THE 1ST PROMISE

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"I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life."

Some graces are necessary for our state of life.

The graces I need to become a better priest will differ from the graces you need to become a better spouse, or parent, or single person in the Church.

Even among priests, the necessary graces sometimes differ.  A teaching priest needs some graces that a pastor may not need as much, and vice versa.

Your specific family situation differs from many others.  You need some very specific graces for your state of life.

God's care for His children, giving them the things they need, is called Providence.

There are two kinds of divine providence.  The first is ordinary providence.  Our normal means of obtaining this is prayer and the sacraments.

But there is also extraordinary providence; special favors, special graces.  As they are more precious gems, Our Lord seeks stronger prayer, more intent supplication concerning them.  This is where Devotion to the Sacred Heart comes in. 

Just as a child who seeks a greater favor from a parent appeals to the mother or father's deepest reserves of love for the child, when we are in need of special graces for our state of life, we go to the Heart that beats with perfect love for us; the Heart that was pierced for us; the Heart that drained Itself of every drop of blood and water on the cross.

Nothing pleases God more than to be approached as the most generous, most sacrificing and most powerful God that He is.  If we treat God as stingy; as uncaring; as inattentive to our plight; we do not knock on the doors of His willing Heart.  Therefore, there is a special promise to those who beg of the Sacred Heart, the reservoir of God's infinite supply of graces.  They will obtain those graces necessary for their state of life.

FIRST FRIDAY

Benedict XVI

Vicar of Christ, Successor of Peter

Every day for the last few days I've been reading sad and depressing news about people betraying the trust of the Holy Father.  They are also letting down Christ and His Church.  So I wanted to dedicate all our prayers, and the Holy Sacrifice, for the Holy Father.  We are still in Pentecost time.  The Holy Ghost is our Comforter.  May He fill the Pope's heart with courage and consolation.  When He was installed as Pope, he asked people to pray that he may not run away when the wolves come.  The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

CONDO BLESSING

The blessing of any residence - in this case a condo - is a moment of grace for any family.

At Easter time, which we are still in, there is a specific blessing. 

It doesn't matter if the blessing takes place just when a family moves in, or if the family has lived there already for years.  A blessing is a blessing!

Blessings are not just for protection against evil spirits.  Many times, evil spirits have no special attraction to or connection with any particular place.  The blessing is a way of consecrating this home to the Lord, and to the Holy Family.  In having a home blessed, we are really saying that we want God to be honored in this place, by the way we live our family life.  It is a reminder that our faith is not just for church, but is also for the home.  If our faith is not lived in the home, something is missing from our going to church.

PENTECOST 2012

Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church.  Empowered by the Holy Ghost, the Apostles leave the isolation of the Upper Room and begin to do the work Jesus commanded them to do, "Go out to all the world..."

Just as the soul is the life of the body, the Holy Ghost is the life of the Church and the life of the individual member of the Church.  Without His help, we can do nothing.

YOUNG MEN?

Why are young men attracted to the Extraordinary Form? 

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Schola / Choir

It is something the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has noticed himself.  In his Letter to the Bishops accompanying the Motu Proprio, he says,

"it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons too have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist, particularly suited to them."

Why?  In a word...

Transcendence

From what I gather from young people, they are looking for God and they know that God is Other, is mystery, is above and beyond our natural world.  God created, saved and sanctifies this natural world; He is intimately part of it; He became human flesh Himself.  But He is still Other; He is still the "mysterium tremendum," the overwhelming mystery.  We experience God immanently, but as transcendent.

And so He is to be adored.  Profoundly.  Completely.  Reverently.  Serenely.   And above all, through sacrifice.

I have a feeling that men have an affinity to worship that is theocentric, sober, contemplative.  In early biblical history, it was the father of the family, and later the sons of Aaron, who stood before God as representatives of the people, to offer Him worship and sacrifice.  And, in the end, it was the Son of God and Son of Mary who did the same in its perfection.

MAY'S REQUIEM MASS

“We read in the books of the Maccabees that sacrifice was offered for the dead. But even if it were found nowhere in the Old Testament writings, the authority of the universal Church which is clear on this point is of no small weight, wherein the prayers of the priest poured forth to the Lord God at His altar the commendation of the dead has its place." ~~~Saint Augustine

THE ASCENSION AND AD ORIENTEM

Did anyone catch it in the Communion Antiphon in yesterday's Ascension Thursday Mass?

"Sing ye to the Lord, who mounteth above the heaven of heavens to the east, alleluia."

"Psallite Domino, qui ascendit super caelos caelorum ad Orientem, alleluia."

It occured to me some time ago, reflecting on the Ascension, that Christ, in a way, as He rises above and beyond them,  "turns His back" towards His Apostles and faces them no more - the very "complaint" we hear from people concerning the Extraordinary Form.  "Why does the priest turn his back to the people?"

Christ has gone ahead of us; He leads us forward and upward, to heaven.  The one who leads must be in front of us, with his back to us.  Not to cut us off, but rather to lead us on.

If someone were leading me to heaven, it is his back that I'd want to see, so that I can follow.

As someone once said, it's the back of the bus driver we want to see.  To see him face us while the bus is moving is to make us fear for our safety.