JMJ
We were blessed to have an Advent penance service at our Church this past week. It was so beautiful and I’m still reflecting upon the entire night, from the opening hymn of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” to the powerful reading of the prodigal son, to the magnificent homily about living out of the heart’s embrace of the Father, to examining our consciences together and receiving the Sacrament of God’s mercy…we had six priests present hearing individual confessions! What a wonderful night! Truly I was very grateful for the orthodoxy of the service and the reverence and solemnity of the entire night. So many times today one finds 'communal' penance/absolution services which are downright kooky with lots of downplaying of sin, covering over of guilt, and even placing your written sins in a hat to be burned up and blown away in the wind. This type of misguided “compassionate” service is very sad and an injustice to the Body of Christ.
God has given us such tremendous helps toward union with Him in the Sacramental life of the Church. The Sacrament of Confession is of such importance in my own life and it is a gift we should all partake of and be grateful for. There is real power in the Sacrament as it is truly an encounter with the living God. Frequent confession has changed me in ways both noticeably and secretly. I was dead, but now I live; I was lost, but now am found; I was blind, but now I see…and each time I encounter Jesus in this Sacrament there is a greater fullness…I’m more alive, more found, and able to see more and more clearly. One of the greatest things Jesus does for me in the frequent reception of this healing Sacrament is to teach me how to receive love. To receive His love and to receive the love of others…even to love myself. How important this is in our wounded lives! We all carry around such deep wounds…wounds that we inflict upon God and upon ourselves by our own sinfulness and lack of charity for others, wounds that others inflict upon us, and the wounds of living in a world that seems to be becoming less and less human. We are the walking wounded. We have found all kinds of creative ways to disguise our wounds…to hide them from others and especially from ourselves because being aware of them hurts us, convicts us, and calls for change from within us. So we hide them and we busy ourselves in all sorts of ways to distract us from seeing them so that we won’t have to turn to the Lord and be healed. We become addicted to food, TV, internet, phone, travel, entertainment, shopping, alcohol and drugs. We escape by sleeping too much or not enough and having so many little electronic devices that there is not a moment of silence in our whole day because if there were, we might hear His voice who is ever calling us to come to Him. He loves us so much and wants us to love Him in return. So why is this so hard for us? Why do we resist? Why do we busy ourselves with anything but Him? Do we think He will be boring? Or that He will make us become something we are not? Are we afraid that He actually DOES have the power to transform us? We convince ourselves that we can handle the status quo but we are uncertain about change so we keep up the business of day to day living plodding along and convincing ourselves that the only thing that matters is that “I’m a good person.”
It is fine to be a good person, but God wants us to be saints. It is what we are made for. Jesus even asks us to “be perfect.” Is that what we are afraid of? Either we convince ourselves that sainthood is for “good” people and THAT isn’t me or that sainthood is boring and that’s not for me either. In my case, all the wounds of life have left a deep sense of unworthiness and at the same time there resides in me such a deep desire for love…for the goodness and beauty of God. It is especially apparent in confession where these two parts of me come together and I am aware more and more of God’s mercy toward me and His unconditional love for me. And He loves me as I am right now, with all of my wounds showing and bleeding. And sometimes it hurts being looked upon with such love exactly as I am. But it is a good hurt because it is mysteriously healing. He heals me with that look of love. I don’t have to live defensively when He looks at me that way; I can open up to Him in love because He will never harm me or stop loving me no matter what. The most amazing thing happens and suddenly I am filled with unexplainable joy and gratitude. Hope too! I realize that God can make even me a saint and I often am overwhelmed with love for Him and a greater trust in Him. It is more precious than anything in the world and as I leave the confessional I wonder sometimes why more people don’t realize the treasure that is contained within. It is wholly good…God is entirely good! He grants lights according to our trust in Him…as our trust grows we are enabled to see the ways we offend Him…ways we didn’t even consider in the past, but have now become obvious. He shows us as we are in His loving presence and we see our nothingness, but at the same time, we see His greatness and see how much He loves us and how far He is willing to go to show us that He IS mercy. Even our many failings do not discourage us because we become convinced of His goodness. He, Himself, will stop by the side of the road and pick us up and bind up our wounds and pour the wine of His love upon us. He even carries us to the Inn of the Church where we are cared for until He comes again. How can we not be flocking in droves to confession? So many treasures wait for us in His infinite mercy. Sometimes we think we are good and that we have not sinned and wonder what there is to confess. That is the moment we should stop and realize that we are suffering from a spiritual blindness. If we ask the Holy Spirit to give us light, He will. And truly, there is not one of us who can get past the very first commandment without finding ample reason to be running to the Church for confession. How rarely do we put God and the things of God first in our lives. So much hope awaits us, though, for as long as we are still breathing, we can turn back to Him and start again. And He will make us saints if we open our hearts to Him and life will never be boring again. Let us all ask for the graces we need to appreciate this beautiful Sacrament and resolve to meet the Lord there more frequently.
Jesus, my Lord, thank you for the great gift of your mercy. Thank you for healing me and making my soul more beautiful. You are always present when I come to confession and you speak to me there. I am always amazed by your love and I am grateful. I love the form of confession and the safety I feel kneeling next to Father. What graces you send me to be able to come to confession without fear. Sometimes going in I have anxieties and am nervous, but there is something familiar about going that soon puts me at ease. I’m sure it is you, Lord, glad to welcome me with open arms. I feel like the very beloved daughter in whom the Father is well-pleased. I’m not afraid even when I can’t articulate my sins well or forget some of them or am highly emotional…inside of me there is a strong awareness of you. There is an awareness of your love and I become more and more resolved not to offend you again….to love you more and to do anything to make you more loved. You are so good to me, Jesus. You are so tender and full of love. I’m sad that so many people never go to confession…never come to you. You are all good and deserving of ALL our love. I want to love you and I know you will help me…you help me every single day. Forgive me, Lord, especially for the ways I offend you that I don’t even know about. Help me always be a witness to your mercy and to show your mercy to others. I beg you to call more people…indeed everyone…to the tribunal of Mercy so they can hear as I do those powerful words of absolution and be filled with the joy of heaven and with your own precious peace. I love you, Jesus. Never let me go…never let me betray you because you are everything to me and all I want…you have become so quickly my whole happiness. May you be the happiness and delight of us all and may we give thanks to you, for your mercy does, indeed, endure forever. Amen.
Recommended Reading:
- An Examination of Conscience: A Preparation for the Sacrament of Confession by Fr. Robert Altier
- The Confessions by St. Augustine
JMJ
The preface for the Mass of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King is one of my favorites of the entire liturgical year. Actually, all of the prayers of the Masses for every day of the year are my favorites, but there is something special about the preface on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. I look forward to it every year. It makes me think of Heaven. It starts out, as all prefaces do, by addressing the Father with praise and thanksgiving: Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. We hear this so frequently that we can become sort of immune or desensitized to what is being said and hear it without really hearing it. The prayer can become just words in the air unless we are recollected and united with our priest who stands in the place of Christ, the head of our body. As one, we address our Father in Heaven who is so powerful that if He were to withdraw His life-giving presence from us, we would cease to be. His power should instill awe and wonder in us and a great sense of gratitude that He has made us His children. He is ever-living and He has created us to live forever with Him in love. Do we do well always and everywhere to give Him thanks? Do we thank Him for making us His children, for giving us life, for giving us faith, and for sending us all of those little crosses of each day that make us more like Christ, His beloved Son, in whom He is well-pleased? Thankfully, He has given us Jesus, Himself, and the more united we are to Jesus the more we CAN say that we give Him thanks always and everywhere.
The preface continues: You anointed Jesus Christ, your only Son, with the oil of gladness, as the eternal priest and universal king. How amazing to be anointed with the oil of gladness! It makes my heart glad just thinking of Jesus being anointed by His Father as eternal priest and king over all. I think of the times I have been anointed with the oil of gladness…in my Baptism, Confirmation, and several times receiving the Sacrament of the sick. Every Sacrament is a holy, solemn occasion and full of the sweetness of God’s grace. The Sacraments are such gifts of gladness! We are all made sharers in the divine life of God, but Jesus, as God, enjoys the fullness of it. Jesus is a priest forever, like Melchizedek of old (see Psalm 110), and He is the king of the universe. It continues: As priest, he offered his life on the altar of the cross and redeemed the human race by this one perfect sacrifice of peace. As king he claims dominion over all creation that he may present to you, his almighty Father, an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace. Wow! It almost sounds like a fairy-tale kingdom or some sort of unattainable utopia, yet this kingdom awaits us and even now is partially experienced in our hearts. This beautiful and eternal kingdom of truth, life, holiness, grace, justice, love and peace has cost our Lord Jesus every single drop of His precious blood. How much He loves us! And how much He loves the Father to present this kingdom of love to Him! The words in this part of the preface always impact me. Imagining a kingdom of holiness and grace or a kingdom of life and love helps me to realize how much I thirst for righteousness and how blessed I am. I spoke once on this blog about entering into the joy of the Lord and how we don’t have to wait until death to do so. It is the same with the kingdom because the kingdom of God is within us (see Luke 17:21-22). At this very moment, God is making our hearts into a kingdom of holiness and grace…into the kingdom of His love!
I’m also struck by the phrase sacrifice of peace. To see those words together is odd somehow, but true peace is only achieved by doing the will of the Father with love and real love always involves sacrifice. I take a glance into my own heart and ask myself what sacrifices I’m willing to make to let Christ, my King, reign there in peace. Will I sacrifice friends and family, self-love, useless chatter, time, favorite music or shows, plans for the future or money? Am I willing to give Him my health and well-being and my very life if He requires it? Will I let Him “Take Control” (see U Got 2 Believe! by Fr. Stan Fortuna) of my pride, of my desire for controlling things myself, my impatience…of my entire weak humanity? I must be able to say ‘yes’ to Him so that He can reign in me and half-measures won’t do. He deserves everything for He is the true King. And when sometimes it seems hard to say ‘yes’, I must remember that His grace is sufficient for me and that all things are possible with Him. He is such a benevolent King that when we “sacrifice” for Him, He turns those very “sacrifices” into fountains of joy! To give to Him, our King, the whole of our hearts and lives is not a burden at all, but a sign of our love and He rewards our love with His own Kingdom of peace!
And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise… How wonderful must God be to let us join in with the choirs of angels in heaven to give Him praise! At every Mass we are in so great a company from heaven and we are, or at least we should be, overwhelmed because it is really an awesome thing. We ourselves are able to glory in the Lord’s glory! Glory be to God!
It is such a lovely preface. All of the prayers of the Mass for this solemnity are beautiful, from the entrance antiphon to the opening prayer (in which both options are filled with the language of love), to the gospel acclamation, to the communion antiphon and the closing prayer. As we prepare to receive the King of Hearts into our own heart on this beautiful solemnity, let us all ask for the grace to let Him reign completely in us so that we can all be citizens together in His eternal and universal kingdom of truth and life, holiness and grace, justice, love and peace!
Oh, King of my heart, reign in me! Thank you for calling me…for choosing me to love you. Help me to love you truly. I want to be with you in heaven and spend all of eternity thanking you for all you have done and are doing for me. I want to thank you for being so good and so gentle with me and for not leaving me alone. You have come to me in my weakness and in my poverty…in my helplessness…and have poured all of the treasures of your kingdom right into my lap. I need your help, Jesus, to share these gifts with others as I seem unable to do so. You are a wise King and I trust that you will show me what to do and give me the strength and courage to do it. Help me not to resist you in any way or to count the cost of belonging to you, for to belong to you is perfect freedom and every delight. You reign from the Holy Cross, the altar of your love and when you give me your entire self, you do not hold back, not even a single drop of your precious blood. I don’t want to hold back, either, for I love you, but I am such a needy little thing and I need your constant reassurance so I can really love you and forget entirely about myself. You will do all for me because you are good and generous and have the perfect plan for me. Thank you! Oh, Jesus, what a king you are! Make my heart into your kingdom here on earth and help others to see your sovereignty in their lives. Fill us with the warmth of your presence and forgive our ingratitude toward you. Love us, Lord, and always reign in our hearts. Amen.
Recommended Reading:
- Life of Christ by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
- Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
JMJ
Our priest gave a homily a few years ago and spoke about how the Holy Spirit poured into us is a lot like the chocolate syrup that is poured into a glass of milk. It pretty much sits there and doesn’t flavor the milk unless it is stirred up. He was addressing his remarks toward three little boys who were about to receive the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation, but all of us present were listening intently as he described ways we can stir up the Spirit within us such as praying every day, engaging the Word, coming to Mass and receiving Jesus into our hearts, frequent confession etc. It was delightful and very effective and, several years later, I still think of stirring up the Spirit whenever I see a glass of chocolate milk!
One of the great ways to enflame the Spirit living within us is spiritual reading. The value of it cannot be underestimated. Reading about the good things of God lifts our hearts up and expands them. It gives us knowledge of ourselves and of our Creator and gives us zeal in serving God and helping to build up His Kingdom. We are so blessed to have over two thousand years of writings from Christians. It is a wonderful patrimony! We have available to us the teachings of the Church from the very beginnings to the present...the lives of the saints, the witness of the martyrs, testimonies from holy bishops, and homilies from saints. We have books on meditations, books on philosophy, books on theology, books on the liturgy, about the Scriptures…so many books! In our time of technology, all of these books are available with virtually a click of a button. If we want to know more about a certain saint or want advice on overcoming a moral weakness, we can find out. If we want to learn about what the Church teaches about any given subject, we can easily discover it. The Church has safeguarded her treasure of the written word because she knows it is a gift from God and meant for all peoples of all times. It is more than a historical record; it is God’s love made manifest to His people of every time.
It is fortunate for us that we live in this time. In an age when the culture seems to be sliding into the abyss due to relativism among other things, we are called to be God’s love and light in the world. We have the truth in the Catholic Church and we need to proclaim it boldly. Some new publishers are doing just that. They are making available the wisdom of the ages by republishing classic works of Christendom which are faithful to the Magisterium of the Church. It is an important mission in a time when there is much confusion in about what is truth. It is sad that in a religion section of a bookstore one finds books by television personalities spouting new age philosophies…new teachers with ever new ways to tickle our ears. If we are not informed in our faith, we are in danger of losing it. I once looked through a book which was virulently anti-Catholic. It had so many lies at the foundation, but was so persuasive in language that I could see how uninformed people could buy into it. How many of our brothers and sisters have fallen away from truth based upon a pack of lies they thought were true because they lacked solid formation? There is so much freedom and security in possessing the REAL truth…possessing Jesus Christ, Himself, who can never be separated from His Church.
Spiritual reading in my own life is very important. It is also, at times, providential, as God places in my hands what is most needed to help me love Him more. That is what all spiritual reading should do…help us to love Him more. So often we find the encouragement we need or the hope we are looking for or the comfort we long for in the pages of spiritual books and we realize that God loves us and always sees the tiniest of our needs and provides for them. How can our love not grow for Him? Recently, I have been reading books by Blessed Columba Marmion. I will be ever grateful to Zaccheus Press for republishing his works. Zaccheus Press is a small publishing house “devoted to publishing fine books for all readers seeking a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith. While remaining ever faithful to the Magisterium, we seek to publish books that will both satisfy and intensify the reader’s thirst for a deeper relationship with God.” They have succeeded in their mission with me because reading Blessed Columba’s books have made me melt with love for God and thirst ever more for Him. Plus, I have a new friend in Blessed Columba Marmion. I am looking forward to meeting such a kindred spirit in heaven where we will both be “in the heart’s embrace of the Father” with Jesus, covered by the love of the Holy Spirit. I’m also looking forward to receiving other books from Zaccheus as they are really good quality and full of the good things of God. Praise God, they have a new book on St. Joseph! We need to support these publishers by buying their books and giving them to our loved ones. More importantly, we need to keep them in our prayers so God’s holy work will be done through them. Let us all thank God for the many ways He nourishes us through the written word of so great a cloud of witnesses!
Thank you, Lord, for all the treasures of your love which I find in reading good spiritual books. Thank you for helping me to grow closer to you through them…for giving me the gifts of the spirit and for keeping the desire in my heart burning for you. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful mother who has always instilled in me a love for reading and has provided me with so many beautiful books. I am grateful to her for all of those visits to the library, to bookstores, and for telling us to make a list of what we wanted when the newest Catholic catalog would come in the mail. Through her, Lord, You have imparted to me the importance of good spiritual reading. What a gift it is and what a gift she is! How present your love is in my life, Lord! Thank you for giving us such a wonderful library at our Church. I beg you to inspire every single parishioner to make use of it and to find your love hidden in the pages of the thousands of books there. Thank you for sending such a good and faithful priest who makes sure we are given the truth. You are the Truth, Lord; how could we not choose you? I love you, Jesus, and I feel so full of gratitude for all of the ways you have spoken to me through the words of your saints. I ask you to help those who are not able to read or those who don’t like reading. Give them abundant graces and impart your love to them in different ways, but please, help them. They need the solid food of your love, too. Help them, Lord. And help me to show with my smile your goodness to those who don’t see your love in the pages of a book….to show with the warmth of my hand your tenderness. Forgive me for all of the times I don’t and help me to try again. Let me be you in the world. Amen.
Recommended Reading:
- Christ, The Life of the Soul by Blessed Columba Marmion
- The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom by Fr. John A. Hardon
JMJ
I have a tremendous devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Maybe it’s because I’ve experienced the love of Jesus in a very real and tangible way. There are so many things to reflect upon when considering this beautiful devotion: the promises made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the nine First Fridays, enthroning an image of the Sacred Heart in one’s home, the connection between the Most Sacred Heart and the Holy Eucharist, the morning offering, the act of consecration, or all of the graces God in His generous love pours out upon us through this devotion. It is the reparation that our Lord asks of us, though, that I want to focus my reflection on today. Jesus asks of each one of us to repair in some way the wounds that our sins and our lack of love cause Him. As we grow closer to Him, we begin to feel in ourselves some of the anguish of His Sacred Heart. We start to love Him so much that we feel very bad when we see others reject Him, mock Him, act irreverently towards Him, neglect Him, forget Him, or wound Him in a multitude of other ways. Our Lord asked St. Margaret Mary to make a Holy Hour of reparation, “and so appease the divine anger by imploring mercy for sinners. Thus shall you assuage in some sort the bitterness I felt at that time because of the abandonment by My Apostles…for not having been able to watch with Me for the space of one hour.”
Judging by the emptiness of our adoration chapels world-wide, we are still unable to wait with Him for an hour. Or if we do go and see Him, all of a sudden we have to go to the bathroom or make a call or ask a question or stretch our legs or daydream about 101 useless things…anything to prevent us from spending a solid hour with Him whose sole focus is upon us alone. I don’t understand how we can make so many excuses as to why we are too busy to make a holy hour every day, yet we will stand in all sorts of inclement weather for hours upon end to obtain concert or sporting tickets or to get the latest gadget or to find the best sale. Our priorities seem to be all messed up and even those of us who want to follow Him will fill time with our own agendas of what we think will please Him. We will join bible studies, pro-life groups, fellowship nights, evangelization meetings and so forth. All of these things are good…very good, but unless we have spent time alone with the Lord discerning what He wants of us…unless He is at the center of us completely…can we be sure we are pleasing Him? Will we bear fruits that will last? Will they ripen at all without Him at the helm? Nothing hurts so much as to see a whole room full of people laughing and having a good time while in the next room our Lord sits virtually alone exposed upon the Altar. I see His sadness sometimes and feel in my own heart the pain it causes Him…the pain of choosing creature over creator. He so longs for us. For us! Why do so few of us long for Him? If that burning, aching, longing feeling for Him is not in us then we need to go and ask Him to give it to us. He will give it to the extent we want to have it, but He will never force Himself on us. He is like a patient bridegroom with a nervous bride on their wedding night. He waits with such love and tenderness until she realizes that what He’s offering is very good and that she can trust Him completely. He wants that from us so He can fill us with Himself and when He sees by our perseverance and our choices that we really mean it this time when we say we are going to love Him with our ALL, then He will fill us with such longing that nothing will keep us away from Him. He will transform us completely and the only thing we will be wondering about is why there aren’t mile-long lines at every Catholic Church in the world with people coming to see God, Himself, and give Him the praise, thanksgiving, adoration and love He deserves. One hour won’t seem too much anymore as we will want to give Him all twenty-four. The hours spent out of His physical presence will seem the long ones now as we begin to yearn to be near Him more and more.
There are many ways to make reparation to His Most Sacred Heart; all of our little acts of love done with the intention of consoling Him are pleasing to Him. Every little love-thought of Him brings Him pleasure. He notices all of the little niceties and wants our attention in small, loving ways. He also notices our lack of attention to the small ways as He did when He had dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee when He was denied the common courtesy of hospitality (see Luke 36:44). On this, the first Friday of the month, let us not be the ones who forget to show Him the kindness of our hearts; this will repair some of the pain of His.
Oh, beautiful Jesus, what love you show us! Remaining hidden under the veil of bread where it is so easy to abuse you and take you for granted and to forget about you. When your heart hurts because of our ingratitude, I will console you, O Lord. When people fail to genuflect with love in your presence or do it out of habit, I will console you, O Lord. When people talk endlessly before and after Mass and fail to think of you at all, I will console you, O Lord. When people make thoughtless or sacrilegious Holy Communions or are irreverent in any way towards your presence in the Sacred Host, I will console you, O Lord. When people arrive late and leave Mass early or come to the Holy Sacrifice without sufficient preparation or only out of a sense of duty, I will console you, O Lord. When your own Church is mocked and persecuted, I will console you, O Lord. When people aren’t devoted to your Blessed Mother who is everything to you, I will console you, O Lord. When you are left alone with nobody to show you any love, I will console you, O Lord. And if I fail to love you with the whole of my being or if I think negatively about my neighbor for not loving you or if I do anything that offends and hurts your Most Holy and Sacred Heart or if I put anything in my life ahead of you, I will run to the fountain of your mercy and make a good confession. I will pour out my heart with sorrow for having hurt you and let you heal me and do penance with such love that I know it will console you, O Lord. You are Mercy itself and I am so thankful for you. I love you, Jesus. I always want to love you and to be loved by you. May everyone come to love you and want you as I do…even more than I do so you can really be loved! Amen.
Recommended Reading:
- The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: How to Practice the Sacred Heart Devotion by Rev. John Croiset
- Christ in His Mysteries by Blessed Columba Marmion
