Penance

Constantly Called to Faith

DVRodriguez2024-03-23T08:02:26-04:00

You that have been in sorrow, exult! These are words a soul hears upon entering Heaven. The only thing that truly matters is that you save your soul. Faith and humility are necessary to save your soul. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the best spiritual weapons to fight against sin and to be receptive to grace. He who does not employ these arms will surely be lost. Do not receive God's grace in vain! Make good use of it to get to Heaven.

Constantly Called to FaithDVRodriguez2024-03-23T08:02:26-04:00

Purpose of Lent and Ashes

DVRodriguez2024-03-07T17:36:17-05:00

Four Short Daily Sermons from the Start of Lent Ashes remind us that we will die. Lent is a time to do penance that purifies us and brings us into closer union with God. It is a privileged time of grace when we must hear and heed the divine call to works of mercy.

Purpose of Lent and AshesDVRodriguez2024-03-07T17:36:17-05:00

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

Lord That I May See

DVRodriguez2023-03-25T08:24:20-04:00

Every single one of us (to varying degrees) is spiritually blind. We don't recognize the goodness and greatness of God. We are oblivious to the evil and horror of our sin. In daily life we ignore our eternal end. We are blind because we are worldly and the spirit of the world will never let us see. The capital sins enslave us. We fail to see our desperate need to convert. Reflect on this and take it seriously. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – true penance – are needed. Pray: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Lord, grant that I [...]

Lord That I May SeeDVRodriguez2023-03-25T08:24:20-04:00

Christmas and the Judgment

DVRodriguez2022-11-30T06:02:25-05:00

The Coming of the Lord is the great Mystery with which the Church year begins (and ends). Why does Jesus come? [1] To save your soul. [2] To judge your soul. We must see it as something very personal – as “Jesus and You.” God is giving you this year to prepare for your death and judgement, that you may avoid hell and gain Heaven. Consider Christmas in the light of salvation and of faith – not in a worldly way. Recommendations for Advent include prayer (e.g. the Christmas Novena), penance, and especially detachment.

Christmas and the JudgmentDVRodriguez2022-11-30T06:02:25-05:00

St Martin of Tours

DVRodriguez2021-11-20T13:28:06-05:00

Holiness consists in following and imitating Christ and His saints. Consider the life of St. Martin of Tours, a great bishop and confessor. Though born of pagan parents, he had a burning charity for Christ. He destroyed many pagan temples, converted many, and opposed heresies. He built many churches and insisted the faithful act reverently therein. St. Martin performed many miracles, even raising the dead. He practiced intense mortification and is a founder of Western Monasticism. Christian Europe held great celebrations on his feast (Martinmas) and the penitential aspect of Advent traces its origins to St Marin's Lent. May his life [...]

St Martin of ToursDVRodriguez2021-11-20T13:28:06-05:00

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

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

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