Wednesday 18 February 2015
Tuesday 17 February 2015
Tomorrow! February 18, 2015 is Ash Wednesday
Why Ashes On the
Forehead Should Change the Heart and Purify the Soul
On Ash Wednesday we receive ashes on our foreheads with the words
“Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reversers.” (Remember, Man, that you are dust, and
into dust you will return). How true these words are, every living man, woman, youth and child
will die and return to dust and bones in the coffin.
These word are taken right from the very beginning of the Bible coming
from the mouth of God as punishment inflicted on Adam for having sinned by
disobeying God and eating the forbidden fruit. “In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken:
for dust thou art, and
into dust thou shalt return.” Genesis 3:19.
We remember that “the
Lord God formed man of the slime (dirt) of the earth“. Genesis 2:7 And Abraham admits right
away, when talking with God, that “I am dust and ashes“. Genesis 18:27
When Achan took forbidden booty from the inhabitants of the promised
land, Israel began to not be able to take over the towns. So Josue “rent
his garments, and fell flat on the ground before the ark of the Lord until
evening, both he and all the ancients of Israel: and they put dust upon their heads.” Josue 7:6.
After the Ark of the covenant had be captured by the Philistines, a
messenger came to Silo to report it “with his closes rent, and head strewed
with dust” (I Samuel 4: 12).
Job, in all humility answered the Lord: “Therefore I reprehend myself,
and do penance in dust and ashes.” Job 42:6 And in Psalm 104:29 (103 in
some Bibles) it says: “But if thou turnest away thy face, they shall be
troubled: thou
shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail and shall return to their dust.”
The famous conversion of the city of Ninive, from the preaching of
Jonah, was shown by the King who “rose up out of his throne, and cast away
his robe from him, and was clothed with sackcloth and sat in ashes.”
At the beginning of these forty days of Lent, we begin by fasting and
praying. We receive the ashes on the forehead to remind us also to think. To actually use our brains
to ponder about the Laws of God, His Love for Us, His sacrifice on the cross He
offered for our sins and about our own sins that are destroying us and leading
us to eternal death. We need to seriously think about if we really want
to be tortured forever in the fires of hell.
Then, once we have thought about these truths, we let them go down into
our hearts where they can move us to change. We beg God in this time of
Lent to open our minds to His truth and soften our hearts to embrace it.
In prayer we beg God’s graces to change.
Most Sin begins with a thought. All actions begin with a thought.
We think, I would like to see some pornography. So at that moment,
we fall down on our knees and pray for the grace to say no to the temptation
and immediately begin to correct the thought that is leading us into sin.
Instead we need to fill our minds and hearts with holy thoughts about the
miracles that come from prayer, the lives of the saints and our mother Mary.
When we take the words “thou art dust” seriously, it helps us be humble. The word humble actually comes
from dust (Humus or earth). When we stay down close to earth, we are less
likely to fall. And if for some reason we may fall, it is way less down
and easier to get up. We quickly get up in great sorrow and go to
confession with a firm resolution to never ever fall again.
Pride
is what caused the devil to be damned forever. In this lent, let us root out
all forms of pride. We do not know it all. We are not smarter than God. We
are not smarter than the old traditional teachings of the Catholic Church. We do need God. We do need to change. We do need the sacraments and
other holy people to help us to get to heaven. We are absolutely not
perfect yet.
Wolves (the devil and his demons) enjoys very much ravaging and eating
sheep. When a Catholic goes his own way of pride by himself, the wolves easily catch and eat the lone
sheep. But when the sheep humbly stay with the flock and obeys the
Shepherd (Jesus), he is protected from his own demise (death).
Life
is short. Death is certain. Eternity is forever. That is why we are so fortunate
to be traditional Catholics and to have Jesus and His teachings to help us stay
out of the hands of the devil and to keep us from being damned with him
forever. And we have each other to support us and remind us that no
matter what the world, the pope, bishops, priests, religious and lay church
teachers are saying, we are going to stick together and obey the Bible and the
Church’s 2000 teachings.
“A person who governs his passions is the master of the world. We must
either rule them, or be ruled by them. It is better to be the hammer than the
anvil.” St. Dominic
DON’T WASTE YOUR LENT: 7 WAYS TO HAVE A GOOD LENT
DON’T WASTE YOUR LENT: 7 WAYS TO HAVE A GOOD LENT
Lent is a season of penance and
ascetical warfare. The enemy is concupiscence, the world, and the devil. The
goal is pure hearts so that we can joyfully celebrate the resurrection of
our Lord at Easter, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. In a way, Lent
should be a microcosm of our entire struggle on earth, just as the Paschal
feast of Easter is a microcosm of our heavenly triumph in Christ. Yet, a
good Lent takes focus and discipline, and it can easily be wasted.
In my own experience, I
often begin the lenten season with the best of intentions. I imagine
myself going into full monk mode, fasting and praying as ardently as one of the
monastic fathers in the desert. And maybe for the first week I
succeed through sheer strength of will. Then, just when I am feeling good
about myself, everything falls apart and I come face to face with my own
weakness.
We’ve all been there at some
point, and so today I’d like to share 7 practical ways to have a
good Lent.
1. Have a plan – The fastest way
to ruin Lent is to have good intentions but no plan. Be specific.
“I’m going to pray more,” isn’t good enough. Download this helpful worksheet to get started. Once
you’ve determined what you are going to do, stick to it every single day.
One word of advice: Make it
doable. Often, we are overly ambitious and commit to way too much. When we fail
in our lenten goals, we grow discouraged and give up completely. This is a
victory for the devil. Make your commitments modest and practical, and your
Lent will be the better for it.
2. Read a good book – The
saints are constantly exhorting us to read good spiritual books, and there is
no better time to begin this practice than during Lent. Reading Scripture
or the writings of the saints is a great place to start. Here are some
suggestions for Lenten reading:
3. Examine yourself - Lent is an
excellent time to take an inventory of the state of your soul. What are your
predominant faults? Do you have any hidden idols in your life? What is keeping
you from following the will of God with all your heart? Use a
thorough examination of conscience to help you assess
your spiritual health.
Remember, Lent is not ultimately
about giving up sweets or other things we enjoy, it is first and foremost about
repentance, which means giving up up sin and returning to God, our loving
Father. While taking inventory of your sins may be painful, it is a healthy
pain that restores the soul.
4. Confess your sins – After
examining your conscience, the logical next step is to go to
confession. Normally, it can be hard to find a parish with confession readily
available (thirty minutes on a Saturday isn’t enough!), but the good news
is, many parishes have increased confession times during Lent, so it’s a
great time to go.
Before receiving the sacrament of
penance, though, remember the five requirements for a good confession: 1)
Examination of conscience 2) True contrition for having offended God 3) Firm
resolution to sin no more 4) Clear confession (don’t hold any sins back) 5)
Penance for the sins you have committed
5. Pray - Let’s face it, we can
all pray more, and Lent is a great
time to plan and implement a daily prayer rule that can guide
you the rest of the year. During this season, however, we should
especially focus our prayers on repentance and contrition for our sins. Here
are some suggestions for Lenten prayer.
• The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary
• The Divine Mercy Chaplet
6. Fast - I’ve written before
about the importance of prayer and fasting, so suffice it to say
that it is something we should be doing all year round, not just during Lent.
Still, Lent is a very good time to refocus our efforts and renew our
commitment. We should especially focus on fasting from things related to our
predominant sins.
Are you addicted to Instagram or
Facebook? Fast from them. Maybe you’re binge watching shows on Netflix. Give it
up. On the other hand, maybe you’re addicted to criticizing others. Make a
special effort to fast from negative speech. The point is, while fasting from
certain foods is an excellent ascetical practice, we do not have to limit our
lenten fasting to things we eat. Remember the words of Jesus: “If your eye
offends you, pluck it out.” Nothing should stand between us and the heavenly
kingdom, and we should be intentional about cutting off those things that are causing
us to sin.
7. Give alms – During Lent,
we especially remember the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
This is the greatest act of generosity in history, for Jesus died not just for
his friends, but for his enemies. “God shows his love for us in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The generosity of God in Christ
should impel us to be generous and merciful to others, especially
those poor and in need.This Lent, find a way to give, whether it is supporting
a religious order or helping at a homeless shelter. Remember the promise of
Jesus, “And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water
because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
YOU CANNOT FAIL
I began this
post by talking about my own failure, and yet, when it comes to lenten
disciplines, true failure is not really possible. I mean that even failing in
our commitments can help us grow in humility and knowledge of our own spiritual
poverty—and growth in these is always spiritual advancement.
This Lent,
do your best. Strive to root out sin and cultivate holiness. But when you fail,
realize that even those who can be considered righteous fall seven times daily
(Prov. 24:16). Let your failure be a lesson in humility that drives you
back to the grace of God flowing from the pierced heart of Jesus—for
that is the true heart of Lent.
Palestinian Nuns to Be Canonized Saints in May
Palestinian Nuns to Be Canonized Saints in May
Pope
Francis Will Canonize Founder of First Palestinian Congregation
Vatican City, February 17, 2015 (Zenit.org)
Born in Jerusalem in 1843, Mary Alphonsine Danil
Ghattas would enter the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the
Apparition at age 15.
The blessed is the founder of the first Palestinian
congregation, the Congregation of Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem,
and is known for working tirelessly to help young people and Christian mothers.
This sister, who had a special mystic affinity for the
Mother of God, passed away in 1927.
Maria Baouardy was born in Abellin, a village in Upper
Galilee, in 1846 to Arab parents. She was baptized in the Melchite Greek
Catholic Church. From her early youth, she experienced many sufferings together
with extraordinary mystic phenomena.
In France, she entered the Carmel of Pau. From there,
she was sent to India to found new Carmels, and then to Bethlehem, where she
died in 1878. In 1983, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II.
Born in Toulouse, France in 1811, Jeanne Emilie de
Villeneuve would go on to found the Congregation of the Sisters of the
Immaculate Conception. The congregation is committed to educating poor
girls, children, the sick and faraway missions.
The French sister died of cholera in 1854. In 2009,
she was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI.
(February
17, 2015) © Innovative Media Inc.
Two Holy Land Nuns to be canonized
ROME – The French i.Mediaagency specializing in Vatican current affairs, has published a wire announcing that Pope Francis has formally agreed to the canonization of three nuns, of whom two come from the Holy Land, the Blessed Marie-Alphonsine and Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified. It is a feast for the diocese, and especially for the Carmel of Bethlehem and the Sisters of the Rosary. The canonizations could take place as early as 2015.
Two of the religious of the Holy Land and a French religious will soon be canonized. During an audience granted to Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, December 6, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing miracles attributed to Mariam Bawardi, Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas and Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve. The Pope also authorized the recognition of “heroic virtues” of five servants of God, three nuns and two mothers.
Two of the religious of the Holy Land and a French religious will soon be canonized. During an audience granted to Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, December 6, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing miracles attributed to Mariam Bawardi, Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas and Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve. The Pope also authorized the recognition of “heroic virtues” of five servants of God, three nuns and two mothers.
The canonization of Blessed Mariam of Jesus Crucified Bawardi (1846-1878) and Blessed Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas, two nuns of the Holy Land, could be celebrated in 2015. Mariam Bawardi (1846-1878) was born in the village of Ibillin, Galilee. She is the founder of the Carmel of Bethlehem. During her life, she received the grace of the stigmata. A mystic, she also had many dreams in which she received communications from Jesus.
Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (1843-1927), in turn, was born in Jerusalem. She is co-founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Rosary dedicated to pastoral work and, later, to help the elderly and young children, to serve the poor, but also to fight against moral poverty.
The French nun Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve (1811-1854) will also soon be canonized. She founded in 1836 the Congregation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Castres. This congregation currently has about 700 religious and works in 16 countries, where it has ample social activity with fifty colleges in which are enrolled each year about 35,000 young people.
The Pope also validated the publication of decrees concerning the “heroic virtues” of five other women. The Church will consequently recognize a required miracle that allows the beatification of three nuns and two lay persons: The Italian Sr. Carmela di Gesù (1858-1948), formerly Francesca Prestigiacomo, founder of the Institute of the Sisters of the Sacred heart of incarnate Word; the Spanish Sr. María Seiquer Gayá (1891-1975), founder of the Apostolic Sisters of Christ crucified; the Czech Sr. Vojtěcha Hasmandova (1914-1988), superior general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo; the Spanish lay woman and mother, Práxedes Fernández (1886-1936), a member of the Third Order Dominicans; and finally the laywoman and mother of an Italian family, Elisabetta Tasca (1899-1978).
Source: i.Média: CL/AMI
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