"Anima Christi"

POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI
JOSEPH RATZINGER, CA. 1951

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints 
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen. 

"Sede Vacante"

The chair of Peter is now, temporarily, empty.  Jesus said to Simon Peter, "You are 'Rock', and on this rock I will build my church."  We now wait in prayerful anticipation for the Holy Spirit to guide our beloved cardinals to choose the man He wills to lead His church on earth.  May I humbly suggest we pray something like this in the weeks to come:

Holy Spirit, guide the men who will soon enter the Conclave.

Open the eyes of their hearts, minds and souls to see clearly

which brother among them You will to call forth from their midst in

order to take up the helm of the Universal Church. May he be filled

with Your wisdom and grace and, above all, no matter his talents, may

he be a humble priest who loves our Lord Jesus more than anything else

in this world or the next. Descend upon the cardinals, Holy Spirit, and lead

them to the choice You will them to make. We ask all this in the name of

the Good Shepherd Himself, our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

"He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me..."

St. Justin Martyr

I remember when, in college, in the spirit of curiosity driven by faith, I began to ask the question "what did the earliest Christians believe and how did they worship Jesus?" This question drove me, like so many countless others I've encountered over the last decade or so, to the testimonies of those earliest believers - the followers of "the Way." I discovered Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna and others. These were the believers who learned at the feet of the Apostles themselves, in particular John, the "beloved disciple."

I love scholarly examinations of history, but as a history major I had grown to love primary documents much more. Imagine my surprise when I discovered accounts like those of Saint Justin Martyr, a philosopher in the mid 2nd Century, who wrote prolifically about the beliefs and practices of the early Christians to several people in an attempt to correct and/or clarify their perceptions of Christ's followers. He even wrote to the Emperor Antoninus Pius himself, as Christians were coming under persecution for, among other things, the accusation that they were cannibals! Christian worship was guarded and hidden as much as possible in these times, but word had slipped out that these people were eating flesh and drinking blood at their religious gatherings. Justin sought to elaborate:

“This food is called among us Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for  forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as  Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God’s Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.”

“First Apology”, Ch. 66, inter A.D. 148-155.

Justin's efforts are very early examples of what became known as "apologetics" from the Greek word "apologia" - not "apologizing" but rather explaining something, in this case the centerpiece of the earliest Christian worship. 

Notice how he speaks of what he and previous generations have "been taught." Saint Paul referenced this when he reminded the Thessalonian Christians to "hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours" (2 Thess. 2:15). Christ established the Church, and  he planted this teaching authority in the apostles he appointed to oversee the transmission of the faith ("bishop" = "overseer").

Centuries later, the successors of the apostles would oversee the formal assembly of the bible and approve its use for all believers, primarily in the context of formal, liturgical community worship. I am ever more convinced of just how essential it is to understand the centrality and primacy of the Church and what she has passed down through the teaching authority of the apostles and their successors, at the heart of which is the ancient and firm belief in the real, true and substantial presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, "body, blood, soul and divinity." When Catholics and Orthodox Christians celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we truly and literally receive into our very bodies the same flesh and blood that died for us on Calvary - we receive Jesus Christ himself.

I love Christ and the Church he promised would overcome even the gates of Hell - the Church that Paul describes as "the Bride of Christ" and the Church that, despite war, global conflict, and even terrible corruption within her members has stood for 2000 years. PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST! NOW AND FOREVER...

A good friend reminded me today that if we truly desire to "practice the presence of God" we must try to see our life in perspective.  It is so easy for us to see it rather as a long chain of task after task, isolated event after isolated event.  I have to get this done, but I have to be at that thing and then I have to run over there to take care of that and then.......

What if we were really able to see the bigger picture - to see each word we say, each thoughtful gesture, each moment with a friend in need not as just another passing moment, but rather as an opportunity to show the face of Christ?  What if we saw in each moment a void waiting to be filled to the brim with love - a dark room to be filled with light?

Do I sure need to take this to heart!

"I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, 'Love one another as I have loved you.' Ask yourself 'How has he loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?' Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery."         
               -  Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

When the roads get slick...

As the snow/sleet/rain blankets the ground outside this morning, I couldn't help but draw an analogy to the spiritual life. Even though I was driving on roads so familiar I could practically drive them blindfolded, I was prompted to a level of attention and alertness I usually don't possess because of the new conditions. Same roads - very different circumstances.

I feel like this is a great metaphor for my own spiritual journey lately, indeed for all of us from time to time. While I am in some sense "used to" almost everything I do from day to day, new circumstances and challenges have been making the road much more dangerous and slick. If I ignore this spiritual inclement weather and just cruise through each day as I always have before, I might end up in a ditch on the side of the road, or worse.

St. Christopher, patron of travelers, PRAY FOR US!

God is with us

Words that keep coming to me in the deepest, sometimes desperate prayer: "Work harder, worry and complain less, trust Me more..."

"Self-Discipline" from Fulton Sheen

"Mortification is good, but only when it is done out of love of God. A 'saint' who spends his [or her] life sizzling on hot coals or reclining on railroad spikes would never be canonized by the Church. Asceticism for asceticism's sake is actually a form of egotism, for self-discipline is only a means, the end of which is greater love of God. Any form of asceticism that disrupted charity would be wrong - this was the mistake of the monk who decided to live only on crusts and upset the whole monastery, turning it into one vast crust hunt to satisfy his idiosyncrasies."

  

                                                                     FULTON J. SHEEN, PEACE OF SOUL

TASTING THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow in salvation - if indeed you have tasted that the Lord to good.                   (1 Peter 2:1-3)

PRAYER

Lord of Love, give us the self-discipline of the gardener who prunes the rose bush to make it bloom more beautifully. Let us likewise sacrifice our pleasures this Lent in order to groom our souls for eternal life. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION

What personal pleasure will I get along without for the betterment of my soul? Think of this denial as an exchange: self-discipline in exchange for our soul, in exchange for spiritual progress.

(Taken from Lent and Easter Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen by Ligouri Publications, 2004)

Reading (A homily of Pseudo-Chrysostom)

                                       "Prayer is the light of the soul"

The highest good is prayer and conversation with God, because it means that we are in God’s company and in union with him. When light enters our bodily eyes our eyesight is sharpened; when a soul is intent on God, God’s inextinguishable light shines into it and makes it bright and clear. I am talking, of course, of prayer that comes from the heart and not from routine: not the prayer that is assigned to particular days or particular moments in time, but the prayer that happens continuously by day and by night.

  Indeed the soul should not only turn to God at times of explicit prayer. Whatever we are engaged in, whether it is care for the poor, or some other duty, or some act of generosity, we should remember God and long for God. The love of God will be as salt is to food, making our actions into a perfect dish to set before the Lord of all things. Then it is right that we should receive the fruits of our labours, overflowing onto us through all eternity, if we have been offering them to him throughout our lives.

  Prayer is the light of the soul, true knowledge of God, a mediator between God and men. Prayer lifts the soul into the heavens where it hugs God in an indescribable embrace. The soul seeks the milk of God like a baby crying for the breast. It fulfills its own vows and receives in exchange gifts better than anything that can be seen or imagined.

  Prayer is a go-between linking us to God. It gives joy to the soul and calms its emotions. I warn you, though: do not imagine that prayer is simply words. Prayer is the desire for God, an indescribable devotion, not given by man but brought about by God’s grace. As St Paul says: For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf in a way that could never be put into words.

  If God gives to someone the gift of such prayer, it is a gift of imperishable riches, a heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. Whoever tastes that food catches fire and his soul burns for ever with desire for the Lord.

  To begin on this path, start by adorning your house with modesty and humility. Make it shine brightly with the light of justice. Decorate it with the gold leaf of good works, with the jewels of faithfulness and greatness of heart. Finally, to make the house perfect, raise a gable above it all, a gable of prayer. Thus you will have prepared a pure and sparkling house for the Lord. Receive the Lord into this royal and splendid dwelling — in other words: receive, by his grace, his image into the temple of your soul.

Responsory

Will you still be forgetful of us, through the long years leave us forsaken? Bring us back, Lord, and let us find our home.

Lord, save us, or we perish. Bring us back, Lord, and let us find our home.

---

Let us pray.

Give us the grace, Lord,

  to continue the works of penitence we have begun;

so that the Lenten observance we have taken upon ourselves

  may be accomplished in sincerity of heart.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

  one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

(Accessed at http://www.universalis.com/readings.htm)

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” 
                                              ― G.K. Chesterton

There is, I think, a nice Lenten connection here.  Are we making these sacrifices in an effort to merely follow rules we don't really understand or to just try and curb a bad habit?  Or are we approaching this in a more meaningful way?

Are we embracing sacrifice because we are acknowledging that the effort we are making is intended to help us defend something absolutely priceless to us, namely a pure and fruitful relationship with God Himself who dwells in us by grace? Are we just checking the block or are we passionately fending off anything that could dilute that relationship in the slightest?

The Journey of Lent Begins...

"Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment."
                                                             Joel 2:12-13


Today, with Ash Wednesday, we enter into the Lenten season.  I always see this as a time for a real "gut check."  What am I really made of?  What lies have I been telling myself?  What are the areas in my life that I have been choosing to ignore or pretending are no big deal?  Isn't it about time that I go back home and stop running from my Heavenly Father?

Jesus enters into the desert "immediately" after his baptism and is tempted by the devil.  Satan, feigning care or concern for the Lord's well-being, invites him to turn stones into bread.  But Christ is on to him.  In so many words, he rebukes the devil and affirms that he will never place the desires of the moment, such as hunger, before the truth of God's love and care.  What temporary desires, concerns, fears, drives to we keep putting before the One who literally wills and loves us into being at every single moment?

May we all do a little something extra this Lent in the hopes of growing closer to God the Father.  May we, like Christ, keep present that everlasting truth that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."  Let's try harder this year to put GOD first, and everything else a distant second.  May we all rush back into His arms in a spirit of true repentance.  God bless you all!

Cardinal Arinze weighs in...

Some great and concise insights from Francis Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria regarding the resignation of Pope Benedict. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06UP2qHCxWg&feature=youtu.be

On Today's Historic Events

Now begins a period of transition and speculation under VERY rare circumstances. Our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, announced this morning that he is no longer able to keep up with the rigors of the Petrine ministry.  Though we are certainly saddened to say goodbye to our beloved shepherd, this is an incredible time in the history of our Church! 

In a profound act of humility, we see a man who has spent every waking moment of his life in an ever-deepening devotion to Jesus.  He has truly fulfilled the ancient description of the Pope as the "Servant of the Servants of God."  All he wanted to do was return to Germany and he was continually called away from this desire to greater and greater responsibilities.

Speculation will fill the airwaves over the weeks and months to come, so I don't think I need to add to it now.  I merely wish to convey my deep love for our beloved Holy Father, a man who has been the ultimate example of selfless service and a Pope who has tirelessly spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, refusing to bend to the pressures of the world.

Please keep Pope Benedict in your prayers as well as the 118 cardinals who will work their way to Rome for the upcoming conclave.  May the Holy Spirit open the hearts and minds of the electors to see clearly the path Christ is calling the Church to walk, and the man He wills to lead us.

Some thoughts on today's Gospel...

In listening to Father Robert Barron's homily on today's Gospel reading, he made some incredibly insightful points that I couldn't agree with more. "Duc in Altum"..."Put out into the deep..." That is where Christ calls each one of us to go with him. He doesn't stay close to the shore, because that is not where we need to be. We've been there - we've done it our way, over and over again. We need to go where we are not, as St. John of the Cross says, "To get to where you are not, you mus pass through where you are not." We are naturally afraid, but this is the course in which Jesus leads us. It is the road less traveled, and it is indeed dangerous in a sense. Paul called the Gospel δύναμις (dunamis) - "powerful." We get "dynamite" from this word. And that's what a relationship with Christ is like - it's dynamite. It rocks our world - it pulls us out of our comfort zone where we clutch our favorite sins. And it calls us to sail away from our familiar shores into the unknown. But will we dare to set sail once he gets into our boat?

From our beloved St. "Padre" Pio of Pietrelcina

"From time to time Jesus alleviates my sufferings when He speaks to my heart. Oh, yes, my father, the good Jesus is very much with me! Oh, what precious moments I have with Him! It is a joy which I can liken to nothing else. It is a happiness that the Lord gives me to enjoy almost only in suffering. In such moments, more than ever, everything in the world pains and annoys me and I desire nothing except to love and to suffer. Yes, my dear father, in the midst of all these sufferings I am happy because I feel my heart throb in unison with the heart of Jesus. Now, imagine what consolation the knowledge of possessing Jesus with certainty infuses in my heart!" 

Diflumeri, Father Gerardo, ed. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Letters, Vol. 1, Correspondence with His Spiritual Directors (1910-1922). 2nd ed. Vol. 1. San Giovanni: Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary, 1984. Source: http://www.apostles.com/quotations.html

From "Saint of the Day" at St. Anthony Messenger Press

ST. JOSEPHINE BAKHITA

Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was re-sold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.

Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice's Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.

When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine's behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.

Josephine entered the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters' school and the local citizens. She once said, "Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"

The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.

Comment:

Josephine's body was mutilated by those who enslaved her, but they could not touch her inner spirit. Her Baptism set her on an eventual path toward asserting her civic freedom and then service to God's people as a Canossian sister. She who worked under many "masters" was finally happy to address God as "master" and carry out everything that she believed to be God's will for her.

Quote:

During his homily at her canonization Mass in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II said that in St. Josephine Bakhita, "We find a shining advocate of genuine emancipation. The history of her life inspires not passive acceptance but the firm resolve to work effectively to free girls and women from oppression and violence, and to return them to their dignity in the full exercise of their rights."

                                "THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE."  - John 8:32

The family is the foundation of society...

"As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live."     - Blessed Pope John Paul II 

	Today's Second Reading from the Office of Readings shows us the faith and strength in Christ of our beloved Japanese martyrs in the 16th Century: From an account of the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his companions, by a contemporary writer

You shall be my witnesses

      The crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behaviour was wonderful to see. The Father Bursar stood motionless, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin gave thanks to God’s goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated: “Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life.” Brother Francis Branco also thanked God in a loud voice. Brother Gonsalvo in a very loud voice kept saying the Our Father and Hail Mary.

  Our brother, Paul Miki, saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled. To his “congregation” he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his “sermon” with these words: “As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I am sure none of you would suppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.”

  Then he looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their final struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces, and in Louis’ most of all. When a Christian in the crowd cried out to him that he would soon be in heaven, his hands, his whole body strained upward with such joy that every eye was fixed on him.

  Anthony, hanging at Louis’ side, looked toward heaven and called upon the holy names – “Jesus, Mary!” He began to sing a psalm: “Praise the Lord, you children!” (He learned it in catechism class in Nagasaki. They take care there to teach the children some psalms to help them learn their catechism).

  Others kept repeating “Jesus, Mary!” Their faces were serene. Some of them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christian lives. In these and other ways they showed their readiness to die.

  Then, according to Japanese custom, the four executioners began to unsheathe their spears. At this dreadful sight, all the Christians cried out, “Jesus, Mary!” And the storm of anguished weeping then rose to batter the very skies. The executioners killed them one by one. One thrust of the spear, then a second blow. It was over in a very short time.

Beautiful reminders from our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict during his Wednesday audience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqVF34S-hVg&list=UU7E-LYc1wivk33iyt5bR5zQ&index=2

What this blog is about...

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that "Love is willing the good of the other as other." We live in a world that has seen a never-ending increase in suffering and despair. I believe with all of my soul that this is a direct effect of original sin and the ripples that it sends down through the times across every patch of earth inhabited by human beings.

But there is hope. God Himself comes to us as one of us to show the original design. We chose disobedience - Christ chose obedience to his Father and he chose to show us the face of love. Love can heal the broken world, but love is not a feeling. Love is an act of the will - choosing to "will the good" of everyone we encounter not because of what we can get out of it, or because it feels good or because we want them to treat us well. That is not, primarily, love at all. That's a form of selfishness... it is pride. I know it all too well, and I myself am on an ongoing journey with Christ toward a complete "metanoia" - back to the Author's original design for Mike.

On this little corner of the world-wide-web, I merely hope to share occasional insights, resources I've discovered that I'd like to share with you, and to connect with a world so desperately in need of the truth. Love is the key - but we must all take on the adventure of exploring real love each day - its nature, its demands of each one of us, and its power to transform the world. For, after all, God is love (1 John 4:8).

A whole new day...

Well folks, here we go.  I'm testing out this whole "BLOG" phenomenon... World, are you ready yet?