"I have loved you with an everlasting love...And I know the plans I have for you says the Lord"
Jeremiah:29-31
The Leaven of Grace
Grace is a principle of life. Final glorification has flowed from the love of the Father and has been bestowed upon the baptized by the Holy Spirit. The person has been sealed by the indwelling of the Spirit who now gives the baptized a new direction and a new mind, the “mind which is in Christ Jesus.” The Holy Eucharist is precisely this new mind. Jesus said, I am the living Bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this Bread he shall live forever, and the Bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. In the Eucharist is realized the whole essence and meaning of creation, of the redemption and of the return to the Father. Here is realized the whole essence of Christianity: “God is made Man in order that man might become God.” This means that the kernel of our spiritual life shines forth in this most intimate reunion with God. “Man becomes by grace what God is by nature.” This is what we mean, as I’ve stated several times, by man’s deification or his theosis. It is indeed the divinization of the whole human being and the realization of immortality that God grants us in the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ…. Because of this union with Christ the Christian becomes fully alive with the Holy Spirit, and with the infinite power of the Love that breathes life wherever it enters. The measure of our communication in this Life is the measure of our possession of it. The Christian now knows with certainty that the anointing of the Good News of Christ cannot be done by words alone. Verbalization about his faith will not convince anyone. His faith is a life. Life must be lived, and its radiation gives life. The sign of credibility, especially in our own days, can only be acts which are not done simply to project some kind of good image, but which proceed from an interior conviction which inspires heroism in the service of others. Holy Communion, which is Christ himself—living, teaching, inspiring—becomes this fire which sustains the Christian in such a life. Archbishop Joseph M. Raya Jesus and Mary
O most compassionate heart of Jesus, accept all my tears, every cry of pain as an entreaty for those who suffer, for those who weep; for those who forget you. O Mary, Mother of sorrows, at the foot of the cross you received the title of “Our Mother.” I am the child of your sorrow, the child of Calvary. My Jesus, I suffer and I love you. All my cries of anguish rise to you, my Comforter. In your adorable heart I weep. To your heart I confide my sighs, my anguish, my grief to your grief. My Jesus, sanctify my sufferings by this holy union. Grant that by increasing my love for you, my grief may become lighter and easier to bear. My divine spouse has drawn me to a humble and hidden life and he often tells me that my heart will not stop beating until I have sacrificed all to him. To help me decide, he often reminds me that at the hour of death I shall have no other comforter than Jesus, and Jesus crucified. He alone, faithful friend, shall I carry, to my grave between my icy, cold fingers…. O Jesus, give me, I beg you, the bread of humility, the bread of obedience, the bread of charity, the bread of strength to break my will and to mold it in yours, the bread of interior mortification, the bread of detachment from creatures, the bread of patience to bear the sufferings my heart endures. O Jesus, you want me to be crucified, fiat. The bread of strength to suffer as I ought, the bread of seeing you alone in all things and at all times, Jesus, Mary, the Cross, I want no other friends but these. Saint Bernadette Soubirous Asking Jesus to Lay His Merciful Hands on Us
Our faith does not consist in conquering weakness but in clinging in the midst of suffering to the will of him who suffers out of love for us. We must correct the habit of looking at our dark side instead of the transfiguring light of the Son who can change our dust into pure gold. We too often stop to examine ourselves instead of plunging ourselves into the purifying furnace of the Sacred Heart, which is open to us with a single act of confidence in his love. We believe all too easily in our wretchedness, but not enough in his merciful love. We have to learn how to take advantage of our littleness and failures, our incapacities, even our sins, and to transform them into reasons for trusting. If we can learn how to transpose such things into bold self-abandonment, then for us—as for the good thief, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, all the poor, weak, and sinful—the impossible becomes possible. It is trust and confidence that make what seemed so far away suddenly come within reach. It is trust and confidence that liberate the mercy of God, while a lack of faith constrains it. Our weakness attracts God because it offers him an emptiness that he can fill. Weakness brought in confidence before God becomes, in a sense, the promise of God’s intervention. We must have confidence, not in spite of our weakness but because of it—misery attracts mercy. No matter how deep the abyss of our misery, it cannot be an obstacle to God’s action. Sanctity, says Saint Thérèse, does not consist in this or that practice but in a disposition of the heart which makes us little and humble in God’s arms. Sister Mary David Totah Happy Feast of the Assumption!
Mary’s Assumption into heaven is a reminder that our faith cannot be separated from our experience as embodied persons in the world. If like Mary, we can reflect God’s holiness in our day-to-day lives, we will also conquer death through God's grace and be raised, body and soul, to the glory of heaven. On this feast of the Assumption, may we follow Mary’s example by reflecting God’s holiness in body and soul! |
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I'm not really a writer, but it's on my long list of aspirations to become one. The first on the list is to become a great Saint! My hope is to share knowledge and inspiration as we walk together during our pilgrim journey on earth and guide each other, hand in hand to the gates of Heaven... If you for find this website helpful please consider making a donation today! Archives
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