Holy Ghost

Two Ways to Grow in Your Love for Jesus

DVRodriguez2021-01-25T06:15:36-05:00

Christmas brings new grace, specifically to love Jesus more and to adore Him more faithfully. We cannot live this reality without the help of the Holy Ghost. All the Saints had an immense love for and trust in the Name of Jesus. Therein they saw all His love, all His power, all He said and did while on earth. Two practical recommendations: [1] Invoke His Holy Name to overcome a specific sin you continue to struggle with — for only Jesus has the power to overcome sin. Children struggle with disobedience to parents, spouses repeatedly hurt each other, and everyone has habitual [...]

Two Ways to Grow in Your Love for JesusDVRodriguez2021-01-25T06:15:36-05:00

Six Means of Preserving Gods Grace

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:49-05:00

God wishes all men to be saved. Thus, He provides all the graces necessary for our salvation (this is infallible). However, man also has to cooperate with God's grace (this is often forgotten, unsaid, or not emphasized). St. Alphonsus Liguori, the great moral doctor of the Church, teaches there are six means of preserving God's grace: [1] Flee from occasions of sin; [2] Mental prayer; [3] Frequenting the Sacraments; [4] Hearing Mass; [5] Visiting the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin; [6] Prayer. He guarantees that the one who lives by them faithfully will be saved. This sermon includes a brief biographical sketch of St. Alphonsus and his prayer to [...]

Six Means of Preserving Gods GraceDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:49-05:00

This Too Shall Pass

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:49-05:00

To be led by the Holy Ghost, you must repeatedly ask for His help. Come Holy Ghost! Enlighten my mind. Strengthen my will. Inflame my heart. The Holy Ghost is opposed by a three-fold source of evil: the devil, the world and the flesh. These spiritual enemies lead men's minds into error and enslave their wills to vice. On account of our fallen nature, our wills are weak and our hearts are selfish and self-seeking. We must take this seriously! To love in a proper and self-sacrificial way, we need the light and strength that comes from God. Pray especially for [...]

This Too Shall PassDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:49-05:00

Religion and Piety

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

We must ask the Holy Ghost for His light to enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills and inflame our hearts. Without the Holy Ghost we cannot love rightly (our love is self-centered, self-seeking and weak). In order to bring forth any good fruit, we need the Holy Ghost. Pray for an increase in the virtue of religion (i.e. rendering due honor and glory to God). Pray too for the corresponding virtue of piety (an interior disposition by which we truly love God as our Father). By religion we carry out our duties to God in an exterior way. This is certainly important and necessary. Yet [...]

Religion and PietyDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

St Vladimir the Great

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Before the coming of the Holy Ghost, the world was full of idolatry, superstition, tyranny, oppression and revolting practices. The poor and suffering were uncared for. Half the world was enslaved. Yet the Holy Ghost renewed the face of the earth! Civilization flourished and the world became a far better place, filled with truth and compassion. By way of example, we can look to Prince Vladimir of Kiev (+1015). He was a cruel, vice-ridden leader who even offered human sacrifice. Then he was baptized, married a Christian princess, destroyed idols, brought his nation to Christianity, and became a saint. Sadly in today's [...]

St Vladimir the GreatDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

We Desperately Need Fortitude

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Fortitude is the gift of the Holy Ghost that strengthens our will to banish all timidity and human respect; it strengthens the soul to hate sin, to practice virtue, and to prefer contempt, temporal loss, persecution, and even death, rather than to deny Christ by word or deed. By this gift, we are empowered to fight and overcome the enemies of our salvation. Fortitude enables us to fulfill the will of God in the midst of temptations, difficulties, and persecutions. It makes us ready and courageous to undertake the greatest sacrifices for our salvation. Today, we need to grow in fortitude! [...]

We Desperately Need FortitudeDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Recover the Majesty of God

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Christ our Savior made a great sacrifice to which all are invited. But many make excuses, having more 'important' things to do. Consider our situation today. So many have 'Covid related excuses' for canceling or missing Mass. God desires us to give Him glory and make Him first in our life. The most important way we do this is by uniting ourselves to the glory that only Christ can give God, and that is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If the Mass is set aside, it is impossible to give just and due glory to God! Yet we are 'too [...]

Recover the Majesty of GodDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Mary Spouse of the Holy Ghost

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Many saints have pondered the infinite fertility of the Most Blessed Trinity. The Heavenly Father eternally begets the Divine Son. From the infinite love of these Two Divine Persons eternally proceeds the Holy Ghost. Yet the Third Person does not bring forth another Divine Person. Rather, He is fruitful through His union with Holy Mary. Together they brought forth the Incarnate Christ. In each Christian they bring forth "another Christ." Thus, the Church is the continuation of the mission of the Incarnate Son of God; what Jesus is by nature, we become by grace. We could say Mary is the mold of God [...]

Mary Spouse of the Holy GhostDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Hold Fast to Tradition

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Over the last few months, everything has appeared in a state of fluidity and uncertainty. Random protocols are made and revised, often making little sense. Those who favor the destruction of God's order, such as communists, thrive by promoting conflict and revolution. They leave men's souls in troubled unrest. The Holy Ghost, on the other hand, provides peace amidst trials and tribulations. Whereas fallen man, spurred by the spirit of evil, entrenches himself in error and sin on account of stiff-necked pride, the Spirit of God leads man to an immobility in divine Wisdom beyond his nature. Through Him, the Christian is unflinching in [...]

Hold Fast to TraditionDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Extinguish Not the Spirit

DVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

Frequently invoke the Holy Ghost, imploring Him to enlighten your mind, inflame your heart, and strengthen your will. He is the never ceasing font of truth, love and grace. He is the Author of all supernatural gifts and nothing good begins without His help. Now there is a tremendous battle going on between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world, of the flesh, and of the devil. The spirits contrary to God must be cast out if the Holy Ghost is to abide in us. One who saturates himself with these evil spirits extinguishes the Holy Ghost from his [...]

Extinguish Not the SpiritDVRodriguez2020-11-13T21:49:50-05:00

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