Holy Collaboration

  

 

"The Holy Hour is not a devotion;

it is a sharing

in the work of redemption...

He (Jesus) asked for an hour of reparation to

combat the hour of evil; an hour of victimal union

with the Cross to overcome the anti-love of sin." 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen

 The midpoint of this grace-filled Lenten season 

is the Thursday of the third week of Lent - TODAY!

Perhaps in the latter half of Lent each of your days

 could include a Holy Hour - 'sharing in the work of redemption'.

Abounding life of glory

 

 

"When the Blessed Sacrament is laid upon your tongue - that

moment and that act which the great angels of God look down upon

with such surpassing awe - the Blood of Jesus is throbbing there in

all its abounding life of glory. 

 

It sheathes in the sacramental mystery that exceeding radiance

which is lighting all heaven at that moment with a magnificence

of splendor which exceeds the glowing of a million suns.  You do

not feel the strong pulses of His immortal life.  If you did, you could

hardly live yourself.  Sacred terror would undo your life. 

 

But in that adorable Host is the whole of the Precious Blood, the Blood

of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, and Calvary, the Blood of the Passion,

of the Resurrection, and of the Ascension, the Blood shed and reassumed. 

As Mary bore that Precious Blood within herself of old, so do you bear it now.  ... We believe all; nay, we so believe it that we know it rather than

believe it; and yet our love is so faint and fitful.  Our very fires are

frost in comparison with such a faith as this."

 

 

Excerpt from The Precious Blood

Fr Frederick W Faber

Rightly ordered love

 

 

 

 

"Love for the Eucharist,

love for the cross,

love for souls

must be our ideal."

 

 

 

Bl. Pina Suriano

Growing in knowledge and love

 

"The will of God is fully revealed

in the person of Jesus.

A person who wishes to live according to God's will

must follow Jesus, listen to Him, welcome His words

and, with the help of the Holy Spirit,

absorb them more deeply.

The first invitation I wish to extend to you

is to grow in your knowledge of and love for Christ,

both as individuals and as a community;

to encounter Him through the Eucharist."

Pope Benedict XVI

March 20, 2011, Homily

 

Living water

   Third Sunday of Lent

  

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water

will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water

that I will give them will never be thirsty.

The water that I will give will become in them

a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water,

so that I may never be thirsty or have to

keep coming here to draw water." 

 

But the hour is coming, and is now here,

when the true worshipers will worship the Father

in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks

such as these to worship Him.  John 4:13-15,23

Invite someone to worship with you -

in spirit and in truth -  at holy Mass!

Worship's place

 "Worship... is not a part

of the Christian life:

it is the Christian life."

Gerald Vann, O.P.

"Be it done" - that generous word!

FEAST of the ANNUNCIATION

March 25 

"The Virgin Mary utters that generous word, "be it done"

...Immediately the Heart of Jesus, ever to be adored,

has begun to pulsate with love, divine and human."

Pius XII, On Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 63

 The Annunciation, Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1888)

"The best model for our thanksgiving

[after Holy Communion]

is Mary receiving the Word in her womb. 

The most pleasing reception we can make Jesus

and the one best and most rich in graces for us

is to join with His Blessed Mother

in adoring Him present in our hearts."

St Peter Julian Eymard

 

 

 

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy

of the promises of Christ.

Gathering the scattered

"God chose the sign of blood
because no other sign suggests
a person's total involvement so eloquently."

Pope Ven John Paul II

“Jesus Christ feeds us each day

with the teachings of the Gospel

and the sacraments of the Church.

His flesh and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar

is our daily food.

He gathered us in His arms,

spread out wide on the cross, as John says,

‘to gather together the children of God

who were scattered.’”

St. Anthony of Padua

A Prayer of Offering for Lent

 

"The world is content with setting right

the surface of things;

the church aims at regenerating

the very depths of the heart."

Bl John Henry Newman

The Idea of a University (1852), p. 203

 

A Prayer of Offering for Lent

My God, I know well, you could have saved us at Your word,

without Yourself suffering; but You did choose to purchase us at the

price of Your Blood.  I look on You, the Victim lifted up on Calvary, and

I know that Your death was an expiation for the sins of the whole world. 

My Lord, I offer You myself in turn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. 

You have died for me, and I in turn make myself over to You.  My wish

is to be separated from everything of this world; to cleanse myself

simply from sin.  Enable me to carry out what I profess.

A Newman Prayer Book

Editor VF Blehl, SJ (1990), p. 23

Living Lent Eucharistically

Let us live Lent then, as a "Eucharistic" time

in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to

spread it around us with every word and deed. 

Contemplating "Him whom they have pierced" moves us in this way to

open our hearts to others, recognizing the wounds inflicted upon

the dignity of the human person; it moves us, in particular, to fight

every form of contempt for life and human exploitation and to alleviate

the tragedies of loneliness and abandonment of so many people.

May Lent be for every Christian a renewed experience of God's love

given to us in Christ, a love that each day we, in turn, must "regive"

to our neighbour, especially to the one who suffers most and is in

need. Only in this way will we be able to participate fully in the joy

of Easter. May Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love, guide us in this

Lenten journey, a journey of authentic conversion to the love of Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI's Message for Lent 2007

Imploring conversion

   Lord, I am not worthy to receive You,

but only say the word and I shall be healed.

 

“Lord, by the words of consecration the substance

of the bread and wine is converted into the

substance of Your Body and Blood. 

All powerful Lord, say over me the word

which will change me into You."

St Anthony Mary Claret

"Lord, it is good that we are here."

Second Sunday of Lent

 

Carl Bloch, Transfiguration

 Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here." ...
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow

over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said,

 

“This is my beloved Son, with whom

I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very
much afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.  Matt 17: 4-8

"Lord, it is good that we are here..." Another ANNIVERSARY to celebrate!

Twelve years ago today I heartily reconciled with the Catholic Church and once again enabled to fully partake of the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Charity and Unity. Let us join in the holy endeavor of praying and living lives that speak of the power and love of our Eucharistic Lord and draw many to the inexhaustible riches of His Sacred Heart. “I will not rest until I find the whole world devoted to the Blessed Sacrament!” Bl.Didacus Joseph of Cadiz.  Amen. -  Janette

Go to Joseph!

 FEAST of ST JOSEPH 

March 19

 

 

“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy

guardian and protector of His greatest treasures, namely,

His divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation

with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying:

‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’”

 

St. Bernardine of Siena

 

 

Artist - Svitozar Nenyuk

 

 

“We all have in him [St. Joseph] as a model and a protector.  As adorers

of the Sacramental Jesus, we continue near the Blessed Sacrament

his service, his adoration and his love.  He will watch over us and

give us his spirit and virtues. Leading us to Jesus, he will say to Him: 

‘I cannot be on earth any longer to watch over You and serve You,

but bless these adorers who are replacing me; give them the graces

You gave me, so that their service may recall and replace mine.’

 

How happy St Joseph is to see us crowding about Jesus in

His Sacrament, feeble, abandoned, persecuted, more in need of

defenders and servants than in His Infancy.  St Joseph, be my protector,

my model, and my father in my service of Jesus Eucharistic.”

 

St. Peter Julian Eymard

 

 

 

 

 

"St Joseph, your life and office were of a priestly function and

are especially connected with the Blessed Sacrament.  To some

extent you were the means of bringing the Redeemer to us --

as it is the priest's function to bring Him to us in the Mass -- for you

reared Jesus, supported, nourished, protected and sheltered Him. 

 

You were prefigured by the patriarch Joseph, who kept supplies

of wheat for his people.  But how much greater than he were you! 

Joseph of old gave the Egyptians mere bread for their bodies. 

You nourished, and with the most tender care, preserved for the

Church Him who is the Bread of Heaven and who gives eternal life

in Holy Communion."  From Fifth Day of Novena to St Joseph 

 

 

 

 

"When Egypt was laid waste by the great famine, Pharaoh told his people,

Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph! (Genesis 41:55)

So if we are in trouble, let us listen to the word of the Lord and take Pharaoh's advice; let us go to Joseph if we wish to be consoled." 

 

St Alphonsus de Ligouri

 

 

 

 

Ste Joseph, ora pro nobis!

Bring JOY to the face of your soul!

St. Cyril of Jerusalem was born just about the time the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire (313 AD) and became bishop of the Holy City of David about 349 AD.  St. Cyril was banished from his Jerusalem See a total of three times for his bold proclamation of faith in Christ's full divinity during a time when many bishops and emperors favored various forms of the Arian heresy.  He is one of

the most important sources we have for how the church celebrated the liturgy and sacraments during the first few decades after the legalization of Christianity. 

 

In his famous 24 lectures commonly known as the  Jerusalem Catecheses, St Cyril instructs new Christians in the days immediately before and after their initiation into the life of the Church at the Easter Vigil.  In these catechetical instructions, which are the only documents that survive by St. Cyril, we find very strong insistence on the

value and efficacy of the sacrament of baptism as well as heavy emphasis on the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist. 

 

 

 

 

An except from The Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation,

St Cyril of Jerusalem, Early Church Father

 

"Do not, then, regard the Eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine:  they are in fact that Body and Blood of the Lord, as He Himself has declared.  Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

 

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the Body and Blood of Christ.  You know also how David referred to this long ago, when he sang: Bread gives strength to man's heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness.  Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

 

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that by contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord.  To Him be glory for ever and ever.  Amen."

 

 

St Cyril of Jerusalem

313-386

Bishop of Jerusalem

Doctor of the Church

FEAST DAY - March 18

 

 

 

 

 "Make your fold with the sheep;

flee from the wolves:

depart not from the Church,"

St Cyril admonished catechumens

surrounded by heresy.

 

 

Ste Cyril of Jerusalem, ora pro nobis!

I arise today...through Christ!

 

 

St. Patrick is said to have written this prayer to strengthen himself with God's protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, pagan high king of Ireland and his druid priests. Through the prayers and pleas of St Patrick, the power and might of God came upon this druid land and that day a broken king knelt before God.

This confrontation between Patrick's God and demonic forces marked the beginning of a thirty-year mission to Ireland. Danger and hardship remained Patrick's constant companions. Many sought his life. Twice he was imprisoned by his enemies--once for two full months. Intimidated? Not Patrick. "Daily I expect murder, fraud, or captivity," he wrote, "but I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God Almighty who rules everywhere."

St Patrick's Breastplate

I  arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I  arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I  arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I  arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I  arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I  arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.  AMEN.

St Patrick

Bishop, Patron of Ireland

381-461

FEAST DAY - March 17

Ste Patrick, ora pro nobis!

Conversion is aim

At Prayer - Edwin Long

 

“Let us not merely admire

the Presence of Jesus

in the Blessed Sacrament,

let our lives be changed.”  

Fr Joseph Johnson

Rector, Cathedral of St Paul

St Paul, MN

Like a river in a flood...

 

Photo credit:  Jack Gantzel

 

 

"The Eucharist is the food of the soul

that maintains, mends, increases,

and gladdens the life of grace in the soul,

because it gives to it the very Author of grace. 

 

The divine life can enter into us by other doors,

but it is by Holy Communion that it

inundates our souls like a river in a flood." 

 

 

Blessed Columba Marmion

 

 

 

 

 

"Open wide the doors to Christ!"

 

Pope Ven John Paul II

 

Blessed to be a blessing

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,

as though Christ were making an appeal through us.

 

II Corinthians 5:20

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men

throughout the world, who live and die in poverty

and hunger.  Give them through our hands this day

their daily bread, and by our understanding love,

give peace and joy.  Amen."

 

Pope Paul VI

 

 

Denying satan

First Sunday of Lent 

"During these forty days, much like the Israelites, we will journey through

the desert together and look forward to the Promised Land of Easter.

And like Christ, one should be encouraged to go into the desert alone,

a place set aside for personal prayer and silence.

Our Holy Father of happy memory, Pope John Paul II, defined

Lent as a time for "intense prayer" and for "serious discernment

about our lives" and our figurative desert is the place to do both.

In Matthew's version of the temptation in the desert, after Satan tempts

Jesus to turn a stone into bread, our Lord's response of, "One does not

live on bread alone" is continued with "but by every word that proceeds

from the Mouth of God" (Mt 4:4). On a translation note, in Luke's Gospel

the Latin Vulgate does include the words which translate as "but by every

word of God" even though it is absent from the liturgical text.

The bread that doesn't satisfy is the manna that was given to the Israelites

(cf. Ex 16). It's interesting, though, that in this exchange between our Savior

and the devil there are three words which are synonymous with Jesus.

He is the "Stone" which the builders rejected (cf. Ps [117] 118:22, Mt 21:42,

Mk 12:10, Lk 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:4; 2:7), He is the "Bread" of life (cf. Jn 6:35; 6:48),

and He is the "Word" of God (cf. Jn 1:1).

And this spiritual diet of Word and Bread are exactly what

we receive respectively at Mass from the Liturgy of the Word

and the Liturgy of the Eucharist."

Jeffrey S. J. Allan

(Full text at http://secret-harbor.blogspot.com/)

To persevere in virtue

 


"Make use of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament

as a means of persevering in the practice of virtue. 

Let us go to Him toward evening and tell Him

about our shortcomings, let us ask Him for help

and forgiveness.  Our Lord loves us, constantly,

and His glance follows us every moment of the day."

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

Servant of God

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against
one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues
put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:13-14 





In this holy Lenten season, rich with graces, make frequent and good Confessions.  There are priests waiting for your visit.

Beginnings...

And so we know and rely

on the love God has for us. ~ I Jn 4:16

 

 

 

Adoration Chapel - St Michael's Catholic Church- Stillwater, MN

 

 

 

"God wants us to begin here

in the knowledge of His love."

 

 

Julian of Norwich

In accord with His generous intentions...

St Colman's Church, Cosham, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK

"The Eucharist has been given to us as a Bread of life, and it is of the nature of bread to be eaten often, just as it is of the nature of life to grow by slow degrees.  While Jesus, the Word Incarnate, can give us perfect holiness through a single Communion, He has no intention of working miracles in the order of grace, in opposition to the order established by Providence.

    Man spends many long years reaching his full physical stature.  The same is true of his spiritual stature.  To attain 'to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ' (Eph 4:13)  requires persistent effort, with the help of grace and the practice of an intense Eucharistic life. 

    Frequent and daily Communion for both adults and children is in accord with the generous intentions of our Lord's love and also with the wishes of the Church..."

Excerpt from In Him is Life - pg 112-113

Ernest Mura, F.S.V.  - Translated by Angeline Bouchard

Ash Wednesday

 

ASH WEDNESDAY*

Even now, says the Lord, return to Me with your whole heart ...

 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly; gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged;
gather the children, even infants at the breast. - Joel 2:12+ 

 

 

 

  

 

 "See that you get ready for confession

and Holy Communion, so that you may be

resurrected in grace with Christ Jesus."

 

 

St Catherine of Siena 

 

 

 

 

Ash Wednesday, Julian Falat (1853-1929, Poland)

 

 

*Ash Wednesday is solemnly observed by the Church to mark the beginning of

the forty days of penance in the Lenten season. The faithful who attends the

Mass on this day will be marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign

of conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality.

The marking of the forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each

churchgoer that (1) God made the first human being by breathing life into dust,

and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes,

(2) the phrases often used when the ashes are administered remind Christians

of the doctrine of original sin and (3) the cross of ashes may symbolize the

way Christ's sacrifice on the cross as atonement for sin replaces the Old

Testament tradition of making burnt offerings to atone for sin. As the ashes

are being administered, the priest utters one of the following phrases:

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

"Remember (O man) that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return."

"Repent, and hear the good news."

 

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him;

and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. ~Ecclesiastes 4:12

 

During Lent, we are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. They are the "three-fold cord" spoken of in Ecclesiastes 4:12. Satan will not prevail against us if we follow Christ's call to use this three-fold cord as a basis for our Christian walk.

Above all things

 

“Love our Lord Jesus Christ

in the Eucharist

above all things in the world.”

St. John of God

Portugal (1495-1550)

Religious, Founder of Hospitallers

Patron of Heart Patients

His motto: "Labor without stopping.

Do all the good works you can while you still have the time."

Feast Day  - March 8

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. ca.1617-1682
La caída de San Juan de Dios 1672-74
Oil on canvas
Hospital de la Caridad, Seville, Andalucia

St. John was a holy youth and spent the first part of his life as a shepherd.

As a young man he joined the military and veered from his faith, but later

converted and dedicated his life totally to God. He opened his own hospice and
called it House of God.  He understood that love has a healing and therapeutic value
for those who suffer, and this became his mission. St. John organized his followers
into the Order of Hospitallers, now better known as the Brothers Hospitallers

of St. John of God, who care for the sick in countries around the world. 

St John died at 55 years of age on March 8, 1550 of pneumonia,

after he had plunged into a river to save a young man from drowning.

Ste John of God, ora pro nobis!

What else could He do?

 My God, I forget all fear and all mistrust.

I melt away for joy and love,

whenever I lay my eyes on the Tabernacle

And, in my soul, repeat these words:

“That Host is my God, my Creator…

My Master…  My Bridegroom!

You see me… You think about me…

You love me…"

 

What else could He do? For God is love.
I may not be worthy of it, but He is love!

Bl Edouard Poppe

Excerpt from Spiritual Notebook

of Bl Edouard Poppe

July 17, 1917