Skip to main content

NINE-MONTH NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

NINE-MONTH NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Start March 12 to December 12

Saturday, August 28, 2021

 FEAST OF ST. AGUSTINE OF HIPPO- SELICHOT

 Matthew, Chapter 25, verse 24-25:

24 Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; 25so out of FEAR I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ 

Christ is always trying to draw us away from fear to having a relationship of love and peace with the Trinity. For if we live our faith in fear, we will be like the person who buried his only talent. We must if we are filled with the love and joy of Christ go forth bravely to build Christ’s Kingdom in our own spheres of influence and in our way of being.  

Ask our Lord how he wants you to spend your time assisting our priests today.

Boldness and Passion[1]

·         Holiness is also parrhesia: it is boldness, an impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in this world. To allow us to do this, Jesus himself comes and tells us once more, serenely yet firmly: “Do not be afraid”. “I am with you always, to the end of the world”. These words enable us to go forth and serve with the same courage that the Holy Spirit stirred up in the Apostles, impelling them to proclaim Jesus Christ. Boldness, enthusiasm, the freedom to speak out, apostolic fervor, all these are included in the word parrhesia. The Bible also uses this word to describe the freedom of a life open to God and to others. Blessed Paul VI, in referring to obstacles to evangelization, spoke of a lack of fervor (parrhesia) that is “all the more serious because it comes from within”. How often we are tempted to keep close to the shore!

·         Yet the Lord calls us to put out into the deep and let down our nets. He bids us spend our lives in his service. Clinging to him, we are inspired to put all our charisms at the service of others. May we always feel compelled by his love and say with Saint Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel”. Look at Jesus. His deep compassion reached out to others. It did not make him hesitant, timid or self-conscious, as often happens with us. Quite the opposite. His compassion made him go out actively to preach and to send others on a mission of healing and liberation. Let us acknowledge our weakness, but allow Jesus to lay hold of it and send us too on mission. We are weak, yet we hold a treasure that can enlarge us and make those who receive it better and happier.

·         Boldness and apostolic courage are an essential part of mission. Parrhesia is a seal of the Spirit; it testifies to the authenticity of our preaching. It is a joyful assurance that leads us to glory in the Gospel we proclaim. It is an unshakeable trust in the faithful Witness who gives us the certainty that nothing can “separate us from the love of God”. We need the Spirit’s prompting, lest we be paralyzed by fear and excessive caution, lest we grow used to keeping within safe bounds.

·         Let us remember that closed spaces grow musty and unhealthy. When the Apostles were tempted to let themselves be crippled by danger and threats, they joined in prayer to implore parrhesia: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness”. As a result, “when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness”.

·         Like the prophet Jonah, we are constantly tempted to flee to a safe haven. It can have many names: individualism, spiritualism, living in a little world, addiction, intransigence, the rejection of new ideas and approaches, dogmatism, nostalgia, pessimism, hiding behind rules and regulations. We can resist leaving behind a familiar and easy way of doing things. Yet the challenges involved can be like the storm, the whale, the worm that dried the gourd plant, or the wind and sun that burned Jonah’s head. For us, as for him, they can serve to bring us back to the God of tenderness, who invites us to set out ever anew on our journey.

·         God is eternal newness. He impels us constantly to set out anew, to pass beyond what is familiar, to the fringes and beyond. He takes us to where humanity is most wounded, where men and women, beneath the appearance of a shallow conformity, continue to seek an answer to the question of life’s meaning. God is not afraid! He is fearless! He is always greater than our plans and schemes. Unafraid of the fringes, he himself became a fringe. So, if we dare to go to the fringes, we will find him there; indeed, he is already there. Jesus is already there, in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, in their wounded flesh, in their troubles and in their profound desolation. He is already there.

Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo[2]


 

St. Augustine (354-430) was born at Tagaste, Africa, and died in Hippo. His father, Patricius, was a pagan, his mother, Monica, a devout Christian. He received a good Christian education. As a law student in Carthage, however, he gave himself to all kinds of excesses and finally joined the Manichean sect. He then taught rhetoric at Milan where he was converted by St. Ambrose. Returning to Tagaste, he distributed his goods to the poor, and was ordained a priest. He was made bishop of Hippo at the age of 41 and became a great luminary of the African Church, one of the four great founders of religious orders, and a Doctor of the universal Church.

 

"Though I am but dust and ashes, suffer me to utter my plea to Thy mercy; suffer me to speak, since it is to God's mercy that I speak and not to man's scorn. From Thee too I might have scorn, but Thou wilt return and have compassion on me. ... I only know that the gifts Thy mercy had provided sustained me from the first moment. ... All my hope is naught save in Thy great mercy. Grant what Thou dost command, and command what Thou wilt" (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, 6, 19).

As a young man, Augustine prepared for a career as a teacher of Rhetoric and subsequently taught in Carthage and Rome. Unfortunately, despite having a saint for a mother, as his career progressed, he wandered far from his Christian upbringing, and his life sank into an abyss of pride and lust. Like many young pagan men of his time, he lived with a mistress and conceived a child with her out of wedlock. However, the Lord did not want to lose hold of this lost sheep altogether: thus, inspired by the writings of the Roman philosopher Cicero (and, no doubt, prompted by the Holy Spirit), Augustine began what would prove to be a lifelong search for wisdom. This search took him first to the religious cult called the "Manichees," a strange sect that believed the material world is the product of the powers of "darkness," while the spiritual realm is the realm of "light." After becoming disillusioned with the bizarre theories of the Manichees, Augustine adopted the philosophy of the Neo-Platonists. This was a school of philosophy centered on the writings of the ancient philosopher Plotinus, who described the mystical journey that all people ought to undertake as "the flight of the alone to the Alone," in other words, as a mystical, solitary search for the ineffable Source of all things. In 386, Augustine moved to Milan to a new teaching post, and there, by divine providence, he encountered the preaching of the archbishop of the city, the great theologian St. Ambrose. As a result of the example and preaching of this great saint, as well as the prayers and tears of his saintly mother, Augustine was quickly plunged into a profound inner struggle, wrestling with his sins of the flesh and with temptations to intellectual pride. The turning point of this struggle came in the summer of 386 when Augustine was sitting in a garden, recollecting his past life and gazing into the depths of his own soul. He describes what happened next in his autobiographical Confessions (written in 397)[3]:

Such things I said, weeping in the most bitter sorrow of my heart. And suddenly, I heard a voice from some nearby house, a boy's voice or a girl's voice, I do not know but it was a sort of sing-song repeated again and again, "Take and read, take and read." I ceased weeping and immediately began to search my mind most carefully as to whether children were accustomed to chant these words in any kind of game, and I could not remember that I had ever heard any such thing. Damming back the flood of my tears I arose, interpreting the incident as quite certainly a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the passage at which I should open. ... I snatched it up, opened it, and in silence read the passage upon which my eyes first fell: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in its concupiscence’s" (Rom 13:13). I had no wish to read further, and no need. For in that instant, with the very ending of the sentence, it was as though a light of utter confidence shone in my heart, and all the darkness of uncertainty vanished away.

Then we [Augustine and his friend Alypius] went in to my mother and told her, to her great joy. We related how it had come about: she was filled with triumphant exultation and praised You who are mighty beyond what we ask or conceive: for she saw that You had given her more than with all her pitiful weeping she had ever asked. For You converted me to Yourself ... (Confessions, 8.11-12).

A prayer by St. Augustine

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, That I love but what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, That I always may be holy. Amen.[4]

Things to Do:

Selichot[5]

Selichot (Hebrew: סליחות) means 'sorry/forgiveness prayers'.  Selichot are recited from the Sunday before the Jewish New Year until the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  Selichot are aimed for both the individual and communities to atone their sins between man and God.  They are intended for Jews to reflect on their actions of the past year and to refrain from committing the same sins in the next New Year.

Selichot Facts

·      For many Orthodox Jews, Selichot prayers are added to the daily cycle of religious services.  Selichot are recited before normal daily shacharit (morning prayers) service.  They add about 45 minutes to the regular daily service in a typical service.

·      A fundamental part of selichot service is the repeated recitation of the Thirteen Attributes, a list of God's thirteen attributes of mercy that were revealed to Moses after the sin of the golden calf (Ex 34:6-7): Ha-shem [1], Ha-shem [2], God [3], merciful [4], and gracious [5], long-suffering [6], abundant in goodness [7] and truth [8], keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation [9], forgiving iniquity [10] and transgression [11] and sin [12], who cleanses [13].

·      This is the season to begin the process of asking forgiveness for wrongs done to other people.  According to Jewish tradition, God cannot forgive us for sins committed against another person until we have first obtained forgiveness from the person we have wronged.

·      Many of the Selichot prayers are in the form of a main Selichah (forgiveness) prayer and a Pizmon (chorus), which is repeated after each changing Selichah prayer. Some of these Selichot have cantorial music for the Selichah and a repeating tune for the chorus.

Selichot Top Events and Things to Do

·      Consider your position in life and ask God for forgiveness. Use this time to reset your daily habits and think how to change them to the better.

·      Use this period of time to forgive others and as well as ask others for forgiveness. This is often most difficult to do between life partners, parents and children.

·      Many people visit cemeteries at this time, because the awe-inspiring nature of this time makes us reflect on our own life, death, and mortality. Consider visiting the graves of your ancestors, soldiers, or anyone who may have made a positive impact on society.

·      Attend to a Selichot prayer ceremony or watch one on YouTube.  A popular Selichot rendition is by Yitzchak Meir Helfgot.

Preaching God's Forgiveness[6]

Much has been written about the great challenges the Church faces in contemporary culture. The great modern "isms" confront a us daily—relativism, individualism, and consumerism, to name a few.

·         Relativism holds that absolute truth and enduring values are illusory.

·         Individualism gives "strong emphasis [to] the individual and individual choice, which often eclipses the sense of community or of the common good."

·         Consumerism puts "focus on material satisfaction to the detriment of spiritual values".

Given this cultural climate, it is hardly surprising that there is a lack of a sense of sin and a dropping rate of participation in Church life. In fact, the heart of every person in Christ must be about the heart of Jesus Christ, and the central mystery of his life, the Paschal Mystery: "The person and mission of Jesus, culminated in his Death and Resurrection, this is ultimately the central content of all the Scriptures". People of God can understand their own lives properly and be able to see their own experience in the light of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus". In a culture often dominated by relativism, individualism, and consumerism, the proclamation of the salvation of Christ is truly Good News. It allows people to see there is another way; it paves the way for conversion; it brings hope. God can open up a space in the human heart, a space that he alone can fill. Christ is about calling persons back to fruitful participation in the Sacrament of Penance, especially if it has been years since their last confession.

Daily Devotions

·         Join in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Binding and suppressing the Devils Evil Works

·         Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Iceman’s 40 devotion

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Rosary



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday, May 27, 2021

  Auxilium Christianorum - Praying for Persecuted Priests Monday, May 24 is the Feast of Mary Mother of the Church. It is also the Feast of  Mary Help of Christians  (Auxilium Christianorum). Please consider joining this Auxilium Christianorum family to pray daily for our holy and courageous persecuted priests. The Church teaches us that it is divided into the  Church Triumphant  (which includes the members of the Church in heaven), the  Church Suffering  (this includes the members of the Church in purgatory), and the  Church Militant  (this refers to those members of the Church who are alive in this world). Because we are part of the Church Militant, we are in a spiritual warfare and this spiritual warfare requires that we recognize, as Saint Paul teaches us "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places." ( Ephesians 6:12 ) The me

Friday, August 26, 2022

 Switch of Manliness Legacy OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA   Acts, Chapter 10, verse 1-4 1 Now in Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Cohort called the Italica, 2 devout and God-fearing along with his whole household, who used to give alms generously to the Jewish people and pray to God constantly. 3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he saw plainly in a vision an angel of God come into him and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 He looked intently at him and seized with FEAR , said, “What is it, sir?” He said to him, “Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God.   Cornelius’ Cohort was an auxiliary unit of archers, men who are expert at hitting a mark or target.   Sin is the act of violating God's will. Sin can also be viewed as anything that violates the ideal relationship between an individual and God, or as any diversion from the ideal order for human living. To sin has been defined as "to miss the mark" to have a harden

Monday, April 8, 2024

 Monday Night at the Movies Leo McCarey, Make Way for Tomorrow, 1947. Make Way for Tomorrow is a 1937 American drama film directed by Leo McCarey . The plot concerns an elderly couple (played by Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi ) who are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents.  FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION Get to Mass as today is a Solemnity If you can't make it to Mass spend time with the Lord Luke, Chapter 1, verse 30: 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be AFRAID , Mary, for you have found favor with God.   Mary had no fear of the world or man, yet, when the angel appeared she was immersed in holy fear. Let us follow Mary’s example and bravely face the day saying YES to God.   Mary Garden [1] The joy over the appearance of new plants and flowers in spring prompted man to attribute to them a special power of protection and healing. People planted special spring flower gardens; they brought branches of ear

Monday, October 3, 2022

 Monday Night at the Movies Luis Bunuel, Simon of the Desert, 1965 SAINT MOTHER THEODORE GUERIN   Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 21 Indeed, so FEARFUL was the spectacle that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”   Moses was the heir apparent to the throne of Egypt in his youth. As a member of the Egyptian court, he would have seen many fearful spectacles yet imagine what it must have been like to have been a witness of God descending on Mount Sinai to give the law. He was terrified and trembling. Again, now imagine if Moses was somehow resurrected and was able to walk into an ordinary catholic church that has a very modest Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Do you think his reaction would be any different than the first time he encountered the living God?  Be Still and Know that I am God [1]   On the evening of October 1995, John Paul II was scheduled to greet the seminarians at Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. It had been a very full day that began with a Mass at Oriole Park in Camden Y

Saturday, April 27, 2024

  Saints, Feast, Family - Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring  - April 27 ​ Saint of the day: Saint Zita Patron Saint of Domestic Workers, Maids, Servants Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter   Job, Chapter 21, Verse 9 Their homes are safe, without FEAR , and the rod of God is not upon them. With the current political climate of today-North Korea, Kenya, Venezuela, Sanctuary Cities, Gangs etc.; we may not be feeling safe in our homes. We may feel God’s rod is upon us. Yet, we learn that God does not wish to destroy us but bring about the best in us. The wages of sin are usually destruction, but God is mercy. As in the parable of the wheat and tares God allows the weeds to grow with the wheat. We often ask with Job, “Why do the wicked keep on living, grow old, become mighty in power? Mercy! Zophar & His Asps [1] ·          Zophar decides to beat a dead horse. ·          Not literally. ·          He tells Job that the wicked get what they

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Second Sunday after Easter DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY   John, Chapter 20, Verse 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for FEAR of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”   Life begins at the end of our comfort zone.   Do you live in fear of failure or are you locking the doors of your heart to new opportunities?   When you let in the spirit of Christ you open yourself to empowerment.   The Law of Empowerment [1]   The job of leadership is to lead with the intent to work yourself out of a job. Imagine what would happen if our politicos did this! This is what Jesus did. After Christ gave His Peace to the apostles, he breathed on them to receive the power of the Holy Spirit and thus empowered them to live the supernatural life. We in turn by the power of the successors of the apostles are heirs to this. Christ wants us to be change agents to bring about the Kingdom. How can we begin? W

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

  Easter Tuesday Autism   Psalm 33, verse 18-19 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who FEAR him, upon those who count on his mercy, 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive through famine.   You cannot receive if you do not ask. Let us ask for God’s mercy and count on it, to deliver our soul from death and keep us alive through this earthly famine for ourselves and others. In fact, one pious work we could do this week is a Novena to the Divine Mercy. In the novena Christ asks us to pray each day for certain groups of people.  All Sinners Priests and Religious Devout Souls Unbelievers Heretics Children Saints Those in purgatory And the Lukewarm  A good time to pray the novena is the hour of Christ’s death.  “At three o’clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy…”   Tod

Friday, April 12, 2024

Saints, Feast, Family - Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring  - April 12 ​ Saint of the day: Saint Teresa of Los Andes Patron Saint Against disease, Against illness, Ill people, Young people, Santiago, Chile, Los Andes, Chile Friday of the Second Week of Easter   2 Maccabees, Chapter 15, Verse 18 They were not so much concerned about wives and children, or family and relations; their first and foremost FEAR was for the consecrated sanctuary.   Today’s meditation:   Where is God’s consecrated Sanctuary?   I asked Bing AI:   Is it the in the body of a holy catholic soul God’s consecrated Sanctuary? According to the Catholic faith, the human body is not just a material object, but a living being that is animated by a spiritual soul. The soul is the principle of human consciousness and freedom, and it is created by God in his image. The soul and the body are so intimately united that they form one unique human nature. The soul is also the “

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

  Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter   The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just. 2 Maccabees, Chapter 14, Verse 22 Judas had posted armed men in readiness at strategic points for FEAR that the enemy might suddenly commit some treachery. But the conference was held in the proper way.   During our last episode we see that our Hero Judas, with the help of the All Seeing Almighty vanquishes the enemy. Judas wants peace and returns home but the enemy the devil never sleeps, and snip snap the Syrians invade again. This time under the leadership of a gangster called Nicanor; a crafty little snake who wants a peace treaty. In this verse we see Judas is being ready and prepared for any trouble; and his fear is justified.   Making and Breaking Treaties [1] "When the Jews heard of Nicanor's coming, and that the Gentiles were rallying to him, they sprinkled themselves with earth and prayed to Him Who established

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Saints, Feast, Family - Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring  - April 24 October 22 (Old Feast date) ​ Saint of the day: Saint Mary Salome Her name derives from the word Shalon which means peace after I eat this I am at peace Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter feast of saint fidelis   Job, Chapter 11, Verse 15 Surely then you may lift up your face in innocence; you may stand firm and UNAFRAID . Now Jobs’ other friend speaks saying that “If iniquity is in your hand, remove it, and do not let injustice dwell in your tent” then you may be unafraid. Yet, Job has not been immoral, he hates his life and what is happening to him. Job Detests His Life [1] ·          Job continues his bumming out session, asking God why he would oppress the people who love him. Doesn't really seem like a good business model. ·          Time for more thoughts from the peanut gallery.  ·          Zophar says that Job must have done something wrong; God is