Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Matthew, Chapter 10, verse 31

So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously

give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

our presence automatically liberates others. 

Marianne Williamson. 

Mission BBQ Armed Forces Day buildup

US Marine Corp[1]

Where the mighty go; God goes with them!

·         At Iwo Jima, Marine Chaplain Father Charles Suver celebrated Holy Mass shortly before the raising of the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi by the Marines. Debate has been inconclusive whether it was the first less known or the second more well-known raising of the flag that is now immortalized in history. Regardless of which flag raising it was Father Suver could still hear Japanese voices in the nearby caves as he said the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!

·         Fr. Charles Watters in Vietnam shortly before his death in November, 1967. Chaplain Watters was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery under fire. Once he linked up with the Marines they told him to leave as it was too dangerous. Father McGonigal refused and ministered aid and Last Rites to the wounded and dying. He was killed on February 17, 1968 trying to rescue a wounded Marine. The Marines later dedicated a chapel at Camp Pendleton in his honor to the service he gave to the Marines at Hue.

Prayer for the Troops

SIXTH DAY (Wednesday, 7th Week of Easter)

If Thou take Thy grace away, nothing pure in man will stay, All his good is turn'd to ill.

The Gift of Understanding

Understanding, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion “by” faith we know them, but by “Understanding” we learn to appreciate and relish them. It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths and through them to be quickened to newness of life. Our faith ceases to be sterile and inactive, but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the faith that is in us; we begin to "walk worthy of God in all things pleasing, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

 Prayer

Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds, that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation; and may merit at last to see the eternal light in Thy Light; and in the light of glory to have a clear vision of Thee and the Father and the Son. Amen.

Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE.
Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES. 
Act of Consecration, Prayer for the Seven Gifts

Joyous Preparation for Pentecost[2]

Our hearts need to be fixed within the Liturgical Year. We can find rest and consolation and direction with and from the liturgy of the Church. 

Ascension--We Are Filled with Joy

Last week (or this past Sunday) the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension. Formerly in the liturgy, the Paschal Candle would be snuffed and removed from the sanctuary after the Gospel, indicating how Jesus had left us. This practice has changed because it's important to show that the Easter season continues through Pentecost. The feast of the Ascension does mark the end of the Paschal Mystery, which includes the Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension of Jesus into heaven and Pentecost, but not an end to Easter.

Every year I find myself with mixed emotions contemplating the Ascension. I always think the Apostles would have felt some sadness and they would have missed Jesus. They thought they had lost Him completely in His death on the cross, only to have the impossible and unthinkable of Him rising from the dead. Jesus was alive! For forty days Jesus appeared to them at various times. His presence wasn't the same as before, as He didn't eat and sleep and live with them anymore, but His resurrection and presence was even more of a gift. And then He gives them His final commission and ascends to the Father, not to return in an appearance with His glorified body. Did the Apostles sometimes hope He would appear, or did they know that this was the last time they would see Him? It feels like it should be a sad day, with the Apostles missing the human presence of Jesus.
But the Gospel for the Ascension clearly says:

They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God (Luke 24:53).The whole Ascension liturgy is filled with reference to joy and rejoicing. The Collect opens with Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving....The Responsorial Psalm from Psalm 47 is full of rejoicing: 

God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

What is this joy we are to have, when it seems bitter sweet for Jesus to leave us? The answer lies in the words of the Solemn Blessing:

And may you, who believe he is seated
with the Father in his majesty,
know with joy the fulfillment of his promise 
to stay with you until the end of time.

He is gone physically, but remains with us until the end of time. And that is the secret of our joy.

Preparing for the Departure

Starting in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is with His Apostles at His Last Supper. There He is giving His final instructions, His most important teachings before His death. Instead of the liturgy unfolding these during Lent, we begin to hear them in the middle of the Fourth Week of Easter. The final weeks of the Easter season the liturgy has been preparing us for this final departure and coming of the Paraclete: "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." "I am the True Vine, you are the branches, remain in Me." We hear the words of Jesus, His final instructions, but this time we hear them knowing in the fullness of the Faith; we hear them in the comfort of knowing the truth of the Paschal Mystery and Pentecost. And the week or nine days between Ascension and Pentecost we hear the promise of the Advocate or the Holy Spirit. We await the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. All through Easter we hear in the Preface how we are "overcome with paschal joy." That is how we can look at these final instructions and anticipation for Pentecost, with the joy of knowing that He will remain with us always and we have the Advocate sent to us on Pentecost. Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

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We are preparing our hearts and homes (and atrium) for this great feast. I've written a few posts the provide more specifics in celebrating this feast:

·         Pentecost with Mary and the Apostles -- celebrating May with Mary

·         Pentecost and Confirmation -- The overflowing gifts of the Holy Spirit and celebrating that emphasis at home. 

·         The Solemnity of Pentecost: An Elementary Feast -- The elements of earth, wind, fire and water all in Pentecost.

Daily Devotions

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Please pray for me and this ministry

·         Please Pray for Senator McCain and our country; asking Our Lady of Beauraing to intercede.

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[1]http://www.tfp.org/catholic-army-chaplains-americas-forgotten-heroes/

[2]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/blog/index.cfm?id=253