The unwanted tenants that occupy our hearts . . . we all, at times, entertain some pretty undesirable guests in our hearts. We may not have consciously invited them, may not even know they’re there; but they have taken up residence and are unwilling to leave on their own. They are defiling the temple, and we need to get rid of them—to clean house, so to speak.
—VINNY FLYNN from 21 Ways to Worship
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The Eucharist calls us to a personal relationship with the person of Jesus Christ, and that can’t happen if all you do is receive him in Communion once a week, or even once a day. Building a relationship with another person takes time.
—VINNY FLYNN from 21 Ways to Worship In other words, the more you love Jesus, the more you remain in constant Spiritual Communion day and night, listening to His Heartbeat, sensitive to all that pleases/displeases Him...the Eucharist feeds, sustains and perfects that relationship, our heart becomes a spiritual stethoscope that listens to heaving Heart of Jesus that aches for us to just stop being in such a rush to go nowhere fast, what's it gonna take for us to take Him seriously?....He gives us His entire Body and Blood and we fling Him a few crumbs of attention and think: I'm good, we're done here!...Lord, help me feel Your Presence for Real and I will never let a heartbeat go by without being present to You! The devil in his legalistic mentality wants sins, small and great, to be treated by God as impediments to the heart of Christ. Our Lord refuses to accept this demand. He wants us to ignore the devil’s accusation and approach him precisely as sinful and humbled and repentant, with a confidence that our sins do not chase him away in disgust. Bringing our sins to him as a gift, in that case, does not mean that our sins in themselves are a gift pleasing to him. That would suggest we should commit greater sins and so give a bigger gift. It means allowing Our Lord to do what he wants to do, namely, to conquer the devil’s lie to souls. Jesus wants to love souls with a love that overwhelms sinfulness with goodness. But to realize this truth, we cannot withdraw from his gaze of love even as we are aware of failure.
—FR. DONALD HAGGERTY from Conversion: Spiritual Insights Into an Essential Encounter with God Immediately before and for a good while after my conversion, I was of the opinion that to lead a religious life meant one had to give up all that was secular and to live totally immersed in thoughts of the Divine. But gradually I realized that something else is asked of us in this world and that, even in the contemplative life, one may not sever the connection with the world. I even believe that the deeper one is drawn into God, the more one must ‘go out of oneself’, that is, one must go to the world in order to carry the divine
life into it. —FR. DONALD HAGGERTY quoting Saint Edith Stein in Conversion: Spiritual Insights Into an Essential Encounter with God Contemporary spiritual writer Fr. Donald Haggerty offers penetrating observations of the phenomenon of Christian conversion. Arranged as a collection of concise, meditative reflections, this book discusses the essential elements of a soul's return to God, including the repercussions of sin, the proper understanding of mercy, and the importance of a more radical response to God's will. PROUDLY SPONSORED BY Ignatius PressSaint Joseph Communications Copyright © 2018 Ignatius Press and Saint Joseph Communications. All rights reserved. 1915 Aster Rd. in Sycamore, IL 60178 Catechesis
The purpose of catechesis - when catechesis starts again in our parishes, at school or at home, let us remember the purpose of it: "the final goal of catechesis is to put someone not only in contact, but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ". (Executive Board for catechesis, p. 83, no. 80) True human objectivity involves humanity, and humanity involves God. True human reason involves morality, which lives on God’s commandments. This morality is not a private matter; it has public significance. Without the good of being good and of good action, there can be no good politics. What the persecuted Church prescribed for Christians as the core of their political ethos must also be the core of an active Christian politics: only where good is done and is recognized as good can people live together well in a thriving community. Demonstrating the practical importance of the moral dimension, the dimension of God’s commandments—publicly as well—must be the center of responsible political action.
—JOSEPH RATZINGER from Faith and Politics "In the old days, people demanded 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' and to repay evil for evil. Patience was not yet on the earth, because faith was not on the earth either. Of course, impatience made full use of the opportunities the Law gave it. That was easy when the Lord and Master of patience was not here. But now that he has come and put the grace of faith together with patience, we are no longer allowed to attack someone even with a word—not even to call someone a fool without facing the danger of judgment. The Law found more than it lost when Christ said, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven' (Matthew 5:44-45). This most important commandment summarizes in a word the universal discipline of patience, since it does not allow us to do evil even to people who deserve it."
— Tertullian , p. 104 An Excerpt From A Year with Church Fathers "The soul hungers for God, and nothing but God can satiate it. Therefore He came to dwell on earth and assumed a Body in order that this Body might become the Food of our souls."
— St. John Vianney There are not different kinds of holinesses. There’s one holiness, and everyone is called to it. There’s different ways of life that lead to holiness, but it’s the same holiness. What’s holiness? It says in Ephesians to be holy is to be filled with love. There’s only one love and it’s God’s love. There’s only one holiness and it’s God’s holiness.
—RALPH MARTIN from Union with God My life? What does that matter? Would it not mean saving it if I were to lose it for my brothers? Of course one must not throw it away stupidly, but when will the followers of Saint Ignatius enter battle if at the first shot they turn their backs? I am not boasting when I speak like this. I am well aware of the very little courage I possess but I feel that I could give courage to others, both priests and laymen. After all, the worst that they could do would be to kill me, but that will only happen when God’s good time arrives.
—FATHER MIGUEL PRO from Father Miguel Pro: A Modern Mexican Martyr by Gerald Muller, CSC I bless God for having conferred upon me the great dignity of being a priest. What wonderful happiness one finds in bringing peace to a troubled workman’s family! What joy in taking Holy Communion to a youngster of ninety-four! What pleasure in sitting under a tree and hearing the confession of an easy-living gardener or of teaching the basic points of catechism to a Communist while kicking the shavings and sawdust of his workshop!
—FATHER MIGUEL PRO: A Modern Mexican Martyr by Gerald Muller With every marriage, something brand new is established. God may not be rearranging body parts, as He did when he made Eve, but He is, in a real way, rearranging our souls. Every married couple is a new creation: ‘Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh’ (Gen 2:24).
—DR. SCOTT HAHN from The First Society The most pure prayer is a look of love without words, like a child admiring the sunset for the first time. It is a flame of fire leaping for heaven. The most powerful prayer is Mercy, a loving gaze upon the one who loves us so much it hurts them, it kills them to not be able to love more. In one word, it is Mary looking at Jesus, at the foot of the Cross. One sigh of love, one bright tear shed while we suffer is worth more than a whole symphony sung during a time of strength and prosperity.
The face-to-face vision of God will produce in us a love of God so strong, so absolute, that nothing can ever destroy it nor even diminish it. It will produce a love built on admiration, respect, and gratitude, but above all on friendship, with the simplicity and familiarity that this love presupposes. Through such a love we will enjoy above all else that God is God, that He is infinitely holy, infinitely merciful, infinitely just.
—FR. REGINALD GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE Prayer is meant to be an act of selfless love, even if distracted by pain or illness, during our thoughts and desire to focus, all effort of the heart is prayer is an act of the sweetness of our sheer will, an act of pure goodwill and love.
Based on St Theresa of Avila A call to francophone parents who want to safeguard religious education in any region starting in Winnipeg (sent by françois grenier de labroquerie originally, broadcast by the pastoral centre of the archdiocèse of Saint-Boniface to help us discern in the elections).
The following question was asked for candidates for the Franco-Manitoba School Commission in Winnipeg: " can we count on you to defend and preserve the right of education and religious exercises at school and during class hours, if you become commissioner of the cgfs? " " I believe this is an important question to ask and share with people who support Christian prayer and teaching at school in the Winnipeg region. Conversion from mediocrity to a full surrender is no easier than the conversion from sin to charity;10/13/2018 in either case, there is a plucking out of an eye and the cutting off of an arm. It seems to the convert that he is asked to give up more than everything-even the control of over his whole life...this is because he does not understand the freedom and joy of the union with God. Pleasures of the flesh are always greater in anticipation than in realization, but the joys of the spirit are always greater in realization than in anticipation!
Bishop Fulton Sheen Saint Teresa of Avila says, whose Feast Day is October 15th:
“I repeat, it is necessary that your foundation consist of more than prayer and contemplation. If you do not strive for the virtues and practice them, you will always be dwarfs. And, please God, it will be only a matter of not growing, for you already know that whoever does not increase decreases. I hold that love, where present, cannot possibly be content with remaining always the same.” I am certain there will be three surprises in heaven; I will find people I did not expect to be there, those I expected to be there, I will not find, and, miracle of God's Mercy, the greatest surprise will be that I, myself, will be there!
Bishop Fulton Sheen Let us remember to thank God for all today...all and everything...even the thorns that remind me that I am not God!
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