31 Lent 1st Sunday

We Have to Persevere

DVRodriguez2025-03-24T17:47:06-04:00

God calls us to conversion (a change of heart, intellect, and will). This conversion is not easy. We absolutely need God’s grace. One also needs to have faith and to do penance (prayer, fasting, almsgiving). All this comes from grace; so one must ask for these graces and continue to ask. The great and mysterious work of the Holy Ghost is to sanctify men’s souls via divine grace. He shows us what is good and virtuous. He strengthens us to do the good and avoid evil. Don’t let up asking for His help during Lent!

We Have to PersevereDVRodriguez2025-03-24T17:47:06-04:00

Our Lady of Sorrows and the Passion – Prayer

DVR Fatima2025-03-12T11:18:24-04:00

The prayer from the sermon 'Crux Fidelis' given on February 21, 2021 Holy Mary, Mother of sorrows, whose heart was pierced with a fresh sword of grief at every Station on the Way of the Cross, obtain for us, we beseech thee, O most loving Mother, a perpetual remembrance of our Blessed Savior’s cross and death, and a true and tender devotion to all the mysteries of His most holy Passion.Obtain for us the grace to hate sin, even as He hated it in the Agony of the Garden; to endure wrong and insult with all patience, as He endured them [...]

Our Lady of Sorrows and the Passion – PrayerDVR Fatima2025-03-12T11:18:24-04:00

Warfare is in Temptation

DVRodriguez2025-03-11T20:56:01-04:00

The Spirit leads Jesus into the desert to be tempted. The devil always attacks us at our weakest point, where we lack support. He tempts our Lord to satisfy his natural (bodily) needs with illegitimate means. The context of Jesus' scriptural rebuttal is the manna from Exodus, and hence highly Eucharistic. The devil then tempts Jesus with pride and avarice. satan wants to be worshiped as if he were God. This is the root of temptation, by which our first parents fell, the desire to "be like God." Yet Jesus strongly rebukes satan him for violating God's honor. Man should only [...]

Warfare is in TemptationDVRodriguez2025-03-11T20:56:01-04:00

Special Lenten Graces

DVRodriguez2024-03-13T06:12:34-04:00

Lent [1] makes us aware of our obligation to do penance throughout our lives, [2] calls us to imitate Our Lord's fast, and [3] prepares us to celebrate Easter in a holy and worthy manner. God makes special graces available during Lent, including the grace of conversion. So do not live this season as it were just any other time. Look to the example of St. Francis of Assisi and contemplate divine realities. During Lent – by means of prayer, fasting and almsgiving – focus on the importance of grace, sin, and eternity. If you do not use these means to [...]

Special Lenten GracesDVRodriguez2024-03-13T06:12:34-04:00

Fasting and Prayer Dispel Spiritual Blindness

DVRodriguez2023-04-05T10:15:04-04:00

In today's Gospel, Jesus Himself teaches us how to see supernatural realities (the value of grace, of union with God). Satan works to tempt him in worldly ways. Take to heart the importance of prayer and fasting. Without these, we are guaranteed to lose the spiritual battle. Make efforts to grow in your prayer repertoire and to pray with a pure heart. Fasting is urgently needed to do necessary penance and to recover our Catholic Faith. Write down your Lenten plan for accountability!

Fasting and Prayer Dispel Spiritual BlindnessDVRodriguez2023-04-05T10:15:04-04:00

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

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

Get Serious About Your Salvation

DVRodriguez2020-03-07T05:48:24-05:00

Behold now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation! We exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain! God offers so many graces, always to either move us into a state of grace or to increase the grace we already have. The state of your soul - your salvation - is supremely important to Him; it must be for you too! If you faithfully reflect upon death, you will get more serious about your salvation. All of must die and leave everything behind. An eternity awaits each of us - an eternity of unspeakable happiness and delight or an eternity [...]

Get Serious About Your SalvationDVRodriguez2020-03-07T05:48:24-05:00

We Must Conquer Temptation

DVRodriguez2020-03-07T05:44:24-05:00

If you are already struggling this Lent - that is good! If its going along with ease, you probably aren't doing the penances you need. Lent is a time to fight temptation. God permits temptations to enable us to grow in virtue and holiness. The Devil's ultimate temptation against Christ was to come down from the Cross. This lies at the root of every temptation - to flee from the Cross. This is because it is through the Cross that God chooses to conquer. Christ allowed Himself to be tempted to: [1] Undo them temptation of our first parents; [2] Strengthen us against temptation; [...]

We Must Conquer TemptationDVRodriguez2020-03-07T05:44:24-05:00

Fasting in Spiritual Combat

wpengine2025-03-10T09:53:16-04:00

Fasting in Spiritual Combatwpengine2025-03-10T09:53:16-04:00