Yearly Archives: 2018

Lenten Journey Day 15

Posted on by

February 28
 
By virtue of our baptism, all of us are called to mission that has both an exterior and an interior quality. God intends for us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are to bring His word, His love, His healing to His people. Each of us is called to be a conduit of the Divine Life in the world in which we live. That is the exterior mission we have been given.
But, in order to accomplish this holy task, we need to bring everything within us into conformity with the Father’s will. Our words, our deeds, our actions, our attitudes, our hopes, our dreams — everything needs to be brought into right order according to God’s holy plan for mankind. Our fundamental vocation as baptized Christians is to holiness of life. And, as Our Lord Himself shows us, this comes about through union with God. If He who was perfect went into the desert to be prepared for His mission of redemption, then how much more do we, who are imperfect, need this time of preparation as we seek to fulfill our mission as the sons and daughters of God?
Few of us will be called to spend forty days and forty nights in the desert. And most likely none of us will be called to the rigorous asceticism of the desert fathers. But, through the liturgical season of Lent, all of us are called to a desert experience.
In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church offers us this season to spiritually retreat from the distractions of the world and focus our attention on the great gift of our life in Christ Jesus. It is a time for each member of the Mystical Body to consider our holy union with Christ in the Father. It is a time to nurture our relationship with God even as we consider the treasure of our redemption.

Read the rest…

Lenten Journey Day 14

Posted on by

February 27
 
This first withdrawal of Jesus to a place of stillness was but the beginning of a life-long habit. At key moments throughout His life, the Son of Man retreated into the solitude (cf. Mt. 14:23-24; Mt. 26:36, 42, 44; Mk. 1:35; Lk. 6:12; Lk. 9:28); there in the stillness of the wilderness, He communed with His Heavenly Father, and drew from Him the strength and the fortitude needed to fulfill His mission. In so doing, Our Lord teaches us much about conforming our lives to the Father’s will.
In the early centuries of Church history, many holy men followed the pattern set by Jesus. For weeks or years — a special few for a lifetime — they went to the wilderness to detach themselves from the distractions of the world and enter the solitude of the heart. In the austere silence of the desert and amplified stillness of the soul, they sought communion with God: a continuous awareness of His presence about them, among them, and in them. Through this union, they yearned to make the whole of their being a conduit of the Father’s love, a receptive channel through which divine charity could flow into the lives of others.
The “desert fathers,” as they came to be known, knew that the call to the desert was a radical call. The desert would allow for no pretense or disguise, no haughtiness or pride, no shortcut or delusion. It was a call to radical simplicity and radical integrity. It was a call to hard living, self- restraint, and unyielding mortification. It was a call to fortitude and steadfastness, perseverance and strength. It was a call to vigilance, and a call to honesty, truth, and humility. The wilderness offered no hiding place. All lay bare and exposed in the barren desert.
For the desert dwellers, the external perils of the wilderness were mirrors of their interior struggles. The barren environment represented man’s impoverished condition and need for a savior. The wild beasts were reminders of unbridled passions and heinous sin. And the restless spirits who roamed the arid wasteland were Satan’s pawns, tormenting and tempting the beleaguered and the unaware.
Yes, the desert offered countless opportunities to develop virtue while wresting vice. And, when God’s grace met with man’s cooperation, the desert became the furnace in which fire-tried holiness was forged.

Read the rest…

Are You “Fake Fasting”?

Posted on by

In a hard-hitting homily given at Casa Santa Marta last Friday, Pope Francis warned the faithful about “fake fasting” which is the work of the inconsistent Christian who goes to great lengths to fast and appear virtuous while despising others and continuing to engage in quarrels and disagreements.

Read the rest…

Study the Bible with a Renowned Scholar – in Your Own Home!

Posted on by

For many Christians around the world, the Lenten season is a time for devoting more attention to spiritual reading, particularly the Bible, which is why a new bible study, hosted by renowned Scripture Scholar Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., which airs on EWTN beginning March 6, is the perfect way to fulfill this desire – and in the comfort of home.

Read the rest…

SC Churches Under Satanic Attack

Posted on by

The historic Salem Black River Church in Mayesville, SC was vandalized in September, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons by efy96001).

Christian churches in South Carolina are on alert after an alarming increase in the number of attacks vandals who have been scrawling overt Satanic messages on their signs and buildings, with the latest attacks occurring this past weekend.

Read the rest…

Lenten Journey Day 13

Posted on by

February 26
 
The season of Lent is very much upon us! In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we read “By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert” (§540, see Matthew 4: 1-11).
In Matthew 4:1-11 we read the passage in which Our Lord fasted for forty days and forty nights in the desert, being tempted by the evil one. The devil strives to lure Him with three of the great temptations – pride, presumption, and lust for power – and yet, he is no match for Our Lord. Jesus defeats him by trusting God, knowing truth, and remaining steadfast – three counterattacks to temptation that lead to victory. Our Lord banishes the evil one and is ministered to by the angels.
This account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert gives us much to ponder. But, its relevance to the liturgical season of Lent is especially poignant. Pope John Paul II stated, “It can be said that Christ introduced the tradition of forty days fast into the Church’s liturgical year, because he himself ‘fasted forty days and forty nights’ before beginning to teach. By this Lenten fast the Church is in a certain sense called every year to follow her Master and Lord if she wishes to preach his Gospel effectively.” (General Audience, Feb. 28, 1979).

Read the rest…

Florida Wants to Bring God Back Into Schools

Posted on by

In the wake of the tragic shootings in Florida two weeks ago, and in an attempt to bring the “light” of God back into schools, Florida’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would require every public school in the state to post the state’s – and the country’s – motto of “In God We Trust” in a conspicuous place.

Read the rest…

Lenten Journey Day 12

Posted on by

February 25
Four Steps of Lent
 
(We will look at each of these over the next few days.)
Treasure the gift of redemption.
Through His act of total self-donation, Jesus pours out His most precious blood that we might be saved from the evils of sin and death. The Cross of Christ becomes the tree of life and all who embrace it find salvation.
To cultivate reverence and gratitude for the passion of Jesus, we must enter into it. We must allow ourselves to meditate upon the great mystery of our salvation and the love which informed it. We must sojourn with Jesus along the Via Dolorosa uniting to His passion our weaknesses, our frailties, our sufferings, our struggles. We must keep watch at the foot of the cross with Mary, our mother, and St. John – silent witnesses to the most important moment in human history. We must hold Our Lord’s tortured body in our arms, as did our Mother. And, we must lay Him to rest in the dark tomb, anticipating what Mary and John may only have known by faith, that Jesus will rise, and sin and death will be overcome.
The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross will lead us into the passion. A prayerful reading of the passion accounts in the Gospels will cultivate gratitude for our redemption. Fruitful meditation of the passion will stir holy devotion and reverence for the wounds of Christ. By entering the Paschal Mystery our own sufferings will become a source of grace for ourselves and others as we unite them to the passion of Jesus Christ.
Our retreat to the Lenten Desert can be a source of abundant life for us and for others. God is always giving us the grace to grow in holiness and relationship with Him. We have only to cooperate with it. Through prayer, meditation, repentance, conversion, reception of the sacraments, pious devotions, works of mercy, and loving reflection on the paschal mystery, our “desert” will produce much fruit and yield a great harvest.
Let us seek to make this Lent, then, a time of discovery. As we retreat into our “desert” may we find there the love of God, the courage of Christ, and the perseverance of the desert fathers so that we might be the salt of the earth and a light in the world today.