Homepage

Pray to Accept and Love the Cross

DVRodriguez2021-03-16T13:03:11-04:00

Without the Cross, there is no growth in holiness. If we eliminate the Cross, we eliminate Christ. The sign of the Cross is a most terrible weapon against the devil. And yet the Cross remains a scandal and stumbling block - even for very devout Catholics. In theory, we praise it; but in practice, we lose courage, complain, and run away as soon as the possibility of suffering arises (just think how Mass and the public practice of our faith have recently been cancelled). The Cross is precious because: [1] It make us resemble Christ. [2] When well carried, it is [...]

Pray to Accept and Love the CrossDVRodriguez2021-03-16T13:03:11-04:00

Crux Fidelis

DVRodriguez2021-03-16T10:13:47-04:00

The Cross has has the power to convert and sanctify, even the most hardened sinners. Lent brings the Cross before us in a more spiritually intense way. Consider the Good Friday Liturgy as a powerful example. Jesus prays and fasts in the desert for forty days and endures temptation, especially to prepare Himself for His passion and death on the Cross. Should not we catholics do the same? Do your best this Lent to grow in devotion for the Cross. Prayer, fasting, and alms giving are the means to detach us from sin, the world, selfishness and attach us profoundly to [...]

Crux FidelisDVRodriguez2021-03-16T10:13:47-04:00

Requiem for Francelia

DVRodriguez2021-03-05T06:33:58-05:00

Only one things is necessary, the salvation of our soul. Baptism is necessary to enter a state of grace, but we must die in a state of grace. The sad reality is that today there are many problems in our beloved Church and the path to salvation has been greatly obscured. I encourage you to: [1] Pray for the eternal rest of Francelia. [2] Give thanks to God. All too often man is tempted to question God, especially when confronting death. [3] Take to heart the example Francelia gave of working for the salvation of her soul, by loving God above [...]

Requiem for FranceliaDVRodriguez2021-03-05T06:33:58-05:00

Three Pillars of Penance

DVRodriguez2021-02-27T06:38:57-05:00

Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are at the very foundation of our spiritual life as Catholics. We must practice them in order to grow in God’s grace. All three require a profound interior disposition. Prayer grows our love for God, almsgiving increases our love of neighbor and detachment from the world, and fasting requires our death to self. These pillars of penance are the most important ways to store up treasures in Heaven and combat the obstacles to receiving God’s grace. This Lent, I exhort you to pray the Rosary more devoutly, meditate upon the Stations of the Cross, grow in your [...]

Three Pillars of PenanceDVRodriguez2021-02-27T06:38:57-05:00

Immensity of Gods Infinite Goodness

DVRodriguez2021-02-27T06:27:11-05:00

God, and His infinite perfections, is always the starting point of our religion. For example, He always teaches us the truth. His patience and kindness is unfathomable. God bestows His graces so liberally; yet man remains terribly unappreciative. God is disposed to give us whatever we need, if we but turn to Him with faith. The more we become aware of how good God is, the more our hearts shall be inflamed with love for Him. So what are the obstacles to God’s word and grace taking root in our hearts? The devil. The weakness of our mind, heart, and will. [...]

Immensity of Gods Infinite GoodnessDVRodriguez2021-02-27T06:27:11-05:00

The Rematch

DVRodriguez2021-02-27T07:26:00-05:00

Our Lord is driven into the desert by the Holy Ghost to pray, to fast, and to train for upcoming demonic temptations. The desert is a harsh environment for man, but Christ thrives therein. He embraces forty days and forty nights of complete fast in order to reverse the defeat of Adam in the Garden. Christ calls out the devil for a rematch. Adam lost in the early rounds and satan sought to defeat this New Adam with the exact same tactics. He attacks the lower appetites, then tries for vainglory, and finally the pride of life (which caused his own [...]

The RematchDVRodriguez2021-02-27T07:26:00-05:00

God Loves the Cheerful Alms Giver

DVRodriguez2021-03-02T04:53:28-05:00

A perfect Lent requires prayer, fasting and giving alms. Our Lady at Lourdes and the Angel at Fatima insisted upon a three-fold ‘Penance! Penance! Penance!’ The Archangel Raphael reminds Tobias, “Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up treasures of gold: For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting” (12:8-9). The world undergoes terrible temptations towards materialism. In fact, the grave crisis we face is due in no small part to men failing to piously use their wealth to combat evil and support [...]

God Loves the Cheerful Alms GiverDVRodriguez2021-03-02T04:53:28-05:00

The Mass Must Instill Deep Reverence for God

DVRodriguez2021-02-17T17:53:39-05:00

The foundation of the Catholic Religion is a very deep reverence for the supreme majesty of the true God. As Catholics, we must be filled with this reverence. At the start of the year, leading into Lent, the Church presents us with examples par excellence of those who rightly adore Jesus as our God and King. More than anything else, it is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which imbues this profound reverence for God within us. And a lack of this reverence lies at the root of the grave crisis in the Church, in families, and in society. Insufficient reverence [...]

The Mass Must Instill Deep Reverence for GodDVRodriguez2021-02-17T17:53:39-05:00

Lenten Spirituality of St Francis de Paola

DVRodriguez2021-02-16T07:37:37-05:00

St Francis Paola (1416-1507), an extraordinary miracle worker, founded an order of Franciscan hermits: The Minims. They were to be ‘minimal’ in their possessions and diet and in the eyes of the world. They also took a fourth vow: to perpetually live in accordance with the Church’s ancient Lenten discipline. Theirs was a lifelong fast and abstinence from meat and all animal products. St. Francis required this rigor as a heroic act of mortification and to make reparation for the laxity that had entered into Christians’ lenten practices — in the 15th century! He knew that any austerity can be embraced [...]

Lenten Spirituality of St Francis de PaolaDVRodriguez2021-02-16T07:37:37-05:00

Love Your Cross

DVRodriguez2021-02-15T06:36:45-05:00

What if this was your last Lent? It may be, so make it count! Love Lent and deepen your appreciation for it. Lent is a time to practice loving God more than self; a time to place neighbor before self; a time to love soul more than body. Man has the ability to merit by his sufferings because he has a body. Thus, Lent is a time to voluntarily embrace all our crosses, that we not be caught off guard by anything the world, flesh and the devil might throw in our path. If we flee from the cross, then we [...]

Love Your CrossDVRodriguez2021-02-15T06:36:45-05:00