THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL
If we are really Christians, then Christ is the center of our lives. He is not just that figure who lived in Palestine some 2000 years ago, who went about doing good and who eventually died on a cross for us. So too, he is not simply God, reigning with the Father and Spirit in Heaven. Jesus Christ is the Risen Lord, one like ourselves who, by his resurrection, has given us spiritual life while saving us from our sins. We recognize him and worship him as God-made-man.
In the Mass, in our other prayers, we usually end by saying "through Christ our Lord." That is how we are to approach the Father. All true spirituality is based on Christ's mediation with the Father, and can be nourished and deepened only by effective contact with Christ's redeeming acts. The best way of doing that is in the Mass.
"Trough Christ to the Father." This saying is as old as Christianity itself, and so we can unite with the Church of past years and of the future by acknowledging Christ as the Lord God, through whom we go to the Father.
This is the good news we are asked to preach daily, at home, at work, at play, at rest. The Risen Christ is our head, the head of the Mystical Body which is the Church. The Church proclaims that the Resurrection is the most important event in all history - everything else is centered on it, whether some like it or not.
Christ is the very center of all life, because he is Life Himself. So let's make sure that every day we have the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ uppermost in our minds. Christ is glorified indeed, as God-man, and he continues to intercede for you and me.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
A daily examination of conscience is a valuable means to holiness. The daily examen was introduced to the Christian world by the Desert Fathers many centuries ago. As a Redemptorist, I must model myself on the Holy Redeemer. I have to challenge myself, and ask what makes me more like Christ each day. What mars the likeness of Christ in me? I have to erase the blemishes, and smooth out the roughness, and that is best done on a daily basis. NOW is always the best time to put on Christ. Why wait, why get lazy, why be indifferent to the Lord?
I have to recognize that I cannot get from sinner to saint overnight. It's a gradual process. It's a daily task.
Every night, my examination of conscience leads me to confess my sins. But what leads me to sin? I have to be aware of my faults and weaknesses surrounding my sins. These faults can be reduced to pride, sensuality and sloth.
These are the roots of my sins, and I must not be content with just cutting down the weeks. I have to pull up the roots. Weeds do not grow easily or quickly once the root has been removed from the ground. So I have to root out any and all vices, and plant in their stead the seeds of virtues.
I have to put on the humility of Christ. I have to strive after the charity of Christ. I have to be generous in my self-giving to others. The more virtuous I strive to be, the more quickly my faults will disappear. So, every day, asking the Holy Spirit for the grace to see what progress or regression I have made since yesterday, helps me shape my whole life. I should be quick with sorrow and repentance for any sins, and quick to thank the Lord for any progress.
May the Holy Redeemer lead me, and may his blessed Mother be ever ready to intercede for me.
A daily examination of conscience is a valuable means to holiness. The daily examen was introduced to the Christian world by the Desert Fathers many centuries ago. As a Redemptorist, I must model myself on the Holy Redeemer. I have to challenge myself, and ask what makes me more like Christ each day. What mars the likeness of Christ in me? I have to erase the blemishes, and smooth out the roughness, and that is best done on a daily basis. NOW is always the best time to put on Christ. Why wait, why get lazy, why be indifferent to the Lord?
I have to recognize that I cannot get from sinner to saint overnight. It's a gradual process. It's a daily task.
Every night, my examination of conscience leads me to confess my sins. But what leads me to sin? I have to be aware of my faults and weaknesses surrounding my sins. These faults can be reduced to pride, sensuality and sloth.
These are the roots of my sins, and I must not be content with just cutting down the weeks. I have to pull up the roots. Weeds do not grow easily or quickly once the root has been removed from the ground. So I have to root out any and all vices, and plant in their stead the seeds of virtues.
I have to put on the humility of Christ. I have to strive after the charity of Christ. I have to be generous in my self-giving to others. The more virtuous I strive to be, the more quickly my faults will disappear. So, every day, asking the Holy Spirit for the grace to see what progress or regression I have made since yesterday, helps me shape my whole life. I should be quick with sorrow and repentance for any sins, and quick to thank the Lord for any progress.
May the Holy Redeemer lead me, and may his blessed Mother be ever ready to intercede for me.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
KING HEROD
Herod rejected the warnings of John the Baptist, and so abused a special grace from God. Am I sometimes guilty of abusing precious graces? We sometimes think of Herod as totally depraved, yet it appears this man had inspiration for better things. He had flouted the law in his attempted marriage, and John appeared on the scene and told him so. Herod was shaken by John's warning, and we know he had great respect for the Baptist. In King Herod, there was a daily struggle between grace and sin. But, sadly, passion won the day and he ended by ordering the beheading of John.
Herod is a sad example of a man sinking to the depths of hell, having abused his gift of grace.
All of us receive special graces, and no grace of God stands alone; each grace is a link in a chain. If I correspond with one special grace I receive another, and make daily progress in the way that leads to God. But if I break the chain of grace, I end up in spiritual stagnation, in sin. So, let us all be open to God's grace and be inspired to live our vocations to the full. Let us pray for those who have lost their way. May our example and our intercession help them turn to their God.
Jesus was silent before Herod. He may become silent before me if I reject his grace and inspirations. When the Lord appeared before Herod, the Gospel tells us the latter was glad to see Jesus because he hoped to see some sign wrought by him. Herod didn't hope for any spiritual benefit, he just hoped to satisfy vain curiosity. He asked Jesus many questions, but the Lord did not answer him. Why did Jesus refuse to speak to Herod? After all, he spoke to Pilate, he spoke to Caiphas, he even pleaded with Judas.
The answer is because the conscience of Herod was dead. He had been deaf to the voice of God speaking through John the Baptist. He had rejected too many inspirations of grace. It is truly terrifying to think of the silence of Jesus before a hardened soul. Pray we never get like that! Do you know people who have completely hardened their hearts towards God?
There are some souls called to perfection with whom Jesus also becomes silent. Time and again, Jesus has spoken to these people, he has showered his graces upon them, urging them to make the sacrifice, to break with some human attachment, to rid themselves of some persistent fault, to turn from sin. But they persist in turning a deaf ear to his voice, and so the Lord's voice becomes less and less audible. Eventually, there is silence. They have proved themselves unworthy of God's grace and inspiration. They need our prayers.
Please God, never let me live in silence. Speak to me daily. Lord, let me be filled once again with a spirit of generosity, with your grace. Speak to me loudly and clearly. Please deliver me from selfishness and a neglect of your inspiring graces.
May Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help, intercede for us. Amen.
Herod rejected the warnings of John the Baptist, and so abused a special grace from God. Am I sometimes guilty of abusing precious graces? We sometimes think of Herod as totally depraved, yet it appears this man had inspiration for better things. He had flouted the law in his attempted marriage, and John appeared on the scene and told him so. Herod was shaken by John's warning, and we know he had great respect for the Baptist. In King Herod, there was a daily struggle between grace and sin. But, sadly, passion won the day and he ended by ordering the beheading of John.
Herod is a sad example of a man sinking to the depths of hell, having abused his gift of grace.
All of us receive special graces, and no grace of God stands alone; each grace is a link in a chain. If I correspond with one special grace I receive another, and make daily progress in the way that leads to God. But if I break the chain of grace, I end up in spiritual stagnation, in sin. So, let us all be open to God's grace and be inspired to live our vocations to the full. Let us pray for those who have lost their way. May our example and our intercession help them turn to their God.
Jesus was silent before Herod. He may become silent before me if I reject his grace and inspirations. When the Lord appeared before Herod, the Gospel tells us the latter was glad to see Jesus because he hoped to see some sign wrought by him. Herod didn't hope for any spiritual benefit, he just hoped to satisfy vain curiosity. He asked Jesus many questions, but the Lord did not answer him. Why did Jesus refuse to speak to Herod? After all, he spoke to Pilate, he spoke to Caiphas, he even pleaded with Judas.
The answer is because the conscience of Herod was dead. He had been deaf to the voice of God speaking through John the Baptist. He had rejected too many inspirations of grace. It is truly terrifying to think of the silence of Jesus before a hardened soul. Pray we never get like that! Do you know people who have completely hardened their hearts towards God?
There are some souls called to perfection with whom Jesus also becomes silent. Time and again, Jesus has spoken to these people, he has showered his graces upon them, urging them to make the sacrifice, to break with some human attachment, to rid themselves of some persistent fault, to turn from sin. But they persist in turning a deaf ear to his voice, and so the Lord's voice becomes less and less audible. Eventually, there is silence. They have proved themselves unworthy of God's grace and inspiration. They need our prayers.
Please God, never let me live in silence. Speak to me daily. Lord, let me be filled once again with a spirit of generosity, with your grace. Speak to me loudly and clearly. Please deliver me from selfishness and a neglect of your inspiring graces.
May Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help, intercede for us. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)