The testimony of St. John the Baptist fulfills the prophecies and confirms that the Messiah has come. The religious authorities want to ascertain his identity. Is he the Christ, Elias, the Prophet? He does not deny his identity or dissimulate. He is the voice crying in the wilderness. Each one of us can only know our true identity in Christ. It is only by God’s grace and favor (baptism) that we are children of God.
We are to walk in love, with the charity of God in our soul. This begins by God giving us His sanctifying grace so that we are lovable and have the ability to love Him in return. That grace is meant to increase until we die. Yet we often forget how necessary it is to show this love of God every day and abide always in a state of grace. Our soul is divided, wanting things of this world. We become complacent falling into a state of sin and then returning to a state of grace. Let not your soul become [...]
Christ intentionally set up His Church with three parts to mirror the Blessed Trinity. Likewise, Our Lady’s Rosary has three sets of mysteries. Sadly, the majority of Catholics no longer have true faith in the Mystery of the Church. For example, they think the Mass has only to do with them. They forget, that the Mass is also offered for the Church Suffering. Many also forget that the Four Last things are the inescapable destiny of every single human being.
Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days. We follow His example in order to break the hold that the world has on us. We will be tempted, especially by our flesh. We must shut this down right away and not attempt to dialogue with the temptation. We must also not tempt God by trying to force His help with imprudent penances. Not should we impose lenten menaces upon another. Remain humble because pride goeth before the fall. Take one day of lenten penance at a time. Don’t beat yourself up if you fail. Instead ask God for help and keep [...]
God become man to save souls and destroy the works of the devil. In the Gospels, Christ works many healings but only sends cleansed lepers to the priests. The Old Testament priests can’t cure or forgive, merely declare the truth of a matter. The Old Law has no grace, it can merely identify sin. Leprosy represents sin which keeps us out of the community. There are sins of malice, of weakness, of passion and of ignorance. Christ is the one who forgives sins and He gives this power to His priests. All He requires is that we have contrition and confess.
A simple way of thinking about Conversion is doing something good for the love of Jesus, that you have not done in the past, and offering it to Him as a gift. Ask yourself “What do I do for the love of Jesus?” The Holy Family provides the perfect model for each of us. Strive to imitate them. It is never easy to make true and lasting changes in our life. It is impossible without God’s grace. Confession is indispensable for conversion. The Sacrament has five necessary steps; work at doing all five well.
The Feast of the Divine maternity of Our Lady is Her fundamental mystery. She derives a certain infinite dignity from it. It makes her greater than all the angels. By it she has the greatest holiness and purity. Whatever privilege of grace any saint has been given, she is given in even greater abundance. At the Annunciation and on Calvary, she became the mother of our soul and our salvation. Her apparition at Guadalupe beautifully highlights her maternity. So as we pray her Rosary, let us truly meditate upon the mysteries so as to pray it with greater efficacy.
The prayer from the sermon given on the First Sunday of Lent in 2018 My crucified Love, my dear Jesus! I believe in Thee, and confess Thee to be the true Son of God and my Savior. I adore Thee from the abyss of my own nothingness, and I thank Thee for the death Thou didst suffer for me, that I might obtain the life of divine grace. My beloved Redeemer, to Thee I owe all my salvation. If I have not loved Thee in times past, I love Thee now; and I desire nothing but to love Thee with all my heart. But without [...]
In calling ‘Son of David!” the blind man acknowledges Jesus is the Messiah. In begging for mercy, he professes Jesus is God. The crowd -symbolic of our sins– rebukes the blind man because it lacks faith. The crowd is just a noisy gong; a tactic of the devil. The blind man calls out because he has hope. His desire for the Messiah proves his charity. Jesus hears him above the tumult and works a miracle. The healed man now follows Jesus. Pray, that you too will have faith by hearing, cry for mercy above your sins, and then follow Christ in [...]
Holy Mother Church calls us to see this holy season of Lent with the grace of sight. ‘To do battle’ is the spirit of Lent. We must weaken our body by mortification because that weakens the passions which lead us to sin. We must do penance because that makes up for our sins. Every sin weakens our will to live a good Catholic life; every penance strengthens that will. Making peace with our sins is not a Catholic life, so give up something that hurts. (If we are not suffering, something is wrong with our Lent). Give up the electronics, the [...]
