Blog Post 6/07/2023 - “Spirit of the Living God”

 

“Spirit of the Living God”

 

“melt me” - Paraclete melt me,

 

“mold me” – Jesus mold me,

 

“fill me” – Abba fill me,

“use me” – God use me.

 

Be mindful that you pray not so much to God, but inside God Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit today and every day.

 

May God Be Praised.

Blog Post 6/06/2023 - Why can we find rest for the deepest longings of our heart [being]?

Why can we find rest for the deepest longings of our heart [being]? 

 

Paraphrasing Saints Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, In this life we cannot fulfill our  longing, and no person or creature can satisfy our deepest desire. Only God can do that and that is why we cannot rest “Until we rest in God”.

 

 

 

 

 

May God Be Praised.

 

Blog Post 6/05/2023

“The Incarnation means …  that the invisible God enters into the visible world, so that we, who are bound to matter, can know him.  In this sense, the way to the Incarnation was already being prepared in all that God said and did in history for man’s salvation. But this descent of God is intended to draw us into a movement of ascent. 

The Incarnation is aimed at man’s transformation through the Cross and to the new corporeality of the Resurrection. God seeks us where we are, not so that we stay there, but so”.  [Spirit of the Liturgy -- by Joseph Ratzinger, Romano Guardini, et al.]

 

Reflect on the gift of God’s Word enfleshed as man, Jesus true God and true man.

 

May God Be Praised.

Blog Post 6/04/2023 - Why Seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation [Confession]?

Why Seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation [Confession]?

 

Pope Francis said, “Confession is an encounter with Jesus whose mercy motivates us to do better.” 

 

“The penitent, like the priest, takes on the role of the listening church in the sacrament. The priest, in response to the penitent’s woundedness, applies a preliminary medicinal ointment in the form of words of comfort, consolation, encouragement and counsel.

 

This preliminary anointing prepares the penitent for the words every broken soul longs to hear. The penitent’s posture of listening is crowned with the transformative words of absolution. With those words, the hearer is healed.”  [Confession is the church’s ‘listening place’, by Louis Masi, America Magazine]

 

 

Make the time to encounter Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 

May God Be Praised.

 

Blog Post Homily Cycle I 6/03/2023 – Offered at OLPH

Homily Cycle I Offered at OLPH - 6/03/2023

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060323.cfm

 

In our reading from the Book of Sirach we heard, “I thank the Lord and I praise him; I bless the name of the Lord…. I sought wisdom ….”  If an angel of the Lord visited you and said God will give you whatever you want, what would you ask of the Lord?

Solomon asked for wisdom, yet the question remains what would you ask the Lord to give you?  Our Gospel verse this morning calls us to “Let the Word of Christ dwell in [us] richly….”  Would you ask for that gift if you had the opportunity?

In the Gospel Jesus didn’t answer chief priests, the scribes and the elders.  They knew the correct answer and didn’t want to accept The Word.

There is a story told about Sir. Christopher Wren.  As St. Paul’s Cathedral was being built, he was walking through Cathedral, and he came upon two stone cutters.  He ask them what they were doing, one said, “I am cutting stone.”  The other said, “ I am building a Cathedral.”

When the Lord asks us what we want, maybe we should ask Him to carve away our stony hearts and give us a heart like His.  Then we will have the Wisdom of Solomon, our soul will have the Beauty of a great Cathedral and the Lord’s Light will shine through us.

 

May God Be Praised.    

 

Blog Post 6/02/2023 – What Do You Pray For, When You Pray?

 

What Do You Pray For, When You Pray?

 

In Psalm 38 we pray, “ I count on you, O Lord: it is you, Lord God, who will answer.”  In John’s Gospel we read, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”   

 

“Solomon prayed for prudence and wisdom so that he might govern God’s people rightly. Because his request was unselfish, God granted what he sought. When we pray, we should make sure that our desires are not motivated by selfishness. We should only want those gifts that help us most to serve others.”  Rev. Jude Winkler [An Excerpt From Daily Meditations with the Holy Spirit, p.105]

 

When we pray to God the Father in Jesus’ name, we pray for what Jesus would pray for, we take the attitude and desire of Jesus and make them are own.

 

May God Be Praised.

 

Blog Post 6/01/2023 - Summer is on the Way

Summer is on the Way

St. Francis de Sales, "Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them, every day begin the task anew."

 

Summer is right around the corner, make you plans now to relax with the Lord, and don't procrastinate.

 May God Be Praised.