Fr. Ioannes Petrus

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

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

To Love Fasting

DVRodriguez2021-03-30T07:22:20-04:00

When it comes to fasting, one’s internal disposition is of key importance. Let us therefore keep its benefits in mind. By fasting we obey God and please Him. This penance, greatly advocated in Scripture, gains the forgiveness of sins and averts divine punishment. Fasting is cleansing, lends clarity to the mind, and bridles the tongue. It disciplines us to say no to our self-will. Fasting helps us avoid sin and strengthens us against the devil’s temptations. It even prepares us to fulfill our vocation and enables us to help other members of the Mystical Body of Christ. So pray to love [...]

To Love FastingDVRodriguez2021-03-30T07:22:20-04:00

Active Love is a Harsh and Fearful Thing

wpengine2021-01-26T08:04:54-05:00

At Christmas, we celebrate how God became man so that man might become god. The serpent tempted Eve with this good. Fallen man still wants to make himself god without God-made-man, without His Church, without Christmas. Yet to enter into Heaven, we can't bypass Christmas and the Mystery of Christ's Incarnate Love. So many think that they have the right answer (idealists). Clinging to this "love in dreams," man actually carves out a pit into which he falls once reality sets in. Active love is a hash and fearful thing as compared to love in dreams. One must humble himself, stop [...]

Active Love is a Harsh and Fearful Thingwpengine2021-01-26T08:04:54-05:00

Fatherhood Patriotism and Voting

DVRodriguez2024-10-27T17:20:33-04:00

Good fathers are always needed to lead families and nations. Many old nations have saintly men as 'founding fathers.' The word patriotism patria, Latin for [love of] one's fatherland. We certainly live in confusing times. A revolution is underway. We are not called to 'choose a lesser to two evils' for one can never choose evil. Rather, we are called to choose in favor of life and of limiting evil as much as possible. This indeed is a good we can choose. Voting done well is indeed a virtuous act of legal justice and of true patriotism. Exercising one’s right to [...]

Fatherhood Patriotism and VotingDVRodriguez2024-10-27T17:20:33-04:00