Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Thursday, January 11, 2018
How to Pray by Michael Dubruiel
The letter to the Hebrews draws a strong connection
between the cross and prayer. Because every moment of our
earthly existence is threatened by death, and we know neither the
day nor the hour when that existence will come to an end, we,
too, need to cry out to the God who can save us. Like Moses, we
need the help of our fellow Christians to hold up our arms when
they grow tired. We, too, need the help of the Holy Spirit to
make up for what is lacking in our prayer.
-The Power of the Cross
by Michael Dubruiel
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Bored at Mass? by Michael Dubruiel
An excerpt from The How to Book of the Mass by Michael Dubruiel
When our Lord gave the disciples on the road to Emmaus the bread that He had blessed and broken, "he vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24:31). It was then that they recognized Him. We receive the Lord as they did in receiving the Eucharist. Now, at the moment that He is within us, we too should reflect, as they did, on the Scriptures that He has opened to us during this Mass, especially on what has made our "hearts burn."
In our consumer-minded society, we can miss the treasure that we receive if we treat it like one more thing to "get" and then go on to the next thing. Our Lord is not a "thing." He is God, who has deigned to come intimately into our lives. We should reflect on His Presence within us and ask what He would have us do.
More on The How to Book of the Mass here.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Free Catholic Book by Michael Dubruiel
I once read a personal essay written about attending Mass
where the writer advised the reader to get to church early to find
a pew where you will likely have no one sitting anywhere near
you to distract you. I confess there have been times that I have
felt this way too, but I can see how sinful such a view is—how
“separation” even in the name of God is not of God.
Jesus came to reunify all those separations brought about by
original sin—whether they be nationality, gender, or language. “For
by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1
Corinthians 12:13). Our sinful self rebels against this notion; we
want to judge others rather than forgive in Christ. This is our cross!
If we hold it in front of us, we will have a constant reminder of the
One who died for the sins of the world—to save “them” and “us.”
From The Power of the Cross by Michael Dubruiel , available as a free download by clicking the cover below:
Saturday, January 6, 2018
The Epiphany of the Lord by Michael Dubruiel
The Epiphany of the Lord
People experience darkness in a lot of ways. Some are depressed. Others experience it in ignorance.
Darkness and the experience of being blind are two ways that the scriptures often portray the condition of humans without some outside help. Many of us are aware that something isn't quite right with ourselves. We are not the person that we feel we could or should be. We don't know how to act in our own best interest or the for the good of others. We often are at the mercy of those who try to manipulate our indecisiveness and lack of vision.
To this Isaiah the prophet says, "Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance". God has sent light that shines in the darkness, John tells us in his gospel--will we accept that light?
and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance". God has sent light that shines in the darkness, John tells us in his gospel--will we accept that light?
The magi traveled afar to experience it. How far are we willing to travel to experience what countless saints have experienced for the last two thousand years? How willing are we to surrender to the light? It is our choice, we can be like Herod who was threatened by the light that his true worth would be seen in its light or we can be like the magi who recognized the ultimate worth of such light shining in the darkness and brought what they had to offer in exchange for a treasure that the earth can only give in the person of the God made man.
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