PathToHoliness

I just got back from my two hour adoration time and realized that I forgot to post the novena prayer for Saturday. I apologize for that. So here are the prayers for Sat. and Sun.

Seventh Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

The above are lyrics to an African hymn that a priest in our diocese, who was transferred from Nigeria, sings during Mass when he talks about devotion to our Mother Mary. A few nights ago I turned on the TV and a local Christian station was on with some protestant preacher accusing Catholics of divinizing Mary, worshiping her and making her equal to God. This is why it is important for us to really understand the Church’s teaching on Mary’s role and to know what true devotion consists of.

Much of what we believe about Mary comes straight from scripture. We believe that nothing written in scripture is insignificant or accidental and therefore its many references to Mary are worth noting. First and foremost is the link between the Old and New Testaments regarding Mary. In the few encounters between Jesus and His mother depicted in the Gospel of St. John Jesus does not refer to Mary by name or even as mother; he calls her ‘woman’ (Jn. 2:4, 19:26). For Catholics this ‘woman’ is an echo of the woman referred to in the book of Genesis (3:15):

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.

This verse is also a foreshadowing of the ‘woman’ in the book of Revelation who was “clothed with the sun” and “gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod” (12:1, 5).

In his book, Hail, Holy Queen, Scott Hahn says, “That child could only be Jesus; and so the woman could only be His mother, Mary.”

Catholics’ desire to honor Mary is fitting because of her role in the redemption of mankind. Through her ‘fiat,’ her obedience to the Divine will of God, Mary was overshadowed by the power of the Most High (Lk. 1:35) and became the means by which the Son of God came into the world to redeem mankind and thus became also a cooperator, or co-redeemer with Him. More proof that Mary is intimately linked with the redemptive work of her Son is in the prophecy of Simeon in which he reveals that Mary will also share in the sufferings of Christ. As Christ suffered and died on the cross for our sins, those sins formed the sword that was to pierce the soul of Mary as well (Lk. 2:24-35). It is not the Church who has raised Mary to such a prominent position, but God himself who found favor with her and chose her to be blessed among women (Lk. 2:30, 42). Mary’s obedience undid the disobedience of Eve. For more on this see the Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 494 (which also, by citing the likes of St. Irenaeus, shows that the early Christians believed this as well).

Christ not only desired that Mary be honored among all women, but also that she should have a special relationship with the faithful. In handing Mary over to his beloved disciple he made all Christians, who are represented in the person of John, children of Mary (Jn. 19:26). In devoting ourselves to the care of our heavenly Mother we are using the same means He used to come down to us. That is why St. Louis DeMontfort calls true devotion to Mary an “easy, short, perfect and secure way of attaining union with our Lord.” It is perfect because,

“The Most High has come down to us perfectly and divinely, by the humble Mary, without losing anything of His Divinity and Sanctity. So it is by Mary that the very little ones are to ascend perfectly and divinely, without any fear to the Most High.”

Even Mary herself foresaw this devotion when she said in her great Magnificat; “behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed” (Lk. 2:48).

Nowhere in Catholic Church teaching do we claim that Mary is equal to God or that we worship her at all. In fact the Catechism expressly states that,

“This very special devotion[to Mary] … differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration,” (CCC n. 971)

We honor Mary, giving her the respect that is owed to such an important figure in Salvation History, one who is, as common sense tells us, the Mother of God. And we devote ourselves to her powerful intercession, a devotion which is, above all, Christ centered, with the goal of achieving perfect union with Him through the help of our Mother in heaven.

The same African priest I mentioned earlier explains Mary’s role this way: Two thousand years ago Mary brought Christ into the world; today she desires to bring Christ into our hearts.

Sources:
The Navarre Bible
The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Further reading:
True Devotion
Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God.
Mary of Nazareth
Imitation of Mary

Sixth Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Fifth Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

This week I got to attend Mass at St. Agnes in Springfield, IL.

Unfortunately this Springfield town wasn’t chosen to have the first public viewing of the Simpsons movie. I’m not really sure most people cared though. But the media sure fixated on it.

We had a very nice Mass yesterday on the feast day of St. Benedict and the priest was kind enough to take time to hear confession for me too.

Although I can’t say that traveling a lot is the most glamorous thing to do I really appreciate the opportunities to visit so many different churches. I can’t tell you how many times I’m sure my guardian angel has helped me find them even when I’ve given up.

I know Chelsea is posting each day about the Novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

This is the statue of her in the Carmelite chapel where the novena is held each evening during Mass.

I’ve only been able to attend one evening so far due to travel.

As Chelsea said in an earlier post, the nuns like to decorate with flowers and you can see some of them below the statue here.

As you have probably noticed, much of the Mt. Carmel novena has focussed on the scapular – shown on the right. But what about the scapular? The sisters at our Carmelite monastery use a booklet for their novena that offers some information on this popular devotion that is often associated with the novena:

Ask someone about the “Scapular” and you will likely be told it is a religious object associated with the Blessed Virgin.
The Brown Scapular consists of two small panels of cloth joined by strings and worn over the shoulders. Generally, one panel bears a woven or printed image showing the vision of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to St. Simon Stock, while the other bears the image of Our Lady with the Child Jesus.
For centuries, the Scapular has been one of the most popular Marian devotions, second only to Our Lady’s Rosary. As a sacramental, it has been enriched by the Church with many spiritual blessings.
On July 16, 1261, at Aylesford in Kent England, according to tradition, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite, and made the Scapular a sign of her protection. With it came the promise that whoever wore her “habit” devoutly would be assured of eternal salvation. This is the Scapular promise of eternal perseverance.
Carmelites have always regarded themselves as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel,” and place their lives of Christ-centered prayer under her patronage.
~ Rev. Eamon R. Carroll, O. Carm.

Signs in Ordinary Human Life
The world in which we live is full of material things which have symbolic meaning to us, such as, light, fire and water.
There are also, in every day life, experiences of relationships between human beings. These experiences express and symbolize deeper meanings in our lives. Sharing a meal is a sign of friendship; joining together in a national celebration is a sign of our identity.
We need signs and symbols to help us understand what is happening at present, or what happened before, and to give us an awareness of who we are, as individuals and as groups.

Signs in Christian Life
Jesus is the great sign and the embodiment of the Father’s love. he founded the Church as a sign and instrument of His love.
Christian life also has its signs. Jesus used bread, wine and water to help us understand higher things…things which we can neither see nor touch.
All our Christian celebrations, particularly the sacraments, are signs with special meaning. At the Eucharist the sign is bread and wine; during baptism it is water; as hands are laid on the sick it is the anointing with oil; and in the marriage ceremony it is the giving and receiving of rings. Each of these signs brings us into communion with God, Who, in different ways, is present in each of them.

The Scapular is a Sign of Mary
It is a sign approved by the Church and endorsed by the Crmelite Order as an external sign of Mary’s love for us. It confirms our love and trust in her, and our commitment to live like her.
With the passage of time,l people began to give symbolic meaning to the Scapular as a sign of commitment to follow Jesus Christ, our Savior, in the spirit of Mary.

The Scapular is not:

A magical charm to protect you
An automatic guarantee of salvation
An excuse for not living up to the demands of the Christian life

However the Scapular:

points to a renewed hope of encountering God in eternal life with the help of Mary’s protection and intercession
stands for thee decision to follow Jesus and imitate Mary, calling us to be…
– open to God and to His Will
– guided by faith, hope and love
– close to the needs of people
– prayerful, penitent and chaste
– conscious of God present in all that happens around us

I have been wearing the brown Scapular for a number of years and it has become like a kind of uniform for me. Actually, in the art of spiritual warfare, I have often heard it referred as just that – the Rosary is our weapon and the Scapular our uniform or shield. I think of it as an extra little sign, a personal reminder of devotion and commitment to the Blessed Virgin, through whom we strive to know and love Jesus and work for the salvation of souls.

Fourth Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Third Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Second Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

The Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría, has written a letter to the faithful which you can find online. In it he urges the faithful to consider the ordinary but exemplary life of the first Christians.

To explain Opus Dei’s mission, St. Josemaría often turned to those first sisters and brothers of ours in the faith. If you want a point of comparison, he would say, the easiest way to understand Opus Dei is to consider the life of the early Christians. They lived their Christian vocation seriously, seeking earnestly the holiness to which they had been called by their Baptism. Externally they did nothing to distinguish themselves from their fellow citizens. Similarly, he added, the faithful of Opus Dei are ordinary people. They work like everyone else and live in the midst of the world just as they did before they joined. There is nothing false or artificial about their behavior. They live like any other Christian citizen who wants to respond fully to the demands of his faith, because that is what they are.

Last week I stayed in Oklahoma City for a few days and had the pleasure of attending week day Mass at St. Francis of Assisi.

It’s a beautiful church and situated with the Rosary Catholic School.

Inside the church and building next door where they have the chapel for weekday Mass you’ll find some beautiful stained glass windows.

They’ve got pictures of them on their website as well as a virtual tour.

Today is the start of the Novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Every year we try to pray this novena with the Carmelites who live in the cloistered monastery next door to our Cathedral parish. It is always a very popular event among devoted Catholics in our town. I look forward to it every year. I especially love to see the beautiful floral arrangements that the nuns put together around their chapel. It’s like they bring their entire garden inside for these nine days of prayer.

First Day

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Also, get readyf

The basic message of Opus Dei is holiness in ordinary life, sanctifying one’s work. That was the message of the vicar of Opus Dei in the United States’ homily commemorating the feast day of Opus Dei founder St. Josemaria Escriva:

“So much depends upon our living the lives that God wants us to,” said Msgr. Bohlin, emphasizing that “every baptized Christian” has a “call to heroic Christian holiness in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.”

…Describing Opus Dei’s founder “as a modern-day saint” familiar with 20th-century life, Msgr. Bohlin said the charismatic St. Josemaria advocated “an apostleship of friendship” in which Catholics “from all walks of life” reach out “one on one” to those near them in the workplace, family, school and community.

American culture suffers from what some call “friendship-deficit syndrome,” he said, noting that “so many are surrounded by people but have few friends.”

Source: Catholic Online

See: Opus Dei Message

I promised you pictures, so here they are!

The pro-life table – Most of the visitors are attracted to the fetal development models and it is frequently pregnant women, people who know someone who is pregnant and parents showing their young children what they used to look like in the womb. Oh and the balloons and candy (we had lollipops and gum with precious feet on them) helped attract visitors also:

The Catholic table – these are the only good pictures we got of the Catholic side. Most of the devotional items we had were hand made locally. Both I and a woman from our parish made the 5 decade rosaries and the Carmelite nuns who live in a cloistered monastery next to our parish made some of the brown scapulars.