St. Paul of the Cross

"Build an oratory within yourself, and there have Jesus on the altar of your heart. Speak to Him often while you are doing your work. Speak to Him of His holy love, of His holy sufferings and of the sorrows of most holy Mary" - St Paul of the Cross writing a reply on Jan 9, 1760 to a busy married woman who felt that she couldn't find enough time to pray.

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

Ps. 139:12

Our Lady in Advent

Get ready!

If you haven't made the novena - you can start and finish one today - the day before the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Offer your prayer today, and ask Our Lady to accept it as if you had prayed and fasted all nine days.

If you can't make a pilgrimage to Guadalupe, you can visit your parish church in honor of Our Lady and ask her to accept your visit as if you had walked barefoot to her shrine in Mexico City.

If you can't do that, you can sit quietly in your room, prayerfully unite yourself to all of those who have made the pilgrimage, as well as the whole Church, who honors Our Lady on her feast, and be confident that your desire to honor Our Lady is pleasing to her and gives glory to the Blessed Trinity.

The laborer, the poor, the lame, the shut-in cannot always make costly pilgrimages, but they can do so spiritually, in their hearts.  It can be as efficacious as making a Spiritual Communion.  Some of the saints did such things with so much fervor, some were given the grace of bilocation.

You don't have to do any of that however, and you surely do not have to take my word for it.



 

"Behold, a little cloud rising from the sea" ... Kings 18:44

Image depicting Kings 18:44

"In the bush seen by Moses, we recognize the preservation of your glorious virginity, O blessed Mother of God." - Antiphon; Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Church Fathers tell us the advent of the Messiah was foreseen by the Prophets in the scripture I've cited here.  For centuries, iconographers have depicted these events by giving form to the prophecy of Isaiah, "The virgin shall be with child"; and from another place, "The woman shall encompass a man." - Jer 31:22   Hence, the archetype, prototype of the Virgin of the Sign is frequently included in icons of the Virgin of the Burning Bush, Carmelite icons, and so on.

Consider the passage from Kings, the cloud rising from the sea - no bigger to Elijah's sight than a man's fist... So how is it?  How, O how, does one see the Holy Virgin in that manifestation?  Or in the bush seen by Moses?  Or Gideon's fleece?*  I say it is by faith.

Yet today - when the ordinary and simple, but devout, are convinced they see an image of the Virgin in a tree trunk, they are roundly mocked and called 'loons' and are an embarrassment to the sophisticated Catholic 'hierarchy' of the highly educated and pedigreed... the 'magisterium of approved Catholic bloggers'.  I'm reminded of one of the canticles or psalms from the Liturgy of the Hours, "This is the one I approve, the lowly and afflicted man, who trembles at my word." - Isaiah 66:2

"I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, even the stones will cry out.” - Luke 19:40 

Or, why not a tree trunk?

Personally, I'm not 'into' pareidolian phenomena, nor would I even try to promote this type of spirituality or devotion, neither do I suggest people ignore diocesan authority:  Although, as I suggested in an earlier post, such incidents may have happened in the past - from whence approved devotions developed, and fervor spread.  Nevertheless, I find it odd that ordinary people who struggle, often like sheep without a shepherd, can be so easily dismissed and mocked for their simple piety and cultural instincts.  Especially considering how Medjugorje continues to be promoted amidst investigations and allegations of fraud; or dubious mystics are promoted for sainthood (Cora Evans); while New Age spirituality infects diocesan programs and parishes, retreat centers and convents, all over the country.  Indeed, in our day, even those who should know better, deny the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so it is nothing to mock 'the lowly and afflicted', who show reverence before what is holy.

*       I will put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground beside, I shall know that by my hand, as thou has said, thou wilt deliver Israel. And it was so. And rising before day wringing the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew. And he said again to God: Let not thy wrath be kindled against me if I try once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that the fleece only may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew. And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. (Judges 6:37-40)

"When the Son of Man returns will he find any faith on earth?"

Distractions in prayer.

Not.

I've come to a point where I usually treat distractions like nothing.  Just ignore them - like 'white noise'.  At least I try to do that, doesn't always work of course.  Then again, sometimes, if I'm patient enough, they can become my prayer.  I think Therese did that - remember the episode of the older sister behind her in choir during mental prayer, who made annoying noises with her dentures, and St. Therese offered the sounds and their effects as a sacrifice?  That's one way to handle distractions.  Sometimes recollection can be so deep that all the noises and distractions around us do not bother us - but that is surely a grace.

Many times distractions occur during the rosary, while praying the office, or reciting prayers for a novena.  We are saying the words but thinking about something else.  It happens.  I noticed something about that however.  Sometimes we can be thinking about people and situations in or out of our lives, and not always in a good way.  We might suddenly recall something someone did or said against us - or we may recall something we dislike about them.  Do we treat it like a distraction and move on?

I will run the way of your commands;
you give freedom to my heart. - Ps. 119:32

This morning it occurred to me that something more was needed: Recalling the Gospel passage, "if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift."  It suddenly seemed to me that the distraction wasn't a real distraction at all, but a sort of gentle rebuke.

I needed to go back over my prayer with more attention, but I also needed to recognize what was happening.  This "remembrance of wrongs" was necessary for me to recognize what may be on one level, simply a natural antipathy towards someone, or perhaps it was something more serious.  Whatever it was, I needed to be reconciled.  Which doesn't mean I leave off prayer - not at all.  Rather it is a call to a deeper self knowledge and a direction to pray from the heart for those I more or less unconsciously regard as my 'enemies'.  In my particular situation, I was able to recognize that my so-called 'enemies' were probably correct in their assessment of myself, and that I was truly the 'bad guy' in all of this.  I was the one harboring the resentment.   

Long story short, sometimes our distractions have a purpose.  They serve to take us from our superficial, more routine habit of prayer, and plunge us more deeply into the abyss of our nothingness... exactly where deep calls unto deep... the abyss of our misery calls unto the abyss of merciful love... and even more deeply, the reverse of that is true - the abyss of merciful love initiates the call...

In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. - Romans 8: 26

As St. Teresa says, "Prayer is the trap door out of sin."  It is most especially when we allow the Holy Spirit to pray in us, allowing him to direct our prayer - because we really do not know how to pray as we ought.  I think it is better to pray as we can, not how we think we are supposed to - although I might be wrong.  (We need to be instructed in prayer and use the support of structured prayer - with attention and devotion - and the Holy Spirit helps us do so.)  Happily, my rosaries have sometimes been filled with distractions like the one I mentioned, which may explain why they can take so long for me to recite.

Every great grace I have ever received in life came through the rosary.

The priest who complained....

Omnipresent, Boundless Christ

The gates of mercy stand open.

Remember when I wrote about the priest(s) and bishop who complained about the Divine Mercy devotion extending meditation on the sorrowful passion through what is supposed to be the joy of Easter week?  Like we all just suddenly got high on the Risen Jesus on Easter morning after we found our Easter basket all filled up with whatever it was we gave up during Lent?  As if we merited anything, or could accomplish anything on our own.  Haha!

Anyway - I wonder if people who think like that still retain that Easter joy, savouring the presence of the Risen Lord, not wanting to leave his presence?  Because the Easter season lasts for 50 days - and most especially, until the Ascension, Christ seems to me to be present in many unusual and wonderful ways.  It is during the Easter season that Christ, though always present, seems to me to be especially so:  In a very active way.  It is hard for me to explain since I'm not a theologian - but I think he reveals himself to those who earnestly seek him - to find him.  He appears in the strangest ways - not always according to our senses - but sometimes.  Many, many hidden conversions take place during the Easter season...  As today's Collect reminds us:

O God, who willed that through the paschal mysteries the gates of mercy should stand open for your faithful, look upon us and have mercy...

John 6: 16-21

The Warning...

Mystics and seers from Blessed Anna Maria Taigi to the children of Garabandal have all said a warning will be given to the world in our times in order that people will repent and amend their lives, it will include a correction of consciences, convicting the world of its sin. Failing that, a great chastisement would follow.

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I'm not sure what all of that means precisely, and I no longer follow such prophecies very closely, although I ponder them from time to time. The predicted warning is supposed to be a supernatural event, yet it seems to me that we may be living through another sort of warning right now, since the Church, guided by the Holy Father and the bishops in communion with him, "are (the) authentic teachers, that is teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be believed and put into practice." (CCC 2034) This truth has become very evident when we consider the teaching and example of the Pope. As Cardinal head of the CDF, and now as Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father has consistently offered the Church and the world, with great charity, a clear correction of conscience through his presentation of authoritative Catholic teaching on faith and morals, as well as by speaking to, and pointing out the great errors of our age.

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It seems to me the fact that the Pope's teaching has met with such resistance and scorn throughout the Church and the world, is stunning evidence his teaching convicts the world of its sin, correcting consciences by the truth of the Gospel, marked by that sign of contradiction, the Cross, supernaturally illumined in the darkness that covers the earth.

The poor you will always have with you.

Remember that rebuke?

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I don't know what is wrong with me - but I get really angry over stories such as the 9 year old Brazilian girl, pregnant with twins; or the story of a Miami abortionist throwing away an infant who survived the botched procedure - into a plastic bag with the bloodied newspaper. I just don't get it. And now days, people are getting poorer - friends are telling stories of the poor stealing food, going without necessities and health coverage, evicted from homes, and so on.

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Yet Jesus seemed to shrug off monetary concerns for the poor when he reprimanded Judas, who happened to be so inordinately focused upon money, he used the poor as an excuse to object to Mary using expensive ointment to dress the Lord's feet. (Reminds me of how critics of the Church insist that money shouldn't be spent upon vestments and sacred vessels, but rather given to the poor.)

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My pious, naive thoughts on the poor.

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But what did Our Lord mean? There had to be more to it than that. As I understand it, it appears a sense of justice will always prevail, and we may rightly expect that the poor will always be helped through monetary and material provisions, in some way or another. So if the 9 year old Brazilian girl and her family could have been well cared for; given money, food, clothing, even decent housing, these things most likely would not have prevented the sexual exploitation or the pregnancy. In the United States, we know by experience that materialism does not prevent the moral decay which leads to the sexual abuse, spousal and child abuse, as well as drug abuse, criminal behaviour and violence that infects the ghettos, housing projects and lower income suburbs of the world.

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Yes, the poor need monetary aid and the necessities of life. Yet for some reason, the (economic) inequity typical of Latino Catholic cultures, along with African and Indian cultures (in their respective countries), never seems to go away - or get any better. I wonder if what the poor are deprived of most of all - more seriously than anything else - is authentic religion. Not simply catechesis, but decent liturgical life, education, moral example - and most of all, the presence of the Church. Missionaries once civilized entire societies in the Americas, devotion flourished despite racial and monetary disparity, while the missions became the center of culture.

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The poor we will aways have in our midst.

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We need to pray for the missions, the missionaries, as well as for an increase in good missionary vocations. The missionary cannot simply be an aid worker, he is called to bring the faith to the poor; the missionary is sent to bring Christ into the midst of the poor. Though present in the Eucharist, many of the poor no longer have Him in their midst. We need to once again recognize Christ amongst us in the Blessed Sacrament, and share him with the poor. Yes, the poor we will always have with us, but Jesus wants to be in their midst.

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I kind of think that is one of the things the Lord was trying to explain to Judas.

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Many of us can forget about the missions - save for on Mission Sunday. Can't be a missionary in a foreign land? We can be one at home, and we can pray and sacrifice and donate. Matt Talbot gave most of his paycheck to the missions. His best tool for evangelization was/is his example.