"Yipee!" Finally...
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Communion with God. The previous postings are found in the archives to the right. This is the 73rd Step:
(73) And never to despair of God's mercy.
We fall, time and again after numerous resolutions that we won't ever sin again. In a matter of seconds we are passing judgment on someone or even worst--once again falling into sin.
The tool that we most overlook in this great toolbox that we have been given to grow in communion with God is trust. Most of our acts of conversion are feeble attempts when we turn to God and ask Him to trust in us, but this is not what the spiritual life is about. Rather it is about knowing that we cannot be trusted but that God can be.
Turning to God is what the spiritual life is all about. It begins and ends with an act of trust in God's love and His mercy. There is nothing more tragic than when someone ceases to believe that God could ever love them or when they feel that they have done something that God could never forgive. Despair and closing ourselves off from God's mercy is the only act that can keep us from receiving it.
The devotion to the Divine Mercy that swept the Catholic world in the late 1900's and continues to thrive today is a great way to keep our focus on God's love and mercy by daily at 3:00 P.M. calling to mind God's mercy. The revelation to St. Faustina by Our Lord was that His death on the cross was for our sins, nothing new here, but He lamented that people were not availing themselves to His mercy and that she would become His Apostle of Mercy. "Jesus, I trust in you" is a powerful antidote to the many other voices that seek to destroy our lives. Focusing on the crucifix and meditating on the Passion of Christ as the supreme sign of God's love and mercy is powerful way to remind ourselves of how much God loves us.
Through the many counsels that we have looked at this is the most important--to remember God's mercy. God is our savior. Jesus we trust in you!
Thursday, October 3, 2002
Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Thanks to Spirit Daily for once again featuring my Novena book today!
Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world
Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world
Today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels
From the Office of Readings (by St. Bernard):
He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. Let them thank the Lord for his mercy; his wonderful works are for the children of men. Let them give thanks and say among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. O Lord, what is man that you have made yourself known to him, or why do you incline your heart to him? And you do incline your heart to him; you show him your care and your concern. Finally, you send your only Son and the grace of your Spirit, and promise him a vision of your countenance. And so, that nothing in heaven should be wanting in your concern for us, you send those blessed spirits to serve us, assigning them as our guardians and our teachers.
He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. These words should fill you with respect, inspire devotion and instil confidence; respect for the presence of angels, devotion because of their loving service, and confidence because of their protection. And so the angels are here; they are at your side, they are with you, present on your behalf. They are here to protect you and to serve you. But even if it is God who has given them this charge, we must nonetheless be grateful to them for the great love with which they obey and come to help us in our great need.
So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return their love and honour them as much as we can and should. Yet all our love and honour must go to him, for it is from him that they receive all that makes them worthy of our love and respect.
We should then, my brothers, show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father. We are God’s children although it does not seem so, because we are still but small children under guardians and trustees, and for the present little better than slaves.
Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under the protection of God’s heaven.
From the Office of Readings (by St. Bernard):
He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. Let them thank the Lord for his mercy; his wonderful works are for the children of men. Let them give thanks and say among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. O Lord, what is man that you have made yourself known to him, or why do you incline your heart to him? And you do incline your heart to him; you show him your care and your concern. Finally, you send your only Son and the grace of your Spirit, and promise him a vision of your countenance. And so, that nothing in heaven should be wanting in your concern for us, you send those blessed spirits to serve us, assigning them as our guardians and our teachers.
He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. These words should fill you with respect, inspire devotion and instil confidence; respect for the presence of angels, devotion because of their loving service, and confidence because of their protection. And so the angels are here; they are at your side, they are with you, present on your behalf. They are here to protect you and to serve you. But even if it is God who has given them this charge, we must nonetheless be grateful to them for the great love with which they obey and come to help us in our great need.
So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return their love and honour them as much as we can and should. Yet all our love and honour must go to him, for it is from him that they receive all that makes them worthy of our love and respect.
We should then, my brothers, show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father. We are God’s children although it does not seem so, because we are still but small children under guardians and trustees, and for the present little better than slaves.
Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under the protection of God’s heaven.
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
From the Boston Herald
Osama plotted bigger attacks: Report: U.S. Taliban revealed details to FBI
American Taliban John Walker Lindh has told FBI interrogators that Osama bin Laden had planned a three-phase attack on America and its allies and dispatched 50 al-Qaeda members on suicide missions the summer before the Sept. 11 attacks, it was reported yesterday.
The attacks on New York and Washington in which airliners were flown into buildings was only the first phase, The Sunday Times of London reported.
Lindh asserted that a senior al-Qaeda commander told him the second phase would be even worse and would make the U.S. ``forget about the first attack,'' and the third would ``finish America.''
Osama plotted bigger attacks: Report: U.S. Taliban revealed details to FBI
American Taliban John Walker Lindh has told FBI interrogators that Osama bin Laden had planned a three-phase attack on America and its allies and dispatched 50 al-Qaeda members on suicide missions the summer before the Sept. 11 attacks, it was reported yesterday.
The attacks on New York and Washington in which airliners were flown into buildings was only the first phase, The Sunday Times of London reported.
Lindh asserted that a senior al-Qaeda commander told him the second phase would be even worse and would make the U.S. ``forget about the first attack,'' and the third would ``finish America.''
Monday, September 23, 2002
This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Communion with God. The previous postings are found in the archives to the right. This is the 72nd Step:
(72) To make peace with an adversary before the setting of the sun.
We should always strive to remain at peace with everyone. One wonders how different life would be if everyone were to embrace this counsel and practice it in their daily life. Would there ever be another war? Would anyone have reason to live in fear anymore?
But such is not the case and I cannot live with my focus on what others are or are not doing. I can only put this counsel into practice myself. Do I allow the sun to set without making peace with those who I'm either angry with or those who are angry with me.
I have worked with people who practice this counsel and it can be rather tiresome when they come up to you to make peace and you weren't even aware that you were at "war" with them. But in the long run it is much better to have these summits of peace than to have people around you stewing about some slight that you have committed against them.
And what of us?
Are we aware of the control that others have over us by their actions and words?
Really this is a counsel to make sure that any time God is Lord over you. When we make someone an enemy we are in danger of making them an idol that we worship and serve. They and the actions that they commit against us are not all-powerful and do not deserve the time and emotion that we often waste on them. Making peace with our adversaries means making peace with God first, asking God to empower us to forgive and acknowledging that God is the judge over all. We let go and let God be God in our lives.
(72) To make peace with an adversary before the setting of the sun.
We should always strive to remain at peace with everyone. One wonders how different life would be if everyone were to embrace this counsel and practice it in their daily life. Would there ever be another war? Would anyone have reason to live in fear anymore?
But such is not the case and I cannot live with my focus on what others are or are not doing. I can only put this counsel into practice myself. Do I allow the sun to set without making peace with those who I'm either angry with or those who are angry with me.
I have worked with people who practice this counsel and it can be rather tiresome when they come up to you to make peace and you weren't even aware that you were at "war" with them. But in the long run it is much better to have these summits of peace than to have people around you stewing about some slight that you have committed against them.
And what of us?
Are we aware of the control that others have over us by their actions and words?
Really this is a counsel to make sure that any time God is Lord over you. When we make someone an enemy we are in danger of making them an idol that we worship and serve. They and the actions that they commit against us are not all-powerful and do not deserve the time and emotion that we often waste on them. Making peace with our adversaries means making peace with God first, asking God to empower us to forgive and acknowledging that God is the judge over all. We let go and let God be God in our lives.
The Shroud of Turin has been Restored
From Zenit News:
The figure of the crucified man imprinted on the Shroud of Turin can now be more clearly seen, following its restoration by experts.
At the official presentation of the restored shroud Saturday, Cardinal Severino Poletto, archbishop of Turin, explained that the purpose of the work was to guarantee the conservation of the cloth. The work involved the removal of patches sewn on the shroud 470 years ago.
The cardinal, who is the relic's pontifical custodian, said that the restoration was carried out with the permission of the Holy See (which owns the shroud), and in keeping with the advice of technical experts.
The restoration of the shroud, in which according to tradition the body of Christ was wrapped after the crucifixion, was carried out last June and July in the sacristy of the Turin cathedral. Work was done by a team headed by Swiss expert Mechtild Flury-Lemberg, former director of the Abegg Museum in Berne.
Thirty triangular patches, sewn by nuns of Chambery, France, in 1534, after a fire damaged the relic in 1532, were removed from the shroud.
Also removed was the "Holland cloth" sewn on the reverse of the shroud 450 years ago to preserve it. The work also enabled the removal of dust and debris that had accumulated on the cloth over the centuries. All the material removed has been catalogued and placed in safekeeping.
From Zenit News:
The figure of the crucified man imprinted on the Shroud of Turin can now be more clearly seen, following its restoration by experts.
At the official presentation of the restored shroud Saturday, Cardinal Severino Poletto, archbishop of Turin, explained that the purpose of the work was to guarantee the conservation of the cloth. The work involved the removal of patches sewn on the shroud 470 years ago.
The cardinal, who is the relic's pontifical custodian, said that the restoration was carried out with the permission of the Holy See (which owns the shroud), and in keeping with the advice of technical experts.
The restoration of the shroud, in which according to tradition the body of Christ was wrapped after the crucifixion, was carried out last June and July in the sacristy of the Turin cathedral. Work was done by a team headed by Swiss expert Mechtild Flury-Lemberg, former director of the Abegg Museum in Berne.
Thirty triangular patches, sewn by nuns of Chambery, France, in 1534, after a fire damaged the relic in 1532, were removed from the shroud.
Also removed was the "Holland cloth" sewn on the reverse of the shroud 450 years ago to preserve it. The work also enabled the removal of dust and debris that had accumulated on the cloth over the centuries. All the material removed has been catalogued and placed in safekeeping.
Friday, September 20, 2002
Good News
Saint's Dried Blood Liquefies in 'Miracle'
If it liquefies that's good. Happened yesterday. It's Januarius' blood, feast day was yesterday.
Saint's Dried Blood Liquefies in 'Miracle'
If it liquefies that's good. Happened yesterday. It's Januarius' blood, feast day was yesterday.
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