Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Go... just as you are...

 (Jesus) "... reign in the most secret recesses 
of my heart, there where my most secret thoughts 
are conceived, where You alone have free access, 
in this deepest sanctuary where human thought 
cannot penetrate."- St Faustina (Diary, 1721)


"Go to our Lord just as you are.
Be natural in your meditation.
He wants the thought 
and 
prayer of that heart as the genuine 
expression of its love for Him."
St Peter Julian Eymard

Say "YES!"...

  "When Catholics are asked,
'Do you have a personal relationship 
with Jesus Christ?'
they should answer resounding YES!

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There is no closer union with Jesus than when
you receive Him in the Eucharist.
You too can say with St Paul,
"...and the life I now live is not my own,
CHRIST IS LIVING IN ME." (Galatians 2:20)

Rev Msgr Richard L Carroll, V.F.

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Results!...

 "All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion

I owe everything to it.  I feel this holy fire 

has transformed me completely." - St Faustina



"I began to amend my life by frequenting 

Holy Communion after having tried 

every other way and failed.  

When I went rarely to Holy Communion, 

I had no end of bad habits and imperfections 

that appeared to me insurmountable.  

I uprooted these by 

multiplying my Communions."


St Claude de la Colombiere

Monday, January 13, 2025

What room for doubt?...

  For My Flesh is real food, and 
My Blood is real drink. - John 6:55 
 
 
"When Our Lord Himself declaresas our faith 
teaches us, that His flesh is food indeed, 
what room can remain for doubt concerning 
the Real Presence of His Body and Blood?"

St Hilary of Poitiers
300 - 368
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
"Hammer of the Arians"
 A favorite motto of St. Hilary:
Ministros veritatis decet vera proferre,
"Servants of the truth ought speak the truth."
Feast Day - January 13 

 
This is how Hilary summed up the problem
with the Arian heretics* of the fourth century:
"They didn't know who they were."
 
*Arius, whose followers were called Arians, felt that God created Christ, not of his own matter. This meant, in his opinion, that Christ was not God and was not divine. Therefore, worshipping Christ would be tantamount to worshipping another god, and this specifically went against God’s teaching that He alone should be worshipped.


St Hilary, pray for us!

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord...

 Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 
This brings to an end the season of Christmas

"Looking at the events in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people realised what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon His shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners." - J Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth
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"Many of the incidents which accompanied Christ's baptism are symbolical of what happened at our Baptism. At Christ's baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him; at our Baptism the Trinity took its abode in our soul. At His baptism Christ was proclaimed the "Beloved Son" of the Father; at our Baptism we become the adopted sons of God. At Christ's baptism the heavens were opened; at our Baptism heaven was opened to us. At His baptism Jesus prayed; after our Baptism we must pray to avoid actual sin." Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas 

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After the Lord was baptized, the heavens were opened, 
and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, 
and the voice of the Father thundered:  
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 
Cf Mt 3:16-17 (Today's Entrance Antiphon)


The light from the Holy Spirit appears to be falling directly into the shell being used to pour the water of baptism over Jesus' head. Instead of dipping the shell into the river, the Baptist seems to be lifting up the shell to receive in its hollow, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Anointing from above.  Likewise, in its hollow, the chalice at Mass receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (Artist: Domenico Tintoretto)
___________________________

"Today let us do honor to Christ's baptism
and celebrate this feast in holiness.
Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. 
Nothing gives such pleasure to God
as the conversion and salvation of men, for 
whom His every word and every revelation exist.
He wants you to become a living force 
for all mankind, lights shining in the world.
You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside 
Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory 
of Him who is the light of heaven."
St Gregory of Nazianzus
Excerpts from: Second Reading, Office of Readings
for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

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Breathe into me Holy Spirit, that all my thoughts may be holy. 
Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. 
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.  Amen.