Nov. 1, 2010 Monday: All Saints

Click to hear Audio Homily given at St. Michaels' High School

From "Context of Holiness" by Marc Foley, OCD p32-35

Therese believed that a mindful remembrance of death is a powerful antidote to not becoming absorbed in the passing things of the world. "I love to return in spirit to the enchanting places they [the friends of the Martin family at Alcenon] loved, wondering where these people are, what became of their houses and gardens where I saw them enjoy life's luxuries? And I see that all is vanity and vexation of spirit under the sun" (Sirach 73). Therese is looking back at herself over the distance of a decade upon the person she might have become if she had stayed in Alcenon. Such a realization was a moment of grace.

When we cast a glance upon our past with the haunting question, "What might have been?" we can feel regret and remorse, but we can also experience gratitude and a deep sigh of relief, for each of us has our personal Alcenon. Where would I be now if I had not extricated myself from that situation? What would have happened to me if I hadn't had the courage to break off that relationship? How would my life be different if...?
In Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, after Pip had made a seemingly small decision that eventually changed the whole course of his life, he invites the reader to reflect with him. "That was a memorable day for me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the one memorable day."
Therese paused and meditated upon her life. She knew that it could have turned out far differently than it had, and it could have happened very easily. All she had to do was to take a wrong turn on the road of life and continue to travel down that path. As social reformer Samuel Smiles once said, "Sow a thought and reap an act. Sow an act and reap a habit. Sow a habit and and reap a character. Sow a character and reap a destiny." The author of the "little way" who understood that our path leading up to God is paved with little acts of love was also keenly aware of how little acts of self indulgence can imperceptibly lead us away from God.
Meditating upon death helps us to see what is truly important in life and provides perspective that in turn restores a proportionate emotional response to the events of daily life. When we see rightly, we respond reasonably. However, when we are in the grip of either an irresistible impulse or an intense emotion we cease to live in the present moment because we are absorbed in it. Paradoxically, we can only live in the present moment if we are conscious of the future, for the things of time can only be clearly seen against the horizon of Eternity. Death, seen in the light of Eternity, illumined all things for Therese. "I understand all... All passes away...Death will pass also, and then we shall enjoy life not for centuries, but millions of years will pass for us like a day, and other millions of years will follow them filled with repose and peace."
In the same way, we become illuminated when we realize that all things pass away.
Seeing beyond the faults of others is not turning a blind eye to them; it is allowing the faults to recede into the background and the goodness to come the fore. One way to do this is to bathe our neighbor in mortality, for "Death is the mother of beauty." Walter de la Mare bids us to "Look thy last on all things lovely every hour." To do so, we need to look at others as if we were seeing them for the last time.

Oct. 31, 2010: 31st Sunday Ordinary (C)

Click to hear the audio homily

Now that the weather is getting a little chillier with the beginning of Fall, we may start to look for thicker jackets in stores. With our Louisiana weather as erratic as it is, still there are very few who carry clothing for all four seasons in their stores. One possible exception is the BassPro Shop. Even in the middle of muggy summer, they sell sub-freezing weather jackets and pants. Even Zacchaeus, the short tax collector in our gospel who had to climb a tree to see Jesus, would find something useful at BassPro, like a deer stand; he would get a much better view from there.

We know that every year, we go through four seasons--Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Hence, in our closets we have appropriate clothing for each season. Did you know that our souls also go through the four seasons? From our birth to our death we experience God's love for us as Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. At times, we feel that our love for God is like Spring, bursting with spontaneous energy; at other times, our love for God feels like a dead leaf about to fall from the branch. The mystery is that God is always close to us, regardless of where we are on our spiritual journey, yet we perceive His love for us like the changing four seasons.

(from the "Seasons of the Soul" by Concepcion Cabrera de Armida)

 In the season of Spring, fresh new grass and flowers blossom. For us, the Springtime is when Our Lord seems so close and loving. He gives us plenty of consolations and a very powerful attraction to virtue. We feel as though we can handle any amount of suffering because Our Lord is so near and our soul is at peace. Prayer seems so easy, and the Lord constantly seeks us, calls us, day and night; He showers us with tenderness and heavenly favors.

In the Summertime, the rays of the burning sun bears down; the dry winds blow the petals from the flowers so that the fruit will be strengthened to grow. For us, the Summertime is when Our Lord begins to water our soul with suffering and pain because it is the only thing that will give us life. Desolations begin and the sense of being forsaken starts, and we tremble in the darkness and the storms that rage throughout the night.

In the Autumn of the soul, the fruits finish ripening to the point of dropping from the tree on their own. We have the color and taste of Jesus since our transformation into Him is complete. Our love is not self-seeking, but it is pure, generous, and constant which seeks only to make Our Lord Jesus and our neighbor happy. In Autumn, all the calumnies, scorn, ungratefulness, and humiliations combined are accepted with joy.

In the Winter of the soul, the kernels or the seeds mature; the freezing weather and frosts which easily damage delicate flowers and tender fruits, are good for the kernel. In the more or less cruel Winters, we may be buffeted by Satan who in his vengeance takes us in his claws and injures us, and yet this purifies us even more and makes us holy, and his anger doubles and yet despairs before a humble soul. Even when the hell rages against us, in the Winter, our soul is in union with the Father, resting in His arms and in His Will. In Winter our love for God is stronger than death.

As we go through each season, we must bear in mind that our Heavenly Father's love for us is constant, ever near, gentle, and compassionate. It is our perception of His love for us that changes. People often ask me, "Father, God does not love me anymore. Where is He? Why is He causing suffering in my family?" Around us, we know of persons who just found out that they have terminal cancer or just found out that they lost their job. Our soul may be going through Summer. Summer is usually the longest period of the interior life, the hardest and the most difficult. Summer is the school of the saints. We suffer terribly; but if we are humble, we do so peacefully, and even rejoice in the crucible that purifies us, with the sweet hope of once again finding Our Lord. Alternately, Jesus shows Himself to us and then hides from us; He inspires our soul and He leaves us; it is no longer milk and honey which He places on our lips; it is bitterness--a sea of contradictions, anguishes, illnesses and all kinds of crosses; and those of us rebellious to the teachings and invitations of Our Lord, who do not want to step into His bloody footsteps, will remain half-done, stunted, sour, or rotten and will never reach the end, because "whoever wishes to come after Jesus," must deny himself and take up his Cross. Summer costs us sweat and anguish, but those of us who persevere with self-sacrifice will grow and develop to love the Cross.

All of us know that some summers are unbearable and some winters are too harsh. Just as we go through many Summers and Winters in our lifetime, our soul will go through many Springs, Summers, Falls, and Winters. Our goal at the end of our life is that all these Seasons of the Soul transform us into the likeness of Our Lord Jesus who created us. We may begin our spiritual life like Zacchaeus who was a selfish man worthy of despise, but through the Seasons of the Soul we may find Jesus inviting us, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."

Oct. 29, 2010 Friday: Jesus's Gaze - "What Jesus is Like"

Click to hear audio homily


The following is an excerpt from the book "What Jesus Is Like" written by a mystic Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (d. 1937). She was a wife, mother, foundress, and a lay apostle whose cause for beatification is under way.
Chapter 13: His Gaze

"Jesus, looking at him, loved him" (cf. Mk 10:21)

Jesus' gaze, when He walked the earth, would cause a profound awakening in others. When He passed by, the eyes of blind were opened. Paralytics threw away their crutches. Those who were sick sprang from their beds completely cured. Jesus had a divine attraction about Him which tore at hearts that were thirsting for love and truth. He satisfied their longing because He Himself was Love, Truth and Life.

Jesus always looks at us with Infinite Kindness. He watches over us. He never tires of knocking at the door of our hearts. Nor does He tire of waiting for us to open to Him, because He loves us. He will take our mortal life into His own divine hands so that He might give us eternal life. He will close our eyes here on earth, that He might open them to the True Light. He will always be our consolation and our happiness. He will not allow us to weep like those who have no hope.

The Father looks with a glance that gives. We, on the other hand, look with an attitude of seeking. We look asking for things. By means of that Eternal and Infinite Gaze, the Father communicated His essence to the Divine Word. That Gaze is life-giving, since it is the gaze of God Himself. The soul is a mirror in which the Divine Gaze is reflected. God is light. The more this Divine Light shines, the greater the union we will have. The greater the innocence and purity of heart. Then, if Jesus looks at us, we shall also contemplate Him because He has said, "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God" (cf. Mt 5:8).

Let us ask Jesus to look at us as He looked at St. Peter. As He looked at Mary Magdalene. With this life-giving gaze that produces saints. Let us beg for those Divine Glances that open the soul to holy expansiveness. And let us allow ourselves to be bathed in those Most Holy Glances that purify, sanctify, unite and intimately bind the Divine Heart to our own.

Oct. 28, 2010 Thursday: Imitation of Christ

Imitation of Christ
Book 3: Ch 3

LISTEN HUMBLY TO THE WORDS OF GOD. MANY DO NOT HEED THEM

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

MY CHILD, hear My words, words of greatest sweetness surpassing all the knowledge of the philosophers and wise men of earth. My words are spirit and life, and they are not to be weighed by man's understanding. They are not to be invoked in vanity but are to be heard in silence, and accepted with all humility and with great affection.

THE DISCIPLE

"Happy is the man whom Thou admonishest, O Lord, and teachest out of Thy law, to give him peace from the days of evil,"[31] and that he be not desolate on earth.

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

I taught the prophets from the beginning, and even to this day I continue to speak to all men. But many are hardened. Many are deaf to My voice. Most men listen more willingly to the world than to God. They are more ready to follow the appetite of their flesh than the good pleasure of God. The world, which promises small and passing things, is served with great eagerness: I promise great and eternal things and the hearts of men grow dull. Who is there that serves and obeys Me in all things with as great care as that with which the world and its masters are served?

"Be thou ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea speaketh."[32] And if you ask why, listen to the cause: for a small gain they travel far; for eternal life many will scarcely lift a foot from the ground. They seek a petty reward, and sometimes fight shamefully in law courts for a single piece of money. They are not afraid to work day and night for a trifle or an empty promise. But, for an unchanging good, for a reward beyond estimate, for the greatest honor and for glory everlasting, it must be said to their shame that men begrudge even the least fatigue. Be ashamed, then, lazy and complaining servant, that they should be found more eager for perdition than you are for life, that they rejoice more in vanity than you in truth.

Sometimes indeed their expectations fail them, but My promise never deceives, nor does it send away empty-handed him who trusts in Me. What I have promised I will give. What I have said I will fulfill, if only a man remain faithful in My love to the end. I am the rewarder of all the good, the strong approver of all who are devoted to Me.

Write My words in your heart and meditate on them earnestly, for in time of temptation they will be very necessary. What you do not understand when you read, you will learn in the day of visitation. I am wont to visit My elect in two ways -- by temptation and by consolation. To them I read two lessons daily -- one reproving their vices, the other exhorting them to progress in virtue. He who has My words and despises them has that which shall condemn him on the last day.

A PRAYER FOR THE GRACE OF DEVOTION

O Lord my God, You are all my good. And who am I that I should dare to speak to You? I am Your poorest and meanest servant, a vile worm, much more poor and contemptible than I know or dare to say. Yet remember me, Lord, because I am nothing, I have nothing, and I can do nothing. You alone are good, just, and holy. You can do all things, You give all things, You fill all things: only the sinner do You leave empty-handed. Remember Your tender mercies and fill my heart with Your grace, You Who will not allow Your works to be in vain. How can I bear this life of misery unless You comfort me with Your mercy and grace? Do not turn Your face from me. Do not delay Your visitation. Do not withdraw Your consolation, lest in Your sight my soul become as desert land. Teach me, Lord, to do Your will. Teach me to live worthily and humbly in Your sight, for You are my wisdom Who know me truly, and Who knew me even before the world was made and before I was born into it.

Oct. 26, 2010 Tuesday: What Jesus is Like

The following is an excerpt from the book "What Jesus Is Like" written by a mystic Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (d. 1937). She was a wife, mother, foundress, and a lay apostle whose cause for beatification is under way.

Chapter 9: His Love for Souls

"As the Father loves Me, so I also I have loved you" (cf. Jn 15:9)

How does Jesus love us? He loves us with the same love with which He loves His heavenly Father: that is, with the Holy Spirit. He could never have dreamt that we might be loved in this manner, the way Jesus loves us, participating in the very love with which Jesus loves the Father. Who would be able to comprehend this?
   In this love with which Jesus loves us is the very Love in which the thrice holy God burns. It is an efficacious, fruitful love. An unquenchable Fount of blessings. He pours forth this love into us with incomprehensible generosity. A love solely conceived and perpetuated by God Himself.
   We want a love, ever ancient, from before we existed. We want to taste and feel the words of Isaiah 54:8, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." There has never been a single instant when we have not been loved by that love.

   The love of Jesus is superior to the wildest dreams or desires of our souls because, besides being inexhaustible, it is unique and it possesses at the same time all of the loves that have ever existed. In the Heart of Jesus we find the tender love of a mother, the generous love of a father, the sweet love of a spouse, the intimate love of a friend and a great deal more that we cannot begin to find the human words to explain.
   This mysterious love is unique not only because it excludes the frailty of other loves while containing all their beauty, but it is also unique because it adapts perfectly to each soul and assumes in each one, as it were, that soul's form.
   And if we wish, we can fully enjoy that unending and rich love without fear of losing it. To the degree that we can penetrate into this love of Jesus--into that ocean of love--the greater assurance we will have that we shall never leave its scope. "Who can separate me from the love of Christ?" (cf. Rm 8:35).
   For our part, the love which the Holy Spirit diffuses in our hearts is of itself permanent, because it is Life. Of course, we can lose this Love by our sins, but only if we want to. Anyway, who, having known Jesus, would want to offend Him?
   Whoever loves Jesus in spirit and in truth thinks that he or she will always love Him. It is only this kind of love that attains the ideal Love--the ultimate desire of all love. It is Love itself that is the greatest reward of true love.
   Also, the human heart expands in the ocean of Infinite Love: a love that is infinite, ever new, deep as the ocean, immense as the heavens! Who would ever imagine that we might be the object of that profoundly intense love of Jesus? His love is an infinite gift: the fullness of all goodness, perfection and beauty.

Oct. 26, 2010 Tuesday: Imitation of Christ

Imitation of Christ
Book 2: Ch 12

THE ROYAL ROAD OF THE HOLY CROSS

TO MANY the saying, "Deny thyself, take up thy cross and follow Me,"[19] seems hard, but it will be much harder to hear that final word: "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."[20] Those who hear the word of the cross and follow it willingly now, need not fear that they will hear of eternal damnation on the day of judgment. This sign of the cross will be in the heavens when the Lord comes to judge. Then all the servants of the cross, who during life made themselves one with the Crucified, will draw near with great trust to Christ, the judge.

Why, then, do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul nor hope of everlasting life but in the cross.

Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and you shall enter eternal life. He Himself opened the way before you in carrying His cross, and upon it He died for you, that you, too, might take up your cross and long to die upon it. If you die with Him, you shall also live with Him, and if you share His suffering, you shall also share His glory.

Behold, in the cross is everything, and upon your dying on the cross everything depends. There is no other way to life and to true inward peace than the way of the holy cross and daily mortification. Go where you will, seek what you will, you will not find a higher way, nor a less exalted but safer way, than the way of the holy cross. Arrange and order everything to suit your will and judgment, and still you will find that some suffering must always be borne, willingly or unwillingly, and thus you will always find the cross.

Either you will experience bodily pain or you will undergo tribulation of spirit in your soul. At times you will be forsaken by God, at times troubled by those about you and, what is worse, you will often grow weary of yourself. You cannot escape, you cannot be relieved by any remedy or comfort but must bear with it as long as God wills. For He wishes you to learn to bear trial without consolation, to submit yourself wholly to Him that you may become more humble through suffering. No one understands the passion of Christ so thoroughly or heartily as the man whose lot it is to suffer the like himself.

The cross, therefore, is always ready; it awaits you everywhere. No matter where you may go, you cannot escape it, for wherever you go you take yourself with you and shall always find yourself. Turn where you will -- above, below, without, or within -- you will find a cross in everything, and everywhere you must have patience if you would have peace within and merit an eternal crown.

If you carry the cross willingly, it will carry and lead you to the desired goal where indeed there shall be no more suffering, but here there shall be. If you carry it unwillingly, you create a burden for yourself and increase the load, though still you have to bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will find another and perhaps a heavier one. Do you expect to escape what no mortal man can ever avoid? Which of the saints was without a cross or trial on this earth? Not even Jesus Christ, our Lord, Whose every hour on earth knew the pain of His passion. "It behooveth Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, . . . and so enter into his glory."[21] How is it that you look for another way than this, the royal way of the holy cross?

The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and do you seek rest and enjoyment for yourself? You deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full of miseries and marked with crosses on all sides. Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes, so much heavier will he frequently find the cross, because as his love increases, the pain of his exile also increases.

Oct. 25, 2010 Monday: St. John of the Cross on the "Beginners"

The Imperfection of Beginners

from "Ascent to Joy: John of the Cross" by Marc Foley p.72-75

God aids "beginners" in their attempts at changing their lives by showering them with sensible consolations for the sake of weaning them away from the things of this world. However, for many souls, these consolations prove to be more of a hindrance than a help on the spiritual path; they "let themselves be encumbered by the very consolations and favors God bestows on them for the sake of their advancing." In chapters two through seven of book one of the Dark Night, using the seven capital sins as his framework, John gives a penetrating analysis of the various ways that the experience of consolation encumbers these souls, but as varied as these ways are, they all stem from two sources, egocentricity and addiction to pleasure.

Egocentricity

Consolation does not cause the various manifestations of egocentricity that John describes but rather provides experiences that can easily be interpreted from narcissistic point of view. "Because God is giving me these experiences, I must be special." However, such experiences do not automatically produce such an ego-inflating interpretation, for John tells us that some souls receive God's consolation with humility. John seems to indicate that what determines the effect that consolation has upon a person is his or her degree of narcissism. John describes the predominant traits of a narcissistic personality disorder that are frequently manifested in "beginners": a grandiose sense of self-importance, intolerance to criticism, exhibitionism, the need to be the center of attention, and feeling threatened when someone else vies for the limelight. John says that all these manifestations of egocentricity are purified in the dark night.

Addiction to Pleasure

Like children, "beginners" are ruled by the pleasure principle; they seek to obtain sensual satisfaction and avoid discomfort and try to manufacture feelings by overindulging themselves in spiritual exercises, and conversely, they avoid any spiritual discipline that is distasteful. They are easily bored and become angry and peevish when their attempts to obtain satisfaction are frustrated. "And if they do not get what they want, they become sad and go away like testy children." Children is one of the metaphors that John uses most frequently to describe "beginners" addicted to the pleasure of consolation.

Pride

These beginners feel so fervent and diligent in their spiritual exercises and undertakings that a certain kind of secret pride is generated in them that begets a complacency with themselves and their accomplishments...Then they develop a somewhat vain...desire to speak of spiritual things in other's presence, and sometimes even to instruct rather than be instructed; in their hearts they condemn others who do not seem to have the kind of devotion they would like them to have, and sometimes they give expression to this criticism...

Some of the persons become so evil-minded that they do not want anyone except themselves to appear holy; and so by both word and deed they condemn and detract others whenever the occasion arises...

And when at times their spiritual directors, their confessors, or their superiors disapprove their spirit and method of procedure, they feel that these directors do not understand, or perhaps that this failure to approve derives from a lack of holiness, since they want these directors to regard their conduct with esteem and praise. So they quickly search for some other spiritual adviser more to their liking, someone who will congratulate them and be impressed by their deed...Sometimes they want others to recognize their spirit and devotion, and as a result occasionally contrive ceremonies...for others to take notice of these.

Many want to be the favorites of their confessors, and thus they are consumed by a thousand envies and disquietudes. Embarrassment forbids them from relating their sins clearly, lest their reputation diminish in their confessor's eyes. They confess their sins in the most favorable light so as to appear better than they actually are...[and] they confess the evil things they do to a different confessor...

Sometimes they minimize their faults, and at other times they become discouraged by them, since they felt they were already saints, and they become impatient and angry with themselves...

They are often extremely anxious that God remove their faults and imperfections, but their motive is personal peace rather than God. They fail to realize that were God to remove their faults they might well become more proud and presumptuous.

Oct. 24, 2010: 30th Sunday Ordinary (C)

Click to hear the audio homily

This coming week, our children will be roaming around the neighborhood with their eccentric costumes to beg for sugar that they do not need. Have you ever wondered about what the average pound of candy and chocolates our kids consume on Oct. 31? Some say that there will be approximately 36 million children age between 5 and 13 who will be roaming around our neighborhood. If each child went out and got at least 3 lbs. of candy that night, and if his mom and dad allowed him to have at it, they would have a very hyper child who is unable to sleep. What would that child do if you told him to eat only 5 pieces of candy while you tuck away the rest of the two hundred pieces of candy somewhere he can't reach it? I bet that child would fuss and whine, "But so-and-so's mom allows him to have the entire bag; why can't I?"

Sometimes we can fuss and whine at God the same way a candy-deprived child fusses at his parents. We pray for all sorts of things we want God to give us; my neighbor is getting it, why can't I? For some of us, the God described in the First Reading is foreign to us. The Book of Sirach says, "The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint." We say to ourselves, "That's not the God I know. Does He not see that I'm suffering? Why isn't He doing something about it like I asked Him to?"

This week, I began reading a spiritual book which woke me up. I sometimes get complacent and say to myself, 'I'm praying well, probably more so than others; I'm humble, probably more so than others.' Then I began reading the book. It reads: "God aids 'beginners of prayer' (e.g., making time for prayer, spiritual reading, etc.) in their attempts at changing their lives by showering them with sensible consolations for the sake of weaning them away from the things of this world." I'm thinking to myself, 'Surely I'm beyond the 'beginner' stage. I don't go out of the way to seek consolations from God.' The passage continued:

Like children, "beginners" are ruled by the pleasure principle; they seek to obtain sensual satisfaction and avoid discomfort and try to manufacture feelings by overindulging themselves in spiritual exercises, and conversely, they avoid any spiritual discipline that is distasteful. They are easily bored and become angry and peevish when their attempts to obtain satisfaction are frustrated. "And if they do not get what they want, they become sad and go away like testy children." Children is one of the metaphors that John uses most frequently to describe "beginners" addicted to the pleasure of consolation.

As I read this passage, I got stung! I thought I was beyond "beginner" stage, and in this passage, I saw myself like a child deprived of Halloween candy. It is like what the Pharisee in today's gospel said to himself when he saw a tax collector praying in the temple, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity --greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ Meanwhile, the tax collector was praying, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' Jesus then declares, "I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Ouch.

Then the book added even more skewering to my shame. It read:

These "beginners" feel so fervent and diligent in their spiritual exercises and undertakings that a certain kind of secret pride is generated in them that begets a complacency with themselves and their accomplishments...Then they develop a somewhat vain...desire to speak of spiritual things in other's presence, and sometimes even to instruct rather than be instructed; in their hearts they condemn others who do not seem to have the kind of devotion they would like them to have, and sometimes they give expression to this criticism...
Some of the persons become so evil-minded that they do not want anyone except themselves to appear holy; and so by both word and deed they condemn and detract others whenever the occasion arises...

This is a great lesson. We can easily become self-absorbed and prideful when we have the entire sweet bag of candy all to ourselves. When the candy is taken away from us, we forget that God may be trying to wean us away from being self-absorbed and prideful. How do we keep from being self-absorbed like that Pharisee? If we take time from our busy day and grow in our relationship with the Father and the Son through prayer, reflection and studying the Holy Scriptures then we will begin to see through the eyes of the contrite sinner and not those of the Pharisee.

Oct. 22, 2010 Friday: Imitation of Christ

Imitation of Christ
Book 3: Ch 17

ALL OUR CARE IS TO BE PLACED IN GOD

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

MY CHILD, allow me to do what I will with you. I know what is best for you. You think as a man; you feel in many things as human affection persuades.

THE DISCIPLE

Lord, what You say is true. Your care for me is greater than all the care I can take of myself. For he who does not cast all his care upon You stands very unsafely. If only my will remain right and firm toward You, Lord, do with me whatever pleases You. For whatever You shall do with me can only be good.

If You wish me to be in darkness, I shall bless You. And if You wish me to be in light, again I shall bless You. If You stoop down to comfort me, I shall bless You, and if You wish me to be afflicted, I shall bless You forever.

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

My child, this is the disposition which you should have if you wish to walk with Me. You should be as ready to suffer as to enjoy. You should as willingly be destitute and poor as rich and satisfied.

THE DISCIPLE

O Lord, I shall suffer willingly for Your sake whatever You wish to send me. I am ready to accept from Your hand both good and evil alike, the sweet and the bitter together, sorrow with joy; and for all that happens to me I am grateful. Keep me from all sin and I will fear neither death nor hell. Do not cast me out forever nor blot me out of the Book of Life, and whatever tribulation befalls will not harm me.

Advent

Day of Prayer

at Carmel

For single women ages 14-35

Sunday, November 28th

1:30-4:30pm

Carmelite Monastery

Covington, LA

  

The afternoon will include:

Advent prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours,

Explanation of the way that Advent is celebrated in Carmel,

 Ice cream break and visit to gift shop,

Guided contemplative prayer.

To sign-up (or for more information), please email or call:

Sr. Edith  ocdedith@aol.com

Sr. Grace  srgraceocd@yahoo.com

(985)898-0923

73530 River Road

Covington LA 70435

(985)898-0923

Oct. 21, 2010 Thursday: Diary of Divine Mercy

Diary of Divine Mercy by St. Faustina Kowalska
Paragraph #96

Trials sent by God to a soul which is particularly loved by Him. Temptations and darkness; Satan.

The soul's love (for God) is still not such as God would have it. The soul suddenly loses the tangible perception of God's presence. Various defects and imperfections rise up within it, and it must fight them furiously. All her faults lifted up their heads, but the soul's vigilance is great. The former awareness of the presence of God gives place to coldness and spiritual dryness; the soul has no taste for spiritual exercises; it cannot pray, either in the old way, or in the manner in which it had just begun to pray. It struggles this way and that, but can find no satisfaction. God has hidden himself from it, and it can find no consolation in creatures, nor can any of these creatures find away of consoling it. The soul craves passionately for God, but sees its own misery; it begins to sense God's justice; it seems to it that it has lost all the gifts that God has given it; its mind is dimmed, and darkness fills it; unspeakable torments begins. The soul tries to explain its state to the confessor, but it is not understood and is assailed by an even greater unrest. Satan begins his work.

Faith staggers under the impact; the struggle is fierce. The soul tries hard to cling to God by an act of will. With God's permission, Satan goes even further: hope and love are put to the test. These temptations are terrible. God supports the soul in secret, so to speak. The soul is not aware of this, but otherwise it would be impossible to stand firm; and God knows very well how much He can allow to befall a soul. The soul is tempted to unbelief in respect to revealed truths and to insincerity towards the confessor. Satan says to it, "Look, no one understands you; why speak about all this? Words that terrify it sounds in its ears, and it seems to the soul that it is uttering these against God. It sees what it does not want to see. It hears what it does not want to hear. And, oh, it is a terrible thing at times like these, not to have an experienced confessor! The soul carries the whole burden alone. However, one should make every effort to find, if it is at all possible, a well informed confessor, for a soul can collapse under the burden and come to the very edge of the precipice. All these trials are heavy and difficult. God does not send them to a soul which has not already been admitted to a deeper intimacy with Him and which has not yet tasted the divine delights. Besides, in this God has His own plans, which for us are impenetrable. God often prepares a soul in this way for His future designs and great works. He wants to try it as pure gold is tried. But this is not yet the end of the testing; there is still the trial of trials, the complete abandonment of the soul by God.

Oct. 20, 2010 Wednesday: St. Paul of the Cross (d 1775)

from Magnificat missallette meditation of the day

The truth of God’s love was shown on the cross of his beloved son, Jesus.
And the way to grow in our relationship with God in times of physical or mental stress is strengthen ourselves by doing the things that God desires.
It is a sign of great holiness when one is resigned in everything to the will of God. Everything that God wills is for our good.

He knows how to console us when we least expect it.
If anyone hurts you, look on him as someone of great value and, with the eyes of one who loves, see him as the person chosen by God to clothe you in holiness and in the patience, silence, and meekness of Jesus Christ.

If you can learn to see God’s will as a source of strength, taking every difficulty you go through as something which comes not just from circumstances but from the loving hand of God your creator, you will soon be speeding along the short road to holiness.
The troubles we have in life, if we see them as part of God’s loving plan and accept them as being what he wants for us, will actually help us grow in knowledge and love of him.
Even when things are at their worst, keep your peace of heart and accept whatever God sends you as being for your good. -St. Paul of the Cross

Oct. 20, 2010 Wednesday: Imitation of Christ

Imitation of Christ

Book 3: Ch 12

ACQUIRING PATIENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CONCUPISCENCE

THE DISCIPLE
PATIENCE, O Lord God, is very necessary for me, I see, because there are many adversities in this life. No matter what plans I make for my own peace, my life cannot be free from struggle and sorrow.

THE VOICE OF CHRIST
My child, you are right, yet My wish is not that you seek that peace which is free from temptations or meets with no opposition, but rather that you consider yourself as having found peace when you have been tormented with many tribulations and tried with many adversities.

If you say that you cannot suffer much, how will you endure the fire of purgatory? Of two evils, the lesser is always to be chosen. Therefore, in order that you may escape the everlasting punishments to come, try to bear present evils patiently for the sake of God.

Do you think that men of the world have no suffering, or perhaps but little? Ask even those who enjoy the most delights and you will learn otherwise. "But," you will say, "they enjoy many pleasures and follow their own wishes; therefore they do not feel their troubles very much." Granted that they do have whatever they wish, how long do you think it will last? Behold, they who prosper in the world shall perish as smoke, and there shall be no memory of their past joys. Even in this life they do not find rest in these pleasures without bitterness, weariness, and fear. For they often receive the penalty of sorrow from the very thing whence they believe their happiness comes. And it is just. Since they seek and follow after pleasures without reason, they should not enjoy them without shame and bitterness.

How brief, how false, how unreasonable and shameful all these pleasures are! Yet in their drunken blindness men do not understand this, but like brute beasts incur death of soul for the miserly enjoyment of a corruptible life.

Therefore, My child, do not pursue your lusts, but turn away from your own will. "Seek thy pleasure in the Lord and He will give thee thy heart's desires."[33] If you wish to be truly delighted and more abundantly comforted by Me, behold, in contempt of all worldly things and in the cutting off of all base pleasures shall your blessing be, and great consolation shall be given you. Further, the more you withdraw yourself from any solace of creatures, the sweeter and stronger comfort will you find in Me.

At first you will not gain these blessings without sadness and toil and conflict. Habit already formed will resist you, but it shall be overcome by a better habit. The flesh will murmur against you, but it will be bridled by fervor of spirit. The old serpent will sting and trouble you, but prayer will put him to flight and by steadfast, useful toil the way will be closed to him.

Oct. 17, 2010: 29th Sunday Ordinary (C)

The other day I was in a restaurant with some friends. No sooner we sat ourselves down, we noticed the obvious intrusion all around us. Every nook and cranny of the place was packed with 50-inch TVs. Even when I tried to look directly into the face of my friend to talk, I was inevitably drawn to the moving images behind. Halfway into my conversation, I lost my train of thought and then found myself watching the game on TV. The greatest challenge that night was paying attention to the person sitting only a few inches from me. Literally it was a battle for my short attention span. But the same thing can happen when we have one small 13-in TV in the kitchen when our family is trying to eat. There is something about the moving images on the screen, no matter what the size, that distract us to be elsewhere rather than to be present to those we're trying to talk to.

In contrast, this week I was invited to have breakfast with the cloistered Carmelite nuns where I was making my annual retreat. There were eight of us at their long dining table, and somehow we all managed to be present to each other, caught up in just one conversation and attentive to each other's needs. As I was sipping my coffee mug that was now half empty, I noticed that a sister was standing next to me ready to pour some more coffee. 'How did she know,' I wondered. It was as if the sisters anticipated each other's needs, even before the need was verbalized.

The images of a restaurant filled with distracting TVs and a quiet breakfast meal with Carmelite nuns came up as I prayed with the readings for the this Sunday. In the First Reading there is a situation like the distracting restaurant scene happening, where the victory of the battle is hinged upon the full attention of a single person praying and interceding before God. Moses is asked to stand on the top of a hill with his hands raised. As long as he had his hands raised up, praying and interceding intently, Israel had the upper hand on the battle against their enemy, Amalek. What would happen, then, if we placed in front of him a 50-in TV with the LSU or Saints football game on? Israel would be decimated, wouldn't they? Why? As he raised his hands, Moses was in God's presence asking Him face to face for the victory. The moment Moses redirected his attention back to himself, becoming self-absorbed, thinking to himself how tired he was and not paying attention to God, Moses stopped imploring for the grace necessary for his people. What was the result? His people suffered.

I wonder sometimes what are the effects of my prayer or lack of prayer for the benefit of parishioners. When I get self-absorbed, distracted by the world, and neglect my intense, silent prayer, do my parishioners suffer like the Israelites did when Moses got tired of imploring and let his hands down? When I moved into the rectory, I noticed that a holy card was taped on the bathroom mirror. I think Fr. Paul Gros put it there. The card reads:

If a priest is a saint, his people will be holy
If a priest is holy, his people will be good
If the priest is good, his people will be fair
If the priest is fair, his people will be mediocre
If the priest is mediocre, his people will be bad

Prayer and holiness are inseparable. Each priest has a duty to be filled with holiness, for we are to bring the love of Our Lord Jesus to all of His children. Through this holiness, we priests must love, be attentive to each other's needs like those Carmelite sisters, and serve God's children. How are we priests to be filled with holiness?  Through intense, silent prayer. It is during intense, silent prayer that we are in union with Our Lord's Sacred Heart and Blessed Mother's Immaculate Heart.

Mother Teresa was asked about whether a priest should be holy. She replied:

   Jesus said: “Be holy as the Father is holy.” And holiness is nothing special for a priest; it’s a duty for a priest to be holy because he comes in such close contact with Jesus. How holy his words must be, how holy his life must be, how holy his touch must be, if he has to be that living sacrifice on the altar. Especially that holiness, a living holiness that will be able to allow Christ to live His life in him. Holiness for the priest is that complete oneness with Christ so that He can live His life in him, praying in him, working in him, being one with the Father in him, that’s the holiness that is his. There’s no comparison; the only comparison, the only competition a priest can have in holiness is Jesus Himself because he has to be so completely one with Him that Christ can really count on him and live His life totally in him, and that His Father can love the world through him.

Then Mother Teresa was asked, "Who is Our Lady for a priest?" She replied:

Our Lady is the Mother. She was, she is, and she will always remain the Mother of Jesus; and Jesus said: “Who is My Mother? My Mother is the person who does My will, who does the things that are pleasing to the Father.” And no one can please the Father more than a priest. Therefore, she is the closest to a priest.
For just as she helped Jesus to grow, so she also helped the Church to grow in the beginning. She was left behind for so many years after Jesus ascended to heaven, so that she was the one who formed the Church. She is the one who forms every priest. And no one can have a greater claim on Our Lady than a priest. And I can imagine she must have had, she still has, a very tender love, a special protection also, for every priest, if he only turns to her. But to be able to really be a priest according to the Heart of Jesus you need much prayer and penance. A priest needs to unite his own sacrifice with the sacrifice of Christ, if he really wants to be completely one with Jesus on the altar. And then his life of sacrifice, his life of penance, must complete Jesus’ because as St. Paul had said, we must complete the things that are missing in the sufferings of Christ.


And this applies to all of us as well as the priests. As Mother Teresa said, "Holiness is the simple duty for each one of us, for we have been created for greater things, to love and to be loved. Holiness is not the luxury of the few." So all of us need a time away from the distracted world like that restaurant with 50in TVs everywhere. All of us need intense, silent prayer in our lives. All of us need Blessed Mother to form us into the likeness of her Son whom we receive at every mass. If a husband is a saint, his family will be holy. If a wife is a saint, her family will be holy. If a grandfather or a grandmother is a saint, their grandchildren will be holy. If an uncle or an aunt is a saint, their nephews and nieces will be holy. If a godfather or a godmother is a saint, their godchildren will be holy.

Oct. 16, 2010 Saturday: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (France, 1647-1690)

Revelation To St. Margaret Mary Alacoque 

"One day, kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament during the octave of Corpus Christi, I was deluged with God's loving favors--He disclosed his divine Heart and said: 'Behold this Heart which has loved men so much, it spared no means of proof - wearing itself out until it was utterly spent. This meets with scant appreciation from most of them; all I get back is ingratitude - witness their irreverence, their sacrileges, their coldness and contempt for me in this Sacrament of Love. What hurts me most is that hearts dedicated to my service treat me in this way. That is why I am asking you to have the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi set apart as a special feast in honor of my Heart - a day on which to receive me in Holy Communion and make a solemn act of reparation for the indignities I have received in the Blessed Sacrament while exposed on the altars of the world. I promise you that I shall open my Heart to all who honor me in this way, and who get others to do the same; they will feel in all its fullness the power of my love'.

"One of my greatest sufferings was caused by this divine Heart addressing to me these words: 'I thirst with such terrible thirst to be loved by men in the Blessed Sacrament that the thirst consumes me. Yet I find no one trying to quench it according to my desire by some return of my love. Do me the kindness then - you at least - of making up for their ingratitude, as far as you can. His sternest reprimands were reserved for want of respect and attention in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, insincerity or failure to preserve purity of intention, and idle curiosity."

from Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Mass at Discalced Carmelite Monastery, Covington, LA

The following mass was recorded at the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Covington, Louisiana during my annual retreat on Oct. 13, 2010.

  Click to hear the audio of the mass

http://www.covingtoncarmel.org

Mother Teresa's Legacy

Oct. 15, 2010 Friday: St. Teresa of Avila

Click to hear audio homily

From
"Fire Within: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and the Gospel on Prayer" by Fr. Thomas Dubay S.M.

Chapter 7: Condition for Growth: St. Teresa


Living, as we do, in a consumerist age that looks to technology to solve most its problems, we will, unless immersed in a serious prayer life ourselves, assume as obvious that prayer is mainly something produced in a human manner...The literary and audio markets are replete with techniques and methodologies...These are presented and promoted in streams of articles, tapes, books, workshops and courses. While some of this is good for some people at some times, the extension of it to most people at most times is more than misleading. Extended indiscriminately, it becomes a dead end and more than a dead end. It blocks real prayer growth.

While St. Teresa was well acquainted with methods of meditation and wished her young nuns to be instructed in them, she emphatically insisted that the primary need for beginners is not to find the ideal method but to do God's will from moment to moment throughout the day--which is probably the last thing the beginner thinks is primary. St. Teresa said, "The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer--and don't forget this, because it is very important--should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every effort to bring his will into conformity with God's will." She then adds that "it is the person who lives in more perfect conformity who will receive more from the Lord  and be more advanced on this road [of prayer]".

Growth in prayer does not depend on a person's immediate situation. We tend to suppose that if only we could find an ideal community, be it marital or religious or clerical, if only we could locate in another setting, if only we had a different superior or set of associates, if only we had more money (or less), we would skyrocket in prayer. Not so, says the foundress, for "the time is always propitious for God to grant His great favours to those who truly serve Him."

Conformity to the divine will does not mean merely that we fulfill commandments but also that we generously go beyond what is strictly required. A man in love happily fulfills obligations, yes (and this, too, is an act of love), but he is eager to do much more: he gives the beloved everything and nothing that will please her and that lies in his power to give. The saint says: "Everything we gain comes from what we give." Noting that attaining the divine riches is possible for everyone, provided each gives what he has, she adds that "if you are to gain this, He would have you keep back nothing; whether it be little or much, He will have it all for Himself, and according to what you know yourself to have given, the favours He will grant you will be small or great...there is no better test than this of whether or not our prayer attains to union."

Teresa is as insistent as St. John of the Cross that there is no prayer development unless it be accompanied by purification from faults. Given what a love communion with utter Purity demands, one could not conceive the matter to be otherwise: only the pure can commune deeply with the all-pure One. We have difficulty in understanding that we have many defects that need to be rooted out. Some people are so blind to the pauline "illusory desires" that when a trial strikes them, they complain to God, "what have I done to deserve this?"--the implication being that they have done nothing, that they are innocent of a great deal of inner disorder lurking in their minds and hearts. Even after she had been purified a great deal and was receiving "sublime contemplation" from her Lord, St. Teresa still saw an abundance of imperfections in herself: "How I fail, how I fail, how I fail--and I could say it a thousand times--to get rid of everything for you!...How many imperfections I see in myself! What laxity in serving You! Indeed I think sometimes I would like to be without consciousness in order not to know so much evil about myself."

Oct. 13, 2010 Wednesday: Secrets that keep us sane

From "The Love that Keeps Us Sane: living the little way of St Therese of Lisieux" by Marc Foley OCD

Ch 1: The Secrets that Keep Us Sane

Secrets are instruments of discernment. They determine where the lines of demarcation between the inner and outer world are drawn. Secrets are walls. They can isolate us or protect us, depending upon the nature of the secret. The dark secrets of our lives can fill us with unbearable pain because they isolate us from ourselves and the world around us. But just as certain secrets make us sick , other secrets can keep us sane.

Whenever we expose an intimate part of ourselves, a quality of self-presence is lost...And those things that are most intimate about ourselves are also the most vulnerable to the criticism of others. St Therese experienced, at a tender age, the damage that is done when we expose a secret grace to the curiosity of others...(Her miraculous cure at age ten when she saw "ravishing smile of the Blessed Virgin") Marie, her sister, coaxed Therese to reveal what had happened and asked permission to tell the nuns at Lisieux Carmel. Therese agreed reluctantly. When Therese went to Carmel to give her account of her miracle, she was bombarded with questions that so confused her that she began to doubt her own experience. And just as she thought, her happiness disappeared. Therese instinctively knew that this grace was for her alone. When we try to communicate an incommunicable experience, it ceases to be an experience. It is depersonalized. It becomes an event, something that happened in the past.

As Therese grew in wisdom and age, she became more discerning regarding whom and to what extent she would share her life. Obviously, she shared her inner life, or we would not know so much about her. But she did so only with her intimates, and even with them, she was selective about what she shares of her soul.
The soul may be likened to a beautiful garden that contains delicate and precious flowers. In order to protect the flowers, we need to be selective about whom we invite into our garden. In our discernment two extremes should be avoided.

The first is a lack of discrimination concerning with whom we share our life. It is like not having a wall around our garden; anyone can traipse through it at will. It is like casting our pearls before swine.
In our desire to be accepted or understood, we can expose ourselves to being stepped on. By the very act of exposing ourselves to curiosity, we risk the danger of being depersonalized. An example of this is the afternoon talk show. When we make an expose of our intimate life, we vulgarize it in our own eyes.

The other extreme is to have the wall that completely encircles our garden, a wall so high that nothing gets in, not even sunlight. Because lack of human warmth and connectedness, our flowers wither in the darkness of loneliness, and we shiver with the cold fear and anxiety of isolation. As our defensive walls grow, they press in upon us. Fear begins to suffocate us; it suffocates us and backs our lives into a corner.
To avoid these extremes, we need a wall to protect our garden from harm, but we should have a gate in the wall, and stationed at the gate, a discerning gatekeeper who selects the soul's company with wisdom.
Therese knew how precious and fragile are the deep graces that God implants in the secret garden of the soul. As she matured, the importance of living a "hidden life" became central to her way to God.

Oct. 12, 2010 Tuesday: To freely give away charity

From "The Love that Keeps Us Sane: living the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux" by Marc Foley

Ch 4: Sanity of Loving Freely

What allowed Therese to live in a state of sane state of mind was not looking beyond her choices for a reward. By focusing on what God was asking her to do, while not being concerned with the results of her actions, she freed herself from much worry and heartache. She said to her sister: "Be like a child...practice all the virtues and so always lift up your little foot to mount the ladder of holiness, but do not imagine that you will be able to ascend even the first step. No! The good Lord does not demand ore from you than your good will...He will come down and take you in His arms. He will carry you up. But if you stop lifting your little foot, he will leave you a long time on the ground."

By letting go of the desire that her efforts would bear fruit, Therese let go of what was not in her control. She knew that she could not make people accept what she said. All she could do was speak the words that she believed God wanted her to say.
Like the sower in the Gospel, Therese realized that all we can do is sow the seed. The fruitfulness of our actions depends upon the soil on which it lands. If our words fall on dead ears, shouting louder and wringing our hands in worry will accomplish nothing. Letting go of the need for results in things over which we are powerless is letting go of useless care and worry...

Doing everything for God but expecting no reward on earth isn't doing anything magnanimous. It is a simple formula for sanity, for the more we expect people to appreciate it efforts, the more we make ourselves vulnerable to feeling hurt. Therese was not not hurt by the ingratitude of others because there was no strings attached to her charity. She gave freely.
What helped her give freely was that she prepared herself mentally in advance, such as anticipating that she would be interrupted in what she was doing. For instance, at the beginning of every free time, the only time she had to do her writing, she would decide to discontinue her writing if a request for her assistance was made. This is an application of St Paul's advice: "Everyone must give according to what he has inwardly decided; not sadly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7).
The reason we often give grudgingly is that we feel that something is being taken from us. However, when we inwardly decide to give, before we are asked, the feeling that something is taken from us disappears because we have already made a choice to give it away.

Oct. 11, 2010 Monday: Imitation of Christ

Imitation of Christ
Book 3: Ch 57

A MAN SHOULD NOT BE TOO DOWNCAST WHEN HE FALLS INTO DEFECTS

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

MY CHILD, patience and humility in adversity are more pleasing to Me than much consolation and devotion when things are going well.

Why are you saddened by some little thing said against you? Even if it had been more you ought not to have been affected. But now let it pass. It is not the first, nor is it anything new, and if you live long it will not be the last.

You are manly enough so long as you meet no opposition. You give good advice to others, and you know how to strengthen them with words, but when unexpected tribulation comes to your door, you fail both in counsel and in strength. Consider your great weakness, then, which you experience so often in small matters. Yet when these and like trials happen, they happen for your good.

Put it out of your heart as best you know how, and if it has touched you, still do not let it cast you down or confuse you for long. Bear it patiently at least, if you cannot bear it cheerfully. Even though you bear it unwillingly, and are indignant at it, restrain yourself and let no ill-ordered words pass your lips at which the weak might be scandalized. The storm that is now aroused will soon be quieted and your inward grief will be sweetened by returning grace. "I yet live," says the Lord, "ready to help you and to console you more and more, if you trust in Me and call devoutly upon Me."

Remain tranquil and prepare to bear still greater trials. All is not lost even though you be troubled oftener or tempted more grievously. You are a man, not God. You are flesh, not an angel. How can you possibly expect to remain always in the same state of virtue when the angels in heaven and the first man in paradise failed to do so? I am He Who rescues the afflicted and brings to My divinity those who know their own weakness.

THE DISCIPLE

Blessed be Your words, O Lord, sweeter to my mouth than honey and the honeycomb. What would I do in such great trials and anxieties, if You did not strengthen me with Your holy words? If I may but attain to the haven of salvation, what does it matter what or how much I suffer? Grant me a good end. Grant me a happy passage out of this world. Remember me, my God, and lead me by the right way into Your kingdom.

Oct. 10, 2010: 28th Sunday Ordinary (C)

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My niece, Therese, is now 5 years old. I doubt that she remembers a couple of years ago when she would watch, over and over again, the cartoon video of Dora the Explorer singing, "We did it!" She would stand in front of the TV and shake to the beat and repeat, "We did it! We did it! We did it!" Inevitably she would say, "I did it!" As Therese learned to do things on her own, she was proud of her own accomplishment. Whether it was going to the potty all on her own, putting toys away in the proper place, or doing things her mommy asked her to do, gradually she learned that there is satisfaction in doing things all on her own. But there is a lesson to be learned in repeating to ourselves, "We did it," instead of "I did it." If you really think about it, there is not a single thing that we can say honestly, "I did it." In some way someone has helped us. I had to remind everyone at mass last Sunday that it was not an accident that LSU won their football game on the Feast Day of Guardian Angels. (Oct. 2)

I was reminded of that when looking over what happened to the ten lepers in the Gospel today. Ten lepers pleaded with Jesus to cure them. Jesus instructed them to show themselves to a priest. And on their way to the priest, the lepers realized that they were cured of leprosy. Yet it occurred to only one leper to turn back and thank Jesus for that gift of the miracle. What separates that one leper from the rest of his companions? Gratitude. One leper turned back out of gratitude to Jesus. Why did the rest of his companions lack gratitude? It's because the nine companions said to themselves, "I did it! I brought the miracle onto myself." Their line of reasoning was, 'If I did it all on my own, why do I need to thank someone?' We can take that same attitude of the nine lepers.

This past season of Lent, I preached a homily on Confession. In the homily, I told my experience of conversion while watching a movie called, "Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima." In the movie, as the children saw the visions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, my sleeping conscience woke up.  I grabbed a legal pad and began to write down all my sins of the past which I presumed were forgiven without really even asking God for forgiveness. They were the sins of pride, anger, lust, gluttony, envy, laziness, and greed. And I filled several pages of the legal pad. That was back in 1996. Before that conversion experience, I lived my life saying to myself, "I did it all by myself." I was certainly an arrogant, prideful, lustful, gluttonous, and lazy young man. Sometimes folks who come into my confessional remind me of my old self. They say, "Father, it's been 20 years since my last confession. All I can remember is that I forgot to attend some Sunday masses and I could have been more patient with others. That's all."  Usually I say to myself, "Ahhh, here before me is Paul Yi from 1996."

If we look back into our past, many of us can remember the moment when God touched us in a special way like the ten lepers. Did we turn back like that one leper to thank the Lord for touching our lives in a special way? Or like the nine lepers, did we just go about our business thinking that "I did it?" For many years I was like the nine lepers who were thankless for the kindness shown by God. In 2001, however, while I was in a small Croatian village named Medjugorje, I finally turned back to thank Jesus for the healing of the soul that he brought in me. Then He said to me, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." Since then, he has taken me, once a dirty leper, as a disciple--as His priest. Just think what could happen to all of us if we turned around like that one leper to thank the Lord?    

Oct. 8, 2010 Friday: Imitation of Christ

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Imitation of Christ
Book 2: Ch 6
THE PROVING OF A TRUE LOVER

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

MY CHILD, you are not yet a brave and wise lover.

THE DISCIPLE

Why, Lord?

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

Because, on account of a slight difficulty you give up what you have undertaken and are too eager to seek consolation.

The brave lover stands firm in temptations and pays no heed to the crafty persuasions of the enemy. As I please him in prosperity, so in adversity I am not displeasing to him. The wise lover regards not so much the gift of Him Who loves as the love of Him Who gives. He regards the affection of the Giver rather than the value of the gift, and sets his Beloved above all gifts. The noble lover does not rest in the gift but in Me Who am above every gift.

All is not lost, then, if you sometimes feel less devout than you wish toward Me or My saints. That good and sweet feeling which you sometimes have is the effect of present grace and a certain foretaste of your heavenly home. You must not lean upon it too much, because it comes and goes. But to fight against evil thoughts which attack you is a sign of virtue and great merit. Do not, therefore, let strange fantasies disturb you, no matter what they concern. Hold strongly to your resolution and keep a right intention toward God.

It is not an illusion that you are sometimes rapt in ecstasy and then quickly returned to the usual follies of your heart. For these are evils which you suffer rather than commit; and so long as they displease you and you struggle against them, it is a matter of merit and not a loss.

You must know that the old enemy tries by all means in his power to hinder your desire for good and to turn you from every devotional practice, especially from the veneration of the saints, from devout meditation on My passion, and from your firm purpose of advancing in virtue. He suggests many evil thoughts that he may cause you weariness and horror, and thus draw you away from prayer and holy reading. A humble confession displeases him and, if he could, he would make you omit Holy Communion.

Do not believe him or heed him, even though he often sets traps to deceive you. When he suggests evil, unclean things, accuse him. Say to him: "Away, unclean spirit! Shame, miserable creature! You are but filth to bring such things to my ears. Begone, most wretched seducer! You shall have no part in me, for Jesus will be my strength, and you shall be confounded. I would rather die and suffer all torments than consent to you. Be still! Be silent! Though you bring many troubles upon me I will have none of you. The Lord is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Though armies unite against me, my heart will not fear, for the Lord is my Helper, my Redeemer."

Fight like a good soldier and if you sometimes fall through weakness, rise again with greater strength than before, trusting in My most abundant grace. But beware of vain complacency and pride. For many are led into error through these faults and sometimes fall into almost perpetual blindness. Let the fall of these, who proudly presume on self, be a warning to you and a constant incentive to humility.

Oct. 7, 2010 Thursday: Our Lady of Rosary

When was the first time you 'rediscovered' the Rosary? We may have prayed the rosary as a child with our grandmother or our family, but when was the first time that we actually picked up the rosary on our own and began praying? The first time I began praying the Rosary was when I came back to the Catholic Church in the middle of my college years. The first few attempts to pray the Rosary was difficult. I was falling asleep when I prayed sitting down, so I paced inside my apartment back and forth, with rosary in one hand and in the other hand, a booklet on how to pray the Rosary. It took a good a month or so before I memorized the 'Creed' and 'Hail Holy Queen' by heart. It took me a good year to begin praying without a booklet in my hand. And it took a good couple of years before I began to yearn for it and look forward to praying it as nourishment. But once it became a habit, it took a very different direction. Once the prayers of Rosary flowed naturally, I began seeing the images of the Gospel come alive. When I prayed the First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation, I began imagining in my mind's eye Archangel Gabriel surrounded by bright light approaching Virgin Mary with the joyful news. I imagined Blessed Mother's reaction as she saw this heavenly visitor. It was as if I was right there more than 2,000 years ago experiencing anew what the New Testament Gospels told. A well-known priest named Fr. John Corapi always says, "The prayer of the Rosary is the prayer of the holy Gospel, the Good News Who is Jesus." He said, "My best piece of spiritual advice to you, no matter who you are, president or plumber, priest or king…PRAY THE ROSARY EVERY DAY! You will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams."