PathToHoliness

Lol! I couldn’t resist this!

(ht: What’s Wrong With the World by way of Driving out the Snakes)

There is another one from a girl’s perspective here. I wish I had video from the talent show when I was at Ave Maria and a group of girls re-wrote the lyrics to the Pussycat Dolls song “Don’t Cha?”. The new song went: “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was chaste like me? Don’t cha wish your girlfriend prayed the rosary?” etc… It was great.

I was asked once to desccribe how I envisioned Heaven. I never answered because, quite frankly my mind draws a complete blank at the thought. However, in Spe Salvi Pope Benedict gives an excellent reflection on eternal life (paragraphs 10-12). Here’s a piece:

To imagine ourselves outside the temporality that imprisons us and in some way to sense that eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality—this we can only attempt. It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time—the before and after—no longer exists. We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy. This is how Jesus expresses it in Saint John’s Gospel: “I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (16:22).

Suck on that for a while.

The Pope says that this is how we must think if we are to truly understand the object of Christian hope and what our faith leads us to expect.

See the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Heaven.

Today is the feast of that great 16th century Spanish mystic and doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross. Today’s Office of Readings has a passage from a spiritual Canticle of his that says:

“[T]he apostle Paul said of Christ: In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God…Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much [interior and exterior] suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there is consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross.

Saint Paul therefore urges the Ephesians not to grow weary in the midst of tribulations, but to be rooted and grounded in love, so that they may know with all the saints the breadth, the length, the height and the depth – to know what is beyond knowable, the love of Christ, so as to be filled with all the fullness of God.

Here John speaks of the “narrow gate” through which we must pass to merit eternal life. Sadly so many avoid this gate because it is lined with fire and one inevitably gets burned. But we do not travel through it alone. Pope Benedict, in his encyclical Spe Salvi, speaks of Christ the true shepherd in this way:

“The true shepherd is one who knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; one who walks with me even on the path of final solitude, where no one can accompany me, guiding me through: he himself has walked this path, he has descended into the kingdom of death, he has conquered death, and he has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through.”

We are not alone in our sufferings. Indeed, when we suffer we are even closer to the Redeemer through the power of the Cross.

Prayer of Peace by St. John of the Cross:

O blessed Jesus,
give me stillness of soul in You.
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness,
King of Peace.

Read more about St. John of the Cross and his other writings.

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the Unborn and the Mother of the Americas. May our nation be helped by her intercession this coming election year on behalf of all those who have no voice.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, we turn to you who are the protectress of unborn children and ask that you intercede for us, so that we may more firmly resolve to join you in protecting all human life. Let our prayers be united to your perpetual motherly intercession on behalf of those whose lives are threatened, be they in the womb of their mother, on the bed of infirmity, or in the latter years of their life. May our prayers also be coupled with peaceful action which witnesses to the goodness and dignity of all human life, so that our firmness of purpose may give courage to those who are fearful and bring light to those who are blinded by sin.
(from a prayer said at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on January 22, 1999)

Holy Mother of God and of the Church, our Lady of Guadalupe, you were chosen by the Father for the Son through the Holy Spirit.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the Unborn, Pray for us!

More on Our Lady of Guadalupe

I have been reading the Pope’s latest encyclical, Spe Salvi. If you haven’t yet found any good Advent spiritual reading, I highly suggest this reflection on Christian hope. Here is an example.

“To come to know God – the true God – means to receive hope…we possess the hope that ensues form a real encounter with this God.” At this point (paragraph 3) the Pope relates the story of the African Saint Josephine Bakhita who was once a slave under the harshest conditions. After being bought by an Italian merchant she came to know a new master – the master “above all masters, the Lord of all lords, and that this Lord is good, goodness in person. She came to know that this Lord even knew her, that he had created her—that he actually loved her.”

This encounter gave her real hope, to which she proclaimed, “I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me—I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.”

This Advent we await the joyful coming of this Lord and master who, though he has not yet “come in Glory”, is surely a living reality today. He died to prepare a place for us in in heaven (see John 14), where he too waits for us at the right hand of His Father.

As I was reflecting on today’s feast day, it struck me what a really pro-life feast we are actually celebrating today (and yes it was a Holy Day of Obligation in the U.S. even though it’s a Saturday since, as a country, we are consecrated to Mary as the Immaculate Conception). God did not choose to purify the womb that would carry His son at some random point in her development outside the womb like, say, her presentation and dedication in the temple or at the Annunciation, both of of which would have seemed appropriate or reasonable. Rather, he chose to preserve the sinlessness of the Mother of God from the very moment of her conception inside the womb of St. Anne. This, like the Incarnation itself and the scene at the Visitation when the unborn John the Baptist leaped for joy in the womb of St. Elizabeth, illustrates the significance and the sacredness of life before birth. Let us pray on this day that such innocent life may once again be preserved and protected in our Nation through the intercession of this Immaculate Mother, Patroness of our Land.

From my Guadalupe Novena (which is now on day 7):

“Merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your dearest Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I am asking of You for my country.”
Amen

This is a cute video from That Catholic Show on the intimidating Catholic Catechism.

As I’ve been surfing through SQPN, the Catholic podcast network and finding many cheap online viagra other good things. My favorite is the Secrets of Harry Potter podcast by Brother Giles Baker. Mark Shea has called Harry Potter the, greatest Christian fantasy epic of our generation. I typically just enjoy Harry Potter as a good story with characters I really care about, not thinking a whole lot about religious imagery, but this podcast brings a lot of that imagery to light.

There are also podcasts for the secrets of The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Star Wars and even The Pirates of the Carribean.

Previous HP posts:
Catholics and Harry Potter
To Rowling’s Credit
A Pro-Life Harry Potter?
Harry Potter, Magic and Contraception

I am making up my own Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the Unborn and Patroness of the Americas, asking for her intercession for next year’s election. Primaries start in JANUARY!! I am adapting this from an entry I found in the Diary of St. Faustina. Please pray with me for the next nine days:

“Merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your dearest Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I am asking of You for my country.”

Amen

Here it is Advent already and my travel has finally slowed down for a while. It’s a good time to do some extra personal reflection and examination of conscience.

To help you along the folks at Scepter Publishers recommend the “In Conversation With God” series. I’ve never made it through a whole year with them but they’re great. If you don’t want to start with the whole collection then you can order just the book for the Advent season.

Here’s a synopsis of the series:

Author Francis Fernandez-Carvajal makes generous use of the writings of the great saints as he brings you focused and moving meditations on themes taken from the Mass readings for that day, the liturgical season, and more. This work is rich and extensive enough to serve as your spiritual reading for a lifetime, as it helps you relate the particulars of the message of Christ to the ordinary circumstances of your day. Each volume is small enough for you to carry it to Adoration or some other suitable place for meditation. The whole set comes with a handsome slipcase that prevents wear-and-tear on the individual volumes.

Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) is to make more disciples. So this is the Discipleship Award. I was humbled to receive this award a number of weeks ago from Jean at Catholic Fire, who is a great disciple herself. As I was reflecting on what I was thankful for last week, one of the things that came to mind was the many faithful bloggers out there, taking advantage of the new media to witness to the truth. Since today is the feast of St. Andrew the apostle I thought it might be appropriate to point out some of these modern day disciples.

First is Jennifer at Et-Tu. She is an atheist convert and always has beautiful reflections on all aspects of faith and spirituality – many things that I find myself taking for granted, having been born and raised in the faith.

Then there is Mark Pickup at Human Life Matters. I love Mark’s blog and link to it frequently at Reflections. Mark is a triplegic with advanced multiple sclerosis and has many wonderful observations on life, death and suffering.

Besides Jean’s blog, here are some more of my other favorites:
Thoughts of a Regular Guy
Alive and Young
Driving out the Snakes
The Catholic Knight
Kansas City Catholic
Pro Ecclesia, Pro Familia, Pro Civitate
Causa Nostrae Laetitiae

This one is a new favorite of mine:
Moniales OP – Dominican Nuns of Summit New Jersey

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father (Mt. 5:14-16).

Do unborn children have tears? I don’t know, but this will be my prayer for our country from now until election day. It comes from a passage I recently came across in the Diary of St. Faustina:

Once after an adoration for our country, a pain pierced my soul, and I began to pray in this way: “Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your dearest Mother who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I am asking of You for my country.” At that moment, I saw the Lord Jesus, His eyes filled with tears, and He said to me, You see, My daughter, what great compassion I have for them. Know that it is they who uphold the world.

Since I have written a few times about Mother Teresa and her spiritual darkness, I thought I’d also share this video of Stephen Colbert interviewing Fr. James Martin about just that.

Previous posts:
Blinded by the Light
Darkness Within Faith

I know that Veteran’s Day was technically yesterday, but since the public offices are recognizing it today, I figure I’m ok getting this post up a day late. I have mentioned before my affection for our military men and women. It started with movies depicting the bravery and sacrifices of our soldiers in the wars of history (Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers are my two favorites). And it continues with the knowledge that we still have men and women living, and dying, in these extreme situations. Pictured here is James, a soldier in the 173rd Airborne Brigade currently serving in Afghanistan. James is my adopted soldier via Adopt a Platoon. Please keep him and all our veterans in your prayers today.

Mother Teresa’s darkness, highlighted in a recent book of her letters, has been criticized by many in the secular world, like this article in Newsweek by atheist author Christopher Hitchens.

The recent edition of the Catholic World Report contains an article on the Missionaries of Charity and the 10th anniversary of Mother’s death with a sidebar on the controversy of her “anguished faith.” There is no link available but here are some of the highlights. Archbishop Henry D’Sousa of Calcutta says,

“The book shows that the Mother was an ordinary human being and went through difficulties like others. Despite her doubts and problems, she always committed herself to God and service to the poor. That’s the model of a great soul.”

Archbishop Lucas Sirkar, Abp. D’Sousa’s successor adds,

“Those who are questioning the faith of the Mother have no idea of what spiritual life is. The more you move forward in the path to saintliness or holiness, the more you have to struggle against that which is not holy

From Sister Nirmala, Mother Teresa’s successor,

“This is a trial only few souls go through. It happens when God enters their hearts in a very powerful way. The light is so strong and the human capacity is so small. What happens when you look at the blazing sun? You are blinded. It is like that.”

I am pretty sure this trial happens to more souls than we think and indeed may perhaps enter the soul of every believer at some point in their spiritual journey. But we should not fear in time of trial for our Reasons to Believe are more than mere feelings.

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of (your) faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6-9).

See my latest blog entry at Reflections of a Paralytic: Love the Suffering.