence the urgency to evangelize. (fr sean).

cassini · « **Reply #35 on:** February 07, 2024, 10:55:10 AM »

Fr Sean again:

Humility and Faith Bring Jesus’ Cleansing Touch

A leper approached Jesus, expressed his faith in Him, and pleaded to be cured. St. Mark relates that Jesus felt pity for the man. Pity is defined as “sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy.” Leprosy was a dreaded disease. It brought much pain, distress, and unhappiness to the sufferer since it meant isolation from family and community. It caused the person’s bodily extremities to rot, creating a bad smell. Jєωιѕн law banned lepers from any interaction with their families and friends to prevent contagion. Out of fear of contagion and an attempt at containment the Mosaic Law stipulated that, “The one who bears the sore of leprosy … shall declare himself unclean … he shall dwell apart making his abode outside the camp.” (Lv 13:1-2, 44-46).

Jesus, acting out of faith rather than obedience to a man-made law, “stretched out His hand and touched him” (Mk 1:41). Jesus sees no one as untouchable, except those who choose to reject Him. The leper had two qualities going for him, namely faith and humility. By “Kneeling down as he addressed Him” (Mk 1:40) the man humbly requested Jesus’ power to restore him to health and family. He displayed His faith in Jesus when he said, “If you will to do so, you can cure me” (Mk 1:40). Jesus responded to the man’s humble prayer of faith: “I do will it. Be made clean.” (Mk 1:40-41). Then He told the man, “Go off and present yourself to the priest and offer for your cure what Moses prescribed. That should be proof for them” (Mk 1:44). Only the priest had the authority to declare a leper cleansed from his disease and reunited with his family. Similarly, only a priest of the Church has the authority to declare a penitent to be cleansed of his or her sin and be reunited with God’s family.

Humility and faith are essential qualities in our requests for God’s help to cope with our infirmities and receive forgiveness for our sins. The Psalmist exemplifies these virtues when he proclaimed, “I turn to You, Lord, in time of trouble. You fill me with the joy of salvation. Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile” (Ps 32:1, 2, 5, 11). Humility and Faith force us to admit that we cannot save ourselves. The leper knew he couldn’t save himself. He was receptive to the Holy Spirit of truth who enabled him to see Jesus as his Saviour. This is the challenge to each of us. Am I receptive to the Holy Spirit who alone is able to enlighten my spirit with the truth of who I am and what I need to be free, to belong, to be powerful, and to enjoy myself as God’s creation? This is why we should begin each day inviting the Holy Spirit to fill our heart and enkindle in us the fire of His divine love so that we may be created in accord with God’s will, be truly wise, share in His consolations, and with His help renew the face of the earth. That’s our vocation.

None of us is immune to physical disease. Neither are we immune to spiritual disease - sin. We can’t cleanse our soul from the stain of sin. We can clean our body but we can’t clean our soul. We need the Holy Spirit to cleanse our soul. Since God is the Creator of our soul, our self, only He can cleanse it of its diseases. The soul becomes sick through sin. Like leprosy, sin deforms us, making our soul ugly, which is reflected in our spirit, causing us to alienate one another. Only the love of God binds us together and purifies our soul that’s reflected in a positive spirit. Sin – taking for ourselves - is the opposite of love – giving to others. Since we inherit a sin-stained nature due to Original Sin we come into the world prone to selfishness. Jesus didn’t come to cleanse us from bodily leprosy, but He did come to cleanse us from spiritual leprosy, namely the sinfulness that disfigures who God created us to be, namely His image and likeness. “Jesus said to them, ‘The healthy do not need a doctor; sick people do. I have not come to invite the self-righteous to a change of heart, but sinners’” (Lk 5:31). Self-righteous people don’t recognize their spiritual disfigurement. Sinners do. They’re the ones who, in faith, recognize Jesus as the Cleanser, the Saviour, and, like the leper, humbly kneel and ask to be made clean and restored to the community, Jesus’ Church. This is what happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Coming to call sinners, Jesus knew that spiritual cleansing would be an ongoing human need. This is why He delegated His power of forgiveness to Peter and the other Apostles which they handed on through the ordained priests of His Church. Thus Jesus made cleansing from sin available to the repentant sinner until the end of time. He does so through His Church’s Sacraments. In Baptism He frees us from Satan’s grip on our soul and from our disordered bodily desires. In Reconciliation He washes away our personal sins, especially those that are serious or mortal. In the Holy Mass He cleanses us from our venial sins. In the Anointing of the Sick He cleanses those who’re too weak to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Jas 5:13ff). But, like the leper, to be cured, cleansed of our spiritual diseases we need humility and faith. Just like the leper who wanted to follow Him, Jesus told him to go back home and tell his family what happened to him, he wants us to do the same. In the words of St. Paul (1 Cor 10:31-11:1), “Do everything for the glory of God.” Then we’ll hear Jesus’ words through His Church when we ask Him to cleanse us: “I do will it. Be cured, clean, forgiven, made whole, and reconciled to God’s family!”

Jesus’ Church provides us with a special season during which God’s cleansing graces flow in a special way. This period of time is known as Lent. It begins this coming Wednesday – Ash Wednesday. Interestingly, Wednesday is also the feast of St. Valentine, a priest, who ministered to persecuted Christians, is the patron of chaste love and those suffering from epilepsy. He was martyred for his Catholic Faith. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent calling us to “repent and believe in the Gospel” as people whose bodies will become dust one day. Valentine believed in the Gospel so much that He gave his life for it because it brought him to Jesus. Following in the footsteps of Valentine Lent is a time to become purified from our sins by practicing humility, deepening our faith in Jesus Christ, and living chaste lives. The Lord wants to touch us with His healing hand but, like the leper and St. Valentine, we must humbly request His help and completely trust in Him. Through humble and faithful fasting, prayer, and generosity may each of us be restored to full spiritual health and be reunited to Jesus’ Church as the leper was after Jesus restored him to his health and family. May the joy of God’s cleansing grace be yours this holy Lenten season (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #36 on:** February 14, 2024, 11:40:09 AM »

Fr Sean again:

Lent: Lead Us not Into Temptation

Beginning with Ash Wednesday Jesus’ Church devotes the following six weeks to emphasizing the need for us to more deeply embed prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in our daily routine so that we can be purified from our sinfulness and experience the joy of Easter Resurrection. These activities open our minds to be seeded by God’s thoughts, so they can take root in our soul, influence our heart, and strengthen us against evil. This is essential if we want to give witness to the world that Jesus Christ is the only true Saviour of mankind. As members of Jesus’ Church we’re called to be His witnesses in the world displaying His powerful presence within us. This requires training and exercise, which involves humble prayer, fasting, and the practise of generosity. Lent is the Church’s yearly retreat when she helps us to stop and ask our self “Am I as Christian and faithful to Jesus as I ought to be” It’s a time when we stop and ask “If I were to die today would God say to me, ‘Welcome, good and faithful servant’ or ‘Depart from me, I don’t know you’”? The somber Biblical words uttered by the priest on Ash Wednesday as he makes the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads with blessed ashes, “Remember, man, that you are dust and into dust you will return,” (Ps103) are a stark reminder that our meeting with God gets nearer every day. The priest then follows with Jesus’ command: “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15), which spells out what we must do if we want that meeting to be joyful. The ashes remind us that this body of ours, whose desires demand instant gratification that takes up so much of our time and energy, will one day be reduced to dust. Then what? Every day we live is one day closer to the grave. Our body’s desire is for pleasure. Our soul’s desire is for God. Do you and I give equal time to both? The purpose of the body is to serve the soul, not vice versa. This is why God reminds us, especially during Lent, to focus on nurturing what survives death and doesn’t become ashes, namely our soul, whose destiny is either Heaven or hell, depending on our choices here on earth. The Holy Spirit warns us that, “If a man sows in the field of the flesh he will reap a harvest of corruption; but if his seed-ground is the spirit, he will reap everlasting life” (Gal 6:8).

It makes sense to invest in what gives us the best and most long-lasting return. The more we focus on our soul the more we realize our need for God because the soul cries out for His love. We need God if we want to be with Him in Heaven because only He can make that possible. Therefore, we need to discipline our body and use material things in a manner that makes us more conscious that only the things of Heaven really fulfil us. The things of this earth will pass away; but the things of Heaven never pass away - they are eternal (Mt 6:33).

Jesus spent forty days in the desert fasting and praying in preparation for His public ministry (Mk 1:12-15). There Satan tempted Him to abandon God’s will promising power, populsarity, pleasure, and possessions. Jesus countered the temptations with God’s word of truth. After His desert experience Jesus announced that, “This is a time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Jesus showed God to be faithful to His Old Testament promises. We must ask ourselves if we’re faithful to our promises to God in the way we live. Do we pay more attention to what others say and do than to what Jesus says and does? As Christians we’re in a difficult position because we live in the world that’s Satan’s kingdom, but through Baptism we belong to Jesus’ Kingdom. Jesus tells us clearly that His Kingdom doesn’t belong to this world (Jn 18:36). We need to reflect on this to make sure we’re not living in Satan’s Kingdom while saying we belong to God’s Kingdom. Jesus warns us: “But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth!” (Rev 3:16).

Satan loves lukewarm people because he can easily manipulate them. This is why Jesus’s prayer calls us to ask God our Father to “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Mt 6:13). Why is temptation so tempting? Because Satan makes what’s bad for us look good and pleasurable. We all want what’s good and pleasurable. But looks can be deceiving. We need Jesus, who is the truth, to help us see that Satan’s promises are always false by exposing him as “a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44). We give in to temptation because we don’t listen to Jesus who tells us through the Holy Scriptures what’s good and bad for us. If we don’t know Jesus and hear His teaching we have no one to expose Satan’s lies until it’s too late for us. The devil is sly, he paints evil to look desirable, just like he did with Eve. We therefore must be wise to his wiles and ways. Thus we need to examine everything through the eyes of Jesus to see what’s true or false. He gives us the grace to see what’s of God and what isn’t. On our own we’re no match for Satan’s manipulation. Hence the need to sharpen our spiritual radar through prayer, fasting, and acts of generosity, good catechesis and Christian conscience formation.

Each of us is fair game for Satan’s take-down when we give him the opportunity. He attracts us to the seven deadly sins. He never presents anything that looks bad. He covers his lies with attractive wrapping. Because our will is attracted only to the good we choose only what looks good. The reason we give in to temptation is because we see it as desirable and fulfilling. We need the Holy Spirit to show us what’s good and what only looks good but isn’t. Our human spirit is either influenced by the Spirit of God or the spirit of evil. We would have no problem rejecting evil if we saw its real ugliness. Hence the need for sound moral teaching and self-discipline. The problem is we don't always think or ask or discuss, or pray about our decisions until it’s too late. Were it not for our God-given emotion of guilt and His grace of repentance we would all be doomed to hell. We need to 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… Good and upright is the Lord, thus He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and He teaches the humble His way” (Ps 25:4-9).

Only God can fulfill us; the world cannot. We must reject the false promise of an earthly utopia, which is tempting because we all want perfection. Since God created the world only He can save and perfect it. We can neither save ourselves nor the planet. We have to be humble and wise enough to admit that perfection is impossible without God and can only be fully realized in Heaven with Him. Because Jesus knew the power of Satan and the gullibility of human beings He knew we would fall victim to temptation. This is why He gave His Church the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

St. Peter reminds us that, “Christ suffered for sins once, the just for the sake of the unjust, that He might lead you to God” (1 Peter 3:18-22). One of the conditions to be a disciple of Jesus and live in His Kingdom is to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” God speaks to us through Jesus’ Church this Lent asking us to flavor our daily routine with prayer, fasting, almsgiving, Bible reading, and acts of repentance. Thus we prepare ourselves to resist temptation to gratify our body rather than our soul and so live in God’s Kingdom rather than Satan’s. Have a Spirit-filled Lent. (fr sean sheehy)

cassini · « **Reply #37 on:** February 21, 2024, 10:04:01 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Passing The Test

Often when offering a catechetical course to adults the first question asked is, “Will there be tests?” Both teachers and students are known to opine that school would be great if it weren’t for tests. Wouldn’t life be cozy if it weren’t for tests? Testing is the bane of so many things. Love, peace, relationships, friendships, faith would be a breeze if they weren’t tested? Mechanical things look so good and capable until they’re tested and found to be not as good as they looked. Why are we so uncomfortable with tests? Probably it’s because we fear the results might not be as good as we would like. We don’t like being put in a situation where we risk finding out that something isn’t what we hoped for. Someone said that the test is the thing that makes us weep or causes us to sing.

But we need tests in order to determine where we’re successful or failing. It lets us see whether or not we’re achieving what we want to achieve. We don’t look for tests, but we need them. At work an evaluation lets us know whether or not we’re being productive. In school we need tests to let us know if we are or aren’t mastering the subject. In religious life temptation tests our love for God and others. To be tempted is to be tested on how strong is our commitment to our beliefs, values, and truths. Do we really value this or that, or are we just pretending? Are we simply virtue signalers? The test separates the believers from the hypocrites, saints from sinners, life-givers from life-takers, the real from the phony, the Christian from the humanist. The test clarifies for us what we’ve mastered or what masters us. The test is also a reminder that nothing worthwhile is easy. Inspiration is useless without perspiration.

Jesus’ Church uses Lent to test our willingness to make prayer, fasting, and generosity part and parcel of our daily life as Christians. During this holy season is an opportunity to see whether we’re taking our relationship with God seriously or whether convenience and self-gratification are the guiding principles of our daily life.

God introduces us to Abraham’s test in Genesis (22:1-18). God loved Abraham, so much so that He blessed him and Sarah with a son, Isaac, in their old age. He was their pride and joy and the hope of the family’s continuity. God wanted to test Abraham’s priorities. Perhaps now Abraham loved his son more than he loved God! God told Abraham that He wanted him to offer up his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice in a place He would show him. Try to imagine yourself in Abraham’s place. What would you do? God continually gives us opportunities to test whether our love for Him takes precedence over the things in our life we deem important.

Would Abraham’s love for God take precedence over his love for his only son? By getting everything ready to kill his son, Abraham demonstrated that he passed the test. Today the Church calls Abraham “our Father in Faith.” Why? He showed that no matter what God asked of him, regardless of the pain, he would obey. He totally trusted in God’s plan for him. The angel ordered Abraham, “Do not lay a hand on the boy.” Abraham, I’m sure was relieved and gladly killed the ram God provided for him to sacrifice in place of Isaac. In this action God also taught Abraham that child sacrifice would have no place in the people’s worship of Him. Abraham lived among people who practiced child sacrifice to their gods. So the ritual killing of children wasn’t unheard of. God revealed that human life is precious to Him and must always be treated with dignity and respect. When God is ignored, replaced by human egos, the sanctity of human life is forgotten and people are sacrificed on the altar of convenience and selfishness. The culture of death is upheld in abortion, assisted ѕυιcιdє, and euthanasia demonstrating society’s choice of convenience and self-gratification over God. The killing of human life is a direct result of the rejection of God as its Creator and Sanctifier. Many have failed the test of whether love of God and trust in Him take precedence over self-love. Where is God in our daily priorities?

St. Paul (Rom 8:31-34) follows up this theme regarding putting God first. He says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” There’s no doubt that God is for us - despite our sinfulness. “He who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all, how will He not give us everything else along with Him?” The problem is that we aren’t always for God. If we were, we wouldn’t focus on satisfying ourselves. Abraham could have become totally absorbed with his son and, since he now had what he wanted, could conclude that he didn’t need God anymore. That happens to us sometimes. We cry to God when we need something and when we get it we forget Him. We become absorbed with what we have and forget who the source of all good things is. We become obsessed with some individual or ideology and forget that only God can save us from hell. When that happens we lose our sense of direction and end up lost, hurt, and betrayed. Love without God is lust. Any time we put another human being at the center of our life we push God out. Then we’re disappointed because we find out that no human being can meet our needs. Only the Creator can fully satisfy the creature. A human being didn’t create our soul, which makes us human, therefore no human being can fulfill or satisfy us. We’re truly free only when we put God first and are willing to give up everything for the love of Him. Without God we can’t be free. Sin is slavery.

In St. Mark’s Gospel (Mk 9:2-10) Jesus passed the test posed by those who questioned or doubted whether He really was the Son of God? St. Mark records Jesus’ transfiguration. Peter, James and John were privileged to hear God the Father identify Jesus: “This is My Son, My beloved. Listen to Him.” They experienced Jesus as the Son of God and it was so awesome that Peter wanted to keep the experience forever. He couldn’t. Jesus passed the test of the Messiah. What did that mean? It meant that He came to fulfil God’s Old Testament covenantal promises identified in the Law and the Prophets, represented by Moses and Elijah. He brought the good news that God was now making it possible for men and women to overcome their sinfulness and once again, as it was in the beginning. How? By becoming obedient to God’s rule, order would be restored to one’s life despite living in a disordered world.

Where does this leave us? First of all, the test of our Faith is an everyday experience – choose God or fulfil our own desires. Every decision we make is a choice between obeying Jesus or becoming our own god (a false god). Do we support a culture of life or a culture of death? Who we listen to makes the difference in our decisions. What do we sow in our mind? Our decisions, in turn, show clearly whom we’re trusting. Jesus confronts us at this time: “If you trust me, then do what I am telling you?” We say we listen to Jesus; we say we trust in Him; but do we really? The test is whether we’re willing to let Him be our Master and Savior. Do we pray daily with the Psalmist (116:10-19), “O Lord, I am Your servant … You have loosed my bonds. To You will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the Name of the Lord”?

The test during Lent is to witness our love for Jesus as our first priority by taking the time to pray, fast, and be generous towards others with our time, talent, and treasure – that is Jesus’ way - the Way of the Cross. Thus we become transformed and pass the test. (fr. sean)

cassini · « **Reply #38 on:** February 29, 2024, 10:31:44 AM »

Fr Sean again:
What’s in Your Heart?

On this 3rd Sunday of Lent we hear the Jesus’ Church proclaiming God’s word from Exodus 20: 1-17, Psalm 19:8-11, 1 Cor 1:22-25, and John 2: 13-25. God speaks to us about His Commandments and the purpose of the Temple. We hear from St. Paul how Jesus’ crucifixion was a stumbling block to the Jєωs and foolishness to the Gentiles.

Because autonomy is so important to us we don’t like to be told what to do. We want to govern ourselves. So we’re very quick to demand our rights but slow to carry out our duties. Knowing this, God gave us commandments that identify our duties to Him and to our neighbor. A commandment isn’t the same as a suggestion. We’re free to accept or reject a suggestion but a commandment requires obedience. When you issue a command it means you’re specifying something that’s essential for either the good of the individual or the society or both. Commandments identify what’s necessary for order, harmony and progress in one’s life as a member of the community. Commandments are to be obeyed whether or not we feel like it. They provide a level playing field that regulates actions of a community’s members and carry with them penalties for disobeying them. In the absence of commandments or law there’s only anarchy and chaos that bring severe suffering to the innocent. God wants His people to live harmoniously so He has revealed Ten Commandments to ensure that freedom, justice, peace, and truth reign in the hearts of His people.

For God’s people to live harmoniously it’s essential to obey His will. The first thing we must do is recognize that He is the only true God and there are no others. Anyone else or thing that’s adored is a false god and false gods are impotent. The true God demands that we reverence His Name and worship Him especially on the Sabbath. Reverencing His Name demonstrates that we recognize Him as all holy and the source of our holiness. We recognize God as Our Creator through love of our father and mother, protecting human life, upholding marriage as a sacred covenant between a man and a woman whose purpose is to use their sɛҳuąƖity to transmit life, respect other people’s property, being truthful, avoiding being envious and jealous. The violation of any of these commands is a rejection of God and creates disharmony, alienation and abuse of our humanity.

God issued 10 Commandments – 10 “Words” - to let us know what’s needed in order to be fully human and fully alive. They point us to eternal life that Christ made possible. The Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmist to proclaim, “Lord, You have the words of everlasting life” (Ps 19). If we believe that God has the words of everlasting life, and we want to live eternally, our reason says that we should be more than willing to accept God’s words? So why does God command us to accept His words? Does it make sense to have to be commanded to receive something we want more than anything, namely eternal happiness? He knew that, because of our fallen nature, we would try to live according to our way rather than His and ruin ourselves in the process.

Through the Psalmist God tells us that His Law is “perfect, refreshing the soul.” If you want to achieve perfection and refresh your soul, you must obey God’s law. His Law will never lead you in the wrong direction. It is “trustworthy … gives wisdom to the simple … it’s right… rejoices the heart…it’s clear…enlightening the eye… it’s pure… enduring… true… just… precious…and sweet.” This Law is fulfilled and personified in Jesus who makes all these qualities possible for us to enjoy. Given all this, why would the crucified Christ be a “stumbling block for the Jєωs, and an absurdity to the Gentiles...” (1 Cor. 1:22-25). Is it because we focus only on what we see rather than on what God tells us? Jesus tells us that laying down one’s life for one’s friends is the greatest display of love (Jn 15:13).

We tend to use the things of God for our own purposes rather than for why He has given them to us. An example of this is the use of the Temple as a place for commerce rather than a place for worshipping God. Jesus gets very angry when He sees the Temple being abused (John 2:13-25). We see that today when the sacred space is used for holding concerts. Clergy try to justify it by framing it as a fundraiser. It’s still using God’s house of prayer for commercial purposes. Using the Church building for something other than worship is a desecration of sacred space. Jesus became angry at the abuse of the “house of prayer” and drove the worldly abusers out. St. John tells us that, “He needed no one to give Him testimony about human nature. He was well aware of what was in man’s heart.”

So what’s in man’s heart? What’s in our heart is what we’ve planted in our soul; what’s growing in our soul are the thoughts we’ve freely sown in our mind. This is what supplies the contents of our heart. Our behavior shows whether what’s in our heart is or isn’t compatible with God’s Law and Jesus’ teaching. In many instances our heart and God’s will are diametrically opposed. What’s in our heart reflects a culture of life or a culture of death. Because of our fallen nature we’ve an unconscious death wish placed there by Satan. There’s something inside us that’s basically destructive. The thing we want most, namely life, we’ll end up destroying if we don’t obey God’s Law.

The materialistic culture rejects God or tries to use Him for its selfish purposes. I saw an ad in a magazine which showed a woman wearing a T-shirt on which was written: “Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere!” As I read it I thought how stupid. They go everywhere but where they need to go. The notion was that the “bad girls” who go “everywhere” are really living free and enjoying themselves, while the “good girls” who “go to heaven” don’t live at all. The good girls go to heaven while the bad girls try to escape their emptiness and dead-end relationships with drugs, promiscuity, and ѕυιcιdє. What they consider to be a “good time” leads to a bad time not just temporarily but also eternally.

Jesus revealed that what makes a man or woman impure is what comes from the heart. “Whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart and this is what defiles or dishonours a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sɛҳuąƖ immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders, verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming” (Mt 15:18-19). What influences the heart begins with the thoughts we sow in our mind.

This Lent we must examine what kind of thoughts we’re sowing in our mind, planting in our soul, that provide the contents of our heart. What’s in our heart makes us the kind of people we are – either promoters of life or death. We need to fill our mind with God’s thoughts that give us supernatural Faith, Hope, and Love. Let’s fill our minds with God’s Ten Commandments so that we may live a harmonious and ordered life sustained by practicing faith, hope, and charity. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. Only Jesus can give us life. Jesus said, “If you love me keep my Commandments” (Jn 14:15). If we don’t then we so not love Him without Whom we are doomed

Fasting, prayer, and generosity prepare our mind for sowing thoughts in it about God’s Law that’s already written in our heart (Rom 2:15). Thus we need to take the time to meditate on God’s perfect law that leads us to a perfect life made possible by loving Jesus which we demonstrate by keeping His commandments as faithful members of His Church. May our hearts be refreshed by lovingly obeying God’s Law. Then our life will be lively and joyful. Following any other law will lead us to where we don’t want to be.

(fr sean)

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #39 on:** February 29, 2024, 11:13:50 AM »

Thank you, Father Sean. A rosary for Father Sean and Cassini. We will pray for them.

(Please pray for friends/family in County Donegal.)

cassini · « **Reply #40 on:** March 06, 2024, 10:43:40 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Is God Inclusive?

As we enter the middle of Lent during which God calls us to fast, pray, and give alms He also calls us to deepen our relationship with Him. We have been taught by the Church, reflecting the Holy Scriptures, that God loves everyone and calls everyone to belong to His Kingdom. But does that mean that everyone is included in His Kingdom? We hear a lot today about inclusivity both politically and religiously. In relation to that we also hear about diversity and equity. What do these words mean for Christians? Does God want to include everyone? Does God want diversity? Does He want equity which is understood today as equality of output? God wants to include everyone but being included is conditional. God doesn’t want diversity, rather He wants unity. God doesn’t want equity of output, rather He wants equality of opportunity base on meritocracy and on entitlement based on gender, race, or culture.

Is God inclusive? What does it mean to be inclusive? Generally it means to respect, value, and act justly towards every human being regardless of race, nationality, colour, or creed. While we must act justly and respect every person, that doesn’t mean that we will want to include everyone in our home, work, leisure activities, etc. Why? We don’t include in our circles anyone who demeans us, is violent towards us, or insults us. Inclusivity is conditional. Even God’s inclusivity is conditional. God doesn’t give us a blank sheet and tell us to fill in the conditions upon which we expect Him to include us in His Kingdom. He lays down the conditions that we must meet if we want Him to include us in His family. He provides those conditions in the Holy Scriptures and in the Apostolic Tradition of Jesus’ Church. Jesus is very clear in revealing that belonging to His Church is conditional: “I assure you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God” (Mt 18:2-4). Witness Jesus’ Parable of the Net (Mt 13:47-50) where the fishermen haul all kinds of fish in their net but keep the good fish and throw away the bad. We have to stop being apathetic and take God’s word seriously because He says what He means and means what He says. We must remember what God said to Moses and His people: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, BUT who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Ex 34:6-7). God wants to stop the rot of sin in us but if we don’t cooperate with Him the rottenness will continue down through the generations. What kind of a legacy do we want to hand on to our children?

God’s people in the Old Testament found out that if they didn’t meet God’s conditions they would be excluded from His protection and so were overcome by their enemies. “The God of their fathers sent His messengers to them. But they mocked the messengers … despised God’s warnings and scoffed at His prophets, until the anger of the Lord against His people became so inflamed that there was no remedy” (2 Chron 36:14-23). The Babylonians conquered the Israelites and enslaved them. Seventy years later, after much suffering, the Israelites received another chance to obey God’s conditions for inclusivity in His company. He inspired Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, to liberate them and let them return to Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, and renew their commitment to be faithful to the covenant requirements. God, in His mercy, gave them another chance to get it right, to repent of their rebelliousness, and humbly consent to obey His rules. The required change of attitude is summed up by the Psalmist: “May my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember You not, if I place not Jerusalem ahead of my joy” (Ps 137:1-6). The Jerusalem Temple symbolized God's presence.

This is the God revealed by Jesus in John’s Gospel (3:14-21): “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life… whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he did not believe in God’s only Son.” St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, highlighted God’s mercy, in his letter to the Ephesians (2:4-10): “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He has for us, even when we were dead in our sins, brought us to life in Christ.” The Holy Spirit reveals here that if we want to be saved by God we must believe in Jesus Christ, not just in our words but more importantly in our actions. If we don’t we’ll be excluded from Heaven. Death will be an enormous shock for so many who think they lived a good life according to the world’s standard but it wasn’t good according to Jesus’ standard.

What we have to realize here is that while God loves and calls everyone to belong to Him we must meet His conditions in order to benefit from His love and invitation. Jesus Himself stated clearly that, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge before my Father in Heaven. Whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in Heaven” (Mt 10:32-33). This is He why revealed Himself to be “the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). There are no diverse ways to Heaven. Universalism is common today, namely the false notion that all religions are equal and direct ways to Heaven. Sadly, this heresy is promoted even by some leaders within Jesus’ Church. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus is the one and only way. Therefore to enter Heaven every person will have to acknowledge that Jesus is God’s only Son (Jn 17:3), the Redeemer of the world, and is the only means of entry. That requires supernatural Faith, which in turn requires us to be receptive to the Holy Spirit so that He can convert our human spirit to obey God’s will. Very often our human spirit is a rebellious one and we don’t like to be told what to do. This is why Jesus warned us to realize immediately that, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:12-15). That means in the words of |St. Peter, “Reform your lives! Turn to God, that your sins may be wiped away! Thus may a season of refreshment be granted you by the Lord when He sends you Jesus, already designated as your Messiah” (Acts 3:19-20).

Let us not be tricked by Satan into thinking that God accepts us as we are and so we don’t need to change. God meets us where we are in order to bring us to where we need to be and do what we need to do in order to be included in His Kingdom and benefit from His love. God’s inclusivity is conditional. Jesus said, “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, just as I love my Father and keep His commandments” (Jn 15:10). Let’s remember that if we don’t keep His commandments we don’t remain in His love. To be included we must obey God’s rules and we skirt them to our own eternal hell. (fr sean)

The Litany of Preparation for Confession of Sin

This is a prayer asking for God’s mercy, forgiveness, and aid in turning from sin. It invokes Jesus Christ, recalling His mercy and forgiveness shown to many sinners and outcasts in the Bible – from Adam to Zacchaeus. It asks for the grace to judge ourselves and produce worthy fruits of penance so that sin does not reign in me. The prayer seeks pardon, peace, cleansing from offenses, and the ability to serve God with a quiet mind.

The Litany of Penance

Lord, have mercy on me.
Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord, have mercy on me.

Christ, hear me.
Christ, graciously hear me.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on me.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on me.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on me.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on me.

Incarnate Lord, have mercy on me.
Lover of souls, have mercy on me.
Saviour of sinners, have mercy on me.

Who came to seek those that were lost, have mercy on me.
Who fasted for them forty days and nights, have mercy on me.
By Thy tenderness towards Adam when he fell, have mercy on me.
By Thy faithfulness to Noah in the ark, have mercy on me.
By Thy remembrance of Lot in the midst of sinners, have mercy on me.
By Thy mercy on the Israelites in the desert, have mercy on me.
By Thy forgiveness of David after his confession, have mercy on me.
By Thy patience with wicked Ahab on his humiliation, have mercy on me.
By Thy restoration of the penitent Manasseh, have mercy on me.
By Thy long suffering towards the Ninevites, when they went in sackcloth and ashes, have mercy on me.
By Thy blessing on the Maccabees, who fasted before the battle, have mercy on me.
By Thy choice of John to go before Thee as the preacher of repentance, have mercy on me.
By Thy testimony to the Publican, who hung his head and smote his breast, have mercy on me.
By Thy welcome given to the returning Prodigal, have mercy on me.
By Thy gentleness with the woman of Samaria, have mercy on me.
By Thy condescension towards Zacchaeus, persuading him to restitution, have mercy on me.
By Thy pity upon the woman taken in adultery, have mercy on me.
By Thy love of Magdalen, who loved much, have mercy on me.

By Thy converting look, at which Peter wept, have mercy on me.
By Thy gracious words to the thief upon the cross, have mercy on me.

I am a sinner, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That I may judge myself, as to escape Thy judgment, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That I may bring forth worthy fruits of penance, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That sin may not reign in my mortal body, I beseech Thee, hear me.
That I may work out my salvation with fear and trembling, I beseech Thee, hear me.
Son of God, I beseech Thee, hear me.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare me, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear me, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on me.

Christ, hear me.
Christ, graciously hear me.

O Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto Thee.

Closing prayer
Grant, I beseech Thee, O Lord, to Thy faithful, pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their offenses, and also serve Thee with a quiet mind, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

cassini · « **Reply #41 on:** March 14, 2024, 05:24:58 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Cleanse Your Heart

Traditionally the heart symbolizes love and compassion. In Biblical times, the heart referred to the core of a person; the centre of his or her self. It indicated a person’s mental, emotional, spiritual, and moral substance. A heart pierced with an arrow symbolized failed relationships or betrayed love. We’re all familiar with the terms ‘broken heart,’ ‘sweetheart,’ ‘lonely heart,’ ‘hard heart,’ ‘heartless,’ ‘brave heart,’ ‘heartily,’ ‘heartfelt.’ Jesus described those who rejected Him as “Sluggish indeed is this people’s heart.” (Mt 13:15). He accused the Pharisees of being hypocrites, quoting God’s word from Isaiah: “This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me” (Mk 7:6). What we say must be backed up by actions. If we say we’re Catholic then we must practice being Catholic in our thoughts, words, and actions witnessing our faith in Jesus Christ at home, at work, and at play.

The heart reflects the state of the soul, and the state of the soul reflects the mind. Our mind, soul, and heart all interact in the expression of who we are. The thoughts we sow in our mind become planted in our soul, which influences our heart. What’s in our heart is the reflection of the thoughts we freely choose and plant in our soul. What happens to our soul – our self – shapes our heart and is reflected in our thinking and our choosing that becomes visible in our spirit, our attitude, our ways? Lent is a time when we need to examine our heart to purify it. Why? Because God tells us through His prophet, “I, the Lord, probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merits of his deeds.” (Jer 17:10) What we put in our mind takes root in our soul and determines the contents of our heart. God urgently calls us to, “Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is He, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment” (Joel 2:13).

The prayer of the Psalmist must be our prayer: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out of Your presence, and Your Holy Spirit take not from me” (Ps 51:12-13). Jesus makes us aware that “It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him unclean; it is what comes out of his mouth …what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart” (Mt 15:11-18). A clean heart is a heart without sin. To clean our hearts we must face the fact that we’re sinners, even the best of us need to repent and seek forgiveness. The Holy Spirit of Truth warns us that, “If we say ‘we have no sin,’ we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us” (1 Jn 1:8). In the words of the Psalmist, every one of us must pray from our heart, “Have mercy on me, O God, in Your goodness; in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me” (Ps 51:3-4). Sin, the bad thoughts with which we sow our mind, stains our soul that leads to hard heartedness. We see that exhibited in those who support abortion, euthanasia, and degrade motherhood, undermine the traditional marriage between a man and a woman as the essential environment for the proper transmission of life. This hardness of heart comes from Satanic thoughts with which people seed their minds, plant in their souls, and harbour in their hearts. Despite this hardheartedness, God is ever merciful to those who repent, seek forgiveness, and strive to amend their ways in accord with His will. He promises the repentant, “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your hearts of stone and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my Spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances” (Ezek 36:26-27). Since God has written His law upon the heart of everyone it’s essential to free the heart from everything that might blur that law or prevent our obedience to it. (Jer 31:33)

Jesus offers us the grace to cleanse our heart especially during this season of Lent. We experience the fulfilment of God’s promise of a clean heart in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through that Sacrament God removes the filth of sin. There we experience a refreshed and sweet-smelling heart through Jesus who “became the source of eternal life for all who obey Him” (Heb 7:9).

What are the effects of a clean heart? A clean heart is united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and displays a spirit of heartfelt generosity. In union with Jesus we’ll follow His lead, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in the bosom of His Church. Where does Jesus lead us? He tells us, “Whoever serves me will follow me, and wherever I am, there will my servant be” (Jn 12:26). Where is Jesus? He is present in His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. He is dwelling in each member of His Church. He touches the heart of each practising member through His Church’s Sacraments, especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where we praise and worship Him. He is with us when we pray and carry out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, namely being just, charitable, merciful, respecting the preciousness of human life by sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, burying the dead, giving alms to the poor, teaching the Gospel, counselling the doubtful, admonishing the sinner, consoling the sorrowful, comforting the afflicted, forgiving hurts, and bearing wrongs patiently. In these words and actions the Sacred Heart of Jesus radiates through our heart.

A clean heart expresses itself above all in a spirit of joy that springs from a mind in which Christ’s thoughts are sown, and planted in the soul. Such a heart gives witness to God’s love, justice, mercy, peace, and freedom. When our heart is clean our attitude is positive, loving, faithful, and hopeful. This 5th week of Lent is another opportunity to take advantage of what Jesus provides through His heart-cleansing power mediated through His Church. You can feel God saving you when He cleanses your repentant heart in the words of Absolution spoken by the priest in the confessional. It’s in the forgiveness of sins that God is saving you and me and cleansing our hearts. Let us comfort Mary as she brokenheartedly followed her Son’s sorrowful way of the cross through cleansing our heart from sin that caused His crucifixion. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #42 on:** March 20, 2024, 11:44:17 AM »

Fr Sean again:
Holy Week: Why Every Knee Must Bend

Lent officially ends with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening commemorating the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Historically, we refer to this final week of Lent, which culminates in the Triduum celebration of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday, as “Holy Week.” Why do we call this week “holy”?

The word “holy” comes from an Old English word, which means “whole.” Usually the word holy refers to God and what’s Godly. Only God is holy, whole and complete within Himself. God alone is perfect and those whom He makes perfect, all who are faithful to Him. When we describe something as holy, we imply that it’s from God. Human holiness, our likeness to God, was lost by Adam and Eve’s disobedience. With the loss of holiness came the loss of wholeness which is reflected in a darkened intellect and a weak will making every human, except Mary, prone to sin. Thankfully, God restores that holiness and wholeness through Baptism into Jesus’ Church.

Palm Sunday begins holy week with the blessing of palms commemorating Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem. The palms that were used to greet Jesus and create a welcoming mat for Him in on Sunday morning were used by some to point accusingly at Him in the afternoon. Satan was active in the hearts of the accusers. God revealed in the Old Testament that His Messiah would be a Suffering Servant. This revelation was fulfilled in Jesus who “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness” (Phil 2:6-11). We see His humility in the Passion narrative from Mark’s Gospel depicting His agony, trial, sentencing, crucifixion, and burial. There we see Jesus’ real suffering, which didn’t deter Him because of His humble and obedient faith in His Father. He was like a lamb led to the slaughter in order to save the very sinners who slaughtered Him.

What’s holy about this week? The Church focuses on Jesus, the Son of God, and the total sacrifice of Himself in order to save mankind from sin. The focus isn’t simply on God as He exists in Heaven, but on God as He lived and loved here on earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, confronting Satan who owned mankind. He came to call sinners to repentance and holiness by breaking the grip of Satan. On Holy Thursday Jesus left us a visible sign that He would continue His mission to save mankind until the end of time. This sign of His saving life and death is the Holy Eucharist which He instituted and ordained His apostles to continue by changing unleavened bread into His body and wine into His blood with the words, “Do this in memory of me.” Thus began the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as the visible sign of Jesus’ real presence calling everyone to get on bended knee and confess with their tongue that He is their Lord and Savior.

Good Friday reminds us what redemption cost Jesus. It cost Him His life through crucifixion to free us from our sins. No greater love has the world ever seen. On Easter Sunday we’re reminded that Jesus was raised from the dead in a glorified human body, paving the way for His followers to rise from the dead with glorified bodies. He helps us to benefit from what He accomplished through “a well-trained tongue to speak to the weary a rousing word … (and) a face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame” (Is 50:4-7). The weary are all who’re weighed down with sin, suffering, and the fear of death. Jesus in His human nature reflected the depth of human weariness when He cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Ps 22). Have you ever felt that God had abandoned you? Jesus encourages us in such moments to pray with Him: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” He empowers us to put ourselves into His Father’s hands every day but especially in times of trial as He did.

Sin is our downfall – a personal put-down. Instead of putting our spirit into God’s hands we put our spirit into Satan’s hands. Sin is idolatry in which we put ourselves down by worshipping something that’s inferior to us. When we sin, we withdraw our loyalty to God and, as a result, create a false god. Only the true God can sustain us, give us life, and lead us to happiness. A false god is impotent. Why? A false god is something we create; and we can’t create anything that can sustain us since we didn’t create ourselves. Neither can we create anything that can give us life since we didn’t give ourselves life. We can’t create anything that leads us to happiness since happiness is the result of being fulfilled, and only the Creator can fulfil the creature. Sin, then, is totally unreasonable and an act that lacks intelligence. Sin is without equal when it comes to duping oneself. In sinning, we’re our own greatest con artists. The “good” in Good Friday is the fact that God’s love, evident in Jesus’ sacrifice, conquered selfishness and freed us from Satan’s grip on humanity. By being obedient to His Father Jesus, in His humanity, enables us to freely obey God once again. Obeying God, rather than pleasing ourselves, always leads us to holiness and wholeness which are always good for us.

At the Easter Vigil we celebrate Jesus as the “Light of the world” (Jn 8:12). He dispels the darkness of sin by exposing Satan’s lies. Through the Apostolic and moral teaching of His Church Jesus continually calls us to holiness and wholeness. He empowers us to live in the supernatural that’s full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of becoming holy. The “fear of the Lord” (fear of losing our relationship with Him) motivates us to… praise Him, give Him glory, and revere Him” (Ps 22) in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions. Thus we let Him make us holy and whole. We cannot do this on our own because we cannot free ourselves from our sinfulness. The Catechumens give witness to this as they become full members of His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church during the Easter Vigil.

The real test of leadership is to be willing to die for the cause. Jesus exhibited true leadership. Jesus has given us the example of what it means to be a Christian, namely to be willing to die for the Faith, which is about loyalty to Him as our Savior. In Baptism He made us His partners in carrying out the mission of His Father, which is to make us His children. Jesus has shown us the way. Now we must lead. Just as we depended on Jesus leading the way to the Father, the whole world depends on us, His followers, leading it to Jesus really present in His Church. But we must lead on bended knees, informing everyone, “that at the Name of Jesus, every knee should bend, of those in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:6-11).

Let’s celebrate Holy Week where God offers us the opportunity to be both holy and whole by bending our knee at the Name of Jesus and using our tongue to confess that He is our Lord and the only Life-Giver. May you have a supernatural Holy Week and a truly happy Easter. (fr sean)

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #43 on:** March 23, 2024, 06:01:22 PM »

Amen! It’s about the Lamb. (Not the bunny). May we all stop abandoning Jesus)

Jesus Christ- Now and Forever!

cassini · « **Reply #44 on:** March 27, 2024, 02:02:42 PM »

Fr Sean again:
Easter Sunday: And the winner is … Life

The highpoint of the Church liturgical year is Easter. It’s connected with Passover – passing from the slavery of sin and death to the grace of freedom and life eternal. This is the culmination of everything for which Jesus Christ stood. He stood for everlasting life – not just a little bit of life, but life to the fullest. He came into a world doomed by death and riddled with suffering – mental, emotional, spiritual, moral, social, economic, and physical. Jesus’ message focused on repentance, forgiveness, amendment of lifestyle, wholeness, holiness, and life lived joyfully because it now had hope. This message was good news to the ears of repentant sinners, the marginalized, the suffering and the dying.

Two thousand years later here we are in a world where the culture of death dominates the culture of life established by Jesus here on earth. The destruction of human life is enshrined in national legislation, even declared as a constitutional right in France and promoted in most western countries. Human life has been cheapened by those who possess it. Its destruction is legal – abortion, euthanasia, unjust war. More human life is being destroyed today than ever before in our recorded history. Its wanton destruction is evident in abortion mills, IVF labs where embryos are destroyed, abortifacient pills in the post, artificial contraception, murder, assisted ѕυιcιdє, has rapidly increased over the past few decades. Why has life become so cheap and so flippantly disposable? How has human life lost its sense of sacredness and preciousness? Could it be that human life has lost its excitement and preciousness because Christians have forgotten or don’t proclaim the message of Easter? God considered human life to be so precious that He sent His Son to suffer and die the cruelest form of death in order to conquer the power that sin and death had over mankind. The sacredness of human life is directly connected to God who is Life itself and who creates every person in His image and likeness. Every time a human being is killed, humanity numbs itself to God’s loving and life-giving presence. Killing cheapens life and creates the illusion that human beings have control over it and can do what they want with it. That illusion ends in disillusionment when God holds everyone accountable for the way they lived the life He gave them. If we choose death in this world we prepare for eternal death in the next world.

The Easter event is the sign par excellence that life belongs to God and He holds it in the highest esteem. God is the Life-giver. Satan is the life-taker. Easter celebrates the victory of life over death, good over evil, and the success of the spirit over the disordered desires of the flesh. In celebrating Easter, we celebrate the power of spiritual gentleness, which Jesus demonstrated on the Way of the Cross, over the physical violence of evil men who crucified Him. It’s proof that the concern for the welfare and the wellbeing of others shown by Jesus, even on the Cross, pays off while self-centeredness and the culture of death loses. Suffering is an opportunity to deepen our appreciation of life that makes us participants in the life of God. To understand and appreciate the message and meaning of the Easter event we need to see what it completes.

Easter is the final act in a three-act drama depicting the struggle for power between life and death, Jesus and Satan. The first act of the drama takes place on Holy Thursday when Jesus celebrated the Passover with His Apostles. Here Jesus shared His wisdom of service and exemplified true Servant Leadership. Service reflects a consciousness of people’s relationship with each other and the need to help one another. Underlying the attitude of service is the awareness that we’re all brothers and sisters sharing the same humanity with an innate investment in each other. In serving, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist gave Himself totally to His Apostles in the most intimate manner. When washing His apostles’ feet He told them: “I have set you an example: As I have done so you must do” (Jn 13:15). Do what? Promote the culture of life as God’s greatest gift.

Perhaps we can find the locus of our problem here. The sense of interconnectedness, interdependence, complementarity, between and among men and women today is missing. Everything is considered relative. Universal obligations and principles seem to be rejected. We’ve become more disconnected from each other? We’ve become less responsible and less accountable to one another? We’ve become more concerned with our own welfare and less concerned with what happens to our fellow men and women at home and abroad? There’s a lot of virtue signaling through protests, etc., but very little virtuous living. Like the crowd calling for Jesus’ crucifixion, many protest about something they know little about and which they have been fed false information by atheistic ideologues.

The second act of this great drama depicting God’s presence to His people is celebrated on Good Friday when Jesus teaches us about genuine love tested and purified by suffering. True love is tough. True love demands sacrifices. Love without a willingness to sacrifice isn’t love at all. On Good Friday, we see Jesus making the ultimate sacrifice which reflected His genuine love for all men and women. “No greater love does anyone have than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). We come as Jesus’ community on Good Friday to venerate the cross and reflect on the great sacrifice He made for us. This in turn reminds us of the great sacrifice we’re called to make in genuinely loving Him and living joyfully, sharing with the needy.

Perhaps one of the reasons why our world is as it is with its disrespectful attitude toward human life is that it lacks genuine love. Without God love is false. What the Godless world calls love is simply lust. Lust has no room for sacrifice. It’s all about pleasing oneself and using others to attain one’s selfish end. Perhaps what we need in our world is a redefining of “love” and what it calls for. Real love is epitomized in the Crucifix. Love always wishes good and looks out for the good of the other person. Jesus epitomized love when, on the cross, He asked His Father to forgive His executioners. We need to truly reflect on the events of Good Friday and tune into Jesus’ commitment to love, no matter what. By making the necessary sacrifices called for by His love for human life Jesus came to Easter.

Easter is the final act in this drama. Jesus conquered Satan’s power over humanity and gave every person the opportunity to choose eternal happiness Therefore we cannot fully appreciate Easter Sunday and its implication for humanity without understanding what Jesus did for us on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Jesus’ accepted suffering and death in order to bring God’s love to others and raise up a fallen world. Through receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and sacrificing ourselves with Him on Good Friday His Father will raise us up with Him on Easter Sunday.

The winner in the drama is Life because of Jesus’ commitment to serve and love in the face of all odds. To be Christian is to be an Easter person – one who looks forward to Resurrection from suffering and death. There’s no Easter Sunday without a Holy Thursday and a Good Friday. To keep us on the road to Resurrection we must allow ourselves to benefit from Jesus’ gift of His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist and His unconditional love on the Cross. Have a happy Easter and enjoy life. (Fr. Sean)

The Plenary Indulgences of Holy Week, Easter Octave and Divine Mercy Sunday for Everyone

From Holy Week through Divine Mercy Sunday — and beyond — we should try not to miss out on these indulgences for ourselves or for any soul in purgatory.

Holy Week and Divine Mercy Sunday, present everyone with particular plenary indulgences that everyone has the opportunity to receive. Here’s how to gain them for yourselves, your loved ones in purgatory, and possibly even for some forgotten soul there.

The plenary indulgences that we can receive on every day of Holy Week actually are of two kinds. Certain ones are specific to Holy Week itself. Certain ones we can actually gain anytime, including the Easter Octave.

They’re listed in the Norms and Grants in the official Manual of Indulgences, fourth edition (English edition 2006) the latest and most up-to-date edition of the Manual, or Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, the one that replaces all others.

Holy Week Plenary Indulgences

These are the specific works listed in the Grants in the Manual of Indulgences:

Holy Thursday. “A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who piously recite the verses of the Tantum ergo after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday during the solemn reposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament.”

Good Friday brings two opportunities. “A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who

1. Devoutly assist at the adoration of the Cross in the solemn liturgical action of Good Friday; or

2. Personally make the pious Way of the Cross, or devoutly unite themselves to the Way of the Cross while it is being led by the Supreme Pontiff and broadcast live on television or radio.”

Most every parish conducts Stations of the Cross for parishioners on Good Friday.

On Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil brings another opportunity. “A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who, at the celebration of the Easter Vigil (or on the anniversary of their own Baptism), renew their baptismal vows in any legitimately approved formula.” The Easter Vigil includes renewal of baptismal vows.

Early in Holy Week

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week we should try to make Mass and receive Holy Communion. That is a “must” because receiving Holy Communion is one of the basic conditions for any plenary indulgence. Here, we consider those certain plenary indulgences which can be gained all year. These are the ones we can obtain on Monday through Wednesday as long as we fulfil the basic conditions (more on them later) and also perform the work required.

The Manual of Indulgences makes this very clear to us: “Deserving of special mention are grants pertaining to these works by any one of which the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence each day of the year,” always remembering “a plenary indulgence can be acquired no more than once a day.” The Manual lists them as four:

— Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least one half hour

—The pious exercise of the Way of the Cross

— Recitation of the Marian rosary or of the hymn Akathistos, in church or an oratory; or in a family, a religious community, or a sodality of the faithful or, in general, when several of the faithful are gathered for any good purpose

— The devout reading or listening to the Sacred Scriptures for at least a half an hour

Any one of these per day, Monday through Wednesday — plus Palm Sunday too — can obtain a plenary indulgence for us for ourselves or to apply to a soul in purgatory.

Basic Mandatory Conditions

“In general, the gaining of indulgences requires certain prescribed conditions and the performance of certain prescribed works,” reminded the Apostolic Penitentiary in 2000. The conditions are not many and are not at all difficult.

First, though, the office initially repeated the definition. “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church…” The office explained, “Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.”

The Manual of Indulgences gives these basics conditions for any indulgence, plenary or partial. The person seeking the indulgence must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in the state of grace at least at the time the prescribed work is completed.

The Norms remind of another simple essential: we need to have the general intention of wanting to gain the indulgence as well as carrying out the specific works required, according to the sense of the Grant. That’s simple enough.

This next is important. The Norm states, “To gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to excluding all attachment to sin, even venial sin, it is necessary to perform the indulgenced work and fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.”

For simplicity sake, let’s review these simple essentials are presented by the office of the Apostolic Penitentiary in their words:

“To gain indulgences, whether plenary or partial, it is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed.”

“A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace:

— have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
— have sacramentally confessed their sins;
— receive the Holy Eucharist (it is certainly better to receive it while participating in Holy Mass, but for the indulgence only Holy Communion is required);
— pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.”

The Apostolic Penitentiary in 2000 clarified that One Our Father and one Hail Mary is suggested for the Holy Father’s intentions thought the faithful can chose what prayer, and one sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences.

As for the Stations of the Cross for a plenary indulgence, the manual details, “The pious exercise must be made before stations of the Way of the Cross legitimately erected…According to the common custom, the pious exercise consists of 14 devotional readings, to which some vocal prayers are added. To make the Way of the Cross, however, it is sufficient to meditate devoutly on the Lord’s Passion and Death, and therefore reflection on the particular mysteries of the individual stations in not necessary…Progression from one station to the next is required.” But if we’re making it publicly such as done for a parish, only the one conducting it has to move while we remain in our place.

Extras and Divine Mercy Sunday

We should not stop after Holy Week. Why not continue during the Easter Octave, from Easter Sunday through Divine Mercy Sunday? Monday through Saturday we have those four everyday possibilities for a plenary indulgence. Go to Mass, receive Communion. Then spend time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Pray the Rosary in church. Or with family or as listed above. Read Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour. Your choice.

Divine Mercy Sunday has a plenary indulgence of its own.

Through private revelation to St. Faustina, Jesus revealed, I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (1109). The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699). And we must trust in Divine Mercy.

“The most special grace promised by our Lord for Mercy Sunday is nothing less than the equivalent of a complete renewal of baptismal grace in the soul: "complete forgiveness (remission) of sins and punishment.”

St. John Paul II not only declared Divine Mercy Sunday a universal feast of the Church, but in 2002 he also attached a plenary indulgence to it. This made private revelation’s promise “official” as “the Holy See institutionalized the Promise in the form of an Indulgence.”

First there are the usual or standard three conditions of sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff.

Next, the specific conditions or “work” required: “On Divine Mercy Sunday

· in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy or, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!”).”

Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 38746 times)

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Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

Viva Cristo Rey

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Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

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Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

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Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live

Viva Cristo Rey

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Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live