Archive for the 'Mary' Category

The 20 Decade Challenge

theophilus October 7th, 2009

Today is the feast day for Our Lady of the Rosary.

As such, I would like to issue the 20 Decade Challenge.

Pray all 20 decades of the Holy Rosary today – the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries.  Pray one set in the morning, one at lunch, one at the end of the workday and one before bed (or anyway you can piece together about an hour of your day).

Offer each decade for a specific intention.  Some intentions may include: the Holy Father and his intentions – peace in the world – the Church, our priests and deacons, our bishops, vocations, our fellow parishioners – our spouses, children, godchildren, young people in our lives, parents and family members, coworkers, teachers – the unborn, the end to abortion – our nation, our troops, our political leaders – the unemployed and those suffering economically, those suffering from personal and physical distress – those of other faiths, those who have fallen away from the Church – those who have died and those who mourn their loss, those who have died in natural disasters or accidents – the victims of violence, the victims of our culture – repentance for our sins, conversion of sinners and the souls in purgatory – or whatever or whomever else for which we wish to pray.

There is no shortage of things needing our prayers and the Holy Rosary is prayer on steriods.  It’s a direct call to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her beloved Son.  The Holy Rosary is a powerful weapon against all that ails our world, especially those things caused by man that erode human dignity.

Take the 20 Decade Challenge.  Let our Holy Mother hear a multitude of voices today.

Times of Ignorance

theophilus May 20th, 2009

There’s a passage in today’s first reading from Acts 17 that seems ripe for the times.

St. Paul was addressing the Athenians and commenting on their belief in an “Unknown God.”  The Athenians, as enlightened as they were, understood there was an all powerful God, but couldn’t quite get their minds to understand anything about him, thus he remained “unknown.”  They were comfortable with Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Athena and even Hades; but they couldn’t grasp the concept of the omnipotent, monotheistic Being who we too often take for granted.

Later on in St. Paul’s sermon, he stated something that seems especially applicable to our age:

“God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that people everywhere repent because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”

“Times of Ignorance” – are we living in them?

As I witnessed the totality of what occurred at Notre Dame on Sunday and on the Holy Father’s trip to the Holy Land last week; as I hear about the world’s response to Israel’s concern about its very existence and the attacks on a beauty pageant contestant who dared to honestly answer a question posed to her on national TV;  I get the sinking feeling that we are smacked dab in the middle of these Times of Ignorance.

We hold ourselves out to be the most enlightened, smartest, advanced, progessive people of all time.  Yet, we can be so ignorant.  We are ignorant when we’ve replaced the power of God with the power of man.  But, we’ve forgotten that God created the world and raised Jesus from the dead.  Based on these two facts alone, Man cannot be deluded enough to think that our power can ever be equal to His.   But when we relegate God to just another special interest or faith as just another past-time, we do just this – we assume our power is separate from His, instead of realizing that our power is derived from Him; to be used according to His will.

I always got the impression that the Athenians thought they controlled their gods.  I got the same feeling about the Romans and their stable of deities.  St. Paul succeeded in dispelling their ignorance and spreading the faith in both civilizations.  But, I wonder – what would St. Paul say to us were he physically in our midst?  What would he say were he writing “The Letter of St. Paul to the Americans”?

I bet he wouldn’t be subtle.

St. Louis de Montfort – Totus Tuus

theophilus April 28th, 2009

What book did John Paul the Great describe as the turning point of his life?  From what book did he get his motto – totus tuus (”I am all thine”)?

The book that helped lead the Holy Father to greatness was “True Devotion to Mary” written by St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716), whose feast day is today.

St. Louis had an unbeatable and divinely inspired devotion to Mary.  He preached that the way to Christ was through his Blessed Mother.  That if we truly proved our devotion to her on a daily basis, we would live the lives of saints and find salvation through Christ.

Hopefully, we all have a deep devotion to the mother who bore us or adopted us.  We’ll listen to her when we will listen to no one else; we’ll do what she wants done; we’ll defend her if necessary.  She is our queen; our lady; the first object of our affection; the beholder of all that is good and pure.

The same should go for Mary, our Mother, Queen and Lady.  Are you devoted to her?  Do you talk to her, confide in her, listen to her?  Do you see her hand guiding you throughout your day?

Do you pray the Rosary, her prayer?  Do you give a Morning Offering, offering your day every morning to Jesus through Mary?  Do you ask Mary to pray for us and protect us, especially in her role as patroness of the USA (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception) and the unborn (Our Lady of Guadalupe)?

Do you believe that she has come to us through the appearances at Guadalupe, Fatima, Lourdes, and elsewhere?  Do you accept that she gave the Rosary to St. Dominic, the Brown Scapular to St. Simon Stock and the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine Laboure?  Do you believe she delivered victory at Lepanto and saved Russia from communism?

More importantly, do you believe that she is the Mother of God?  Do you believe in her Immaculate Heart? Her Holy and Immaculate Conception?  Her eternal virginity and motherhood?  Her Glorious Assumption?  Her Queenship of Heaven?

Do you pray the Ave Maria (Hail Mary)?  The Magnificat?  The Hail, Holy Queen?  The Angelus?  The Memorare?  The Sub Tuum?  The Regina Caeli?  The Alma Redemptoris Mater?

Do you wear the Brown Scapular?  Carry the Rosary?  Wear the Miraculous Medal?  Go to Mass on First Saturdays?  Do you blow her a kiss as you are entering and leaving Mass?  Do you ask for her maternal help throughout the day?  Have you consecrated yourself to Mary either through St. Louis’ Total Consecration or St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Immaculata?

Do you live your life like Mary lived her’s?  Are you as devoted to Christ and our Father as she?  Do you implicitly trust and hope in the Lord?

Do you believe she is our Mother and the Mother of the Church, our intercessor, our mediator, our guide, our protector,  our comforter, our mystical rose and gate to heaven?  Do you believe she is the Queen of the saints, of families, of peace, of all of us, her children?

Are you willing to fight with her against evil?  To fight for her?  To rely on her as Christ did?  To follow Christ as she did, to the very shadow of the Cross?

So many throughout history have tried to impress upon us the truth and the power of a sincere and unwavering devotion to Mary.  And our devotion to her is needed and it is needed now.  Our Mother will lead us through these troubling times and bring us closer to Christ.  But it is imperative that we offer ourselves through her to her Son, each and every day.

In these times, we must have the devotion of St. Louis, St. Maximilian, St. Bernard, St. Juan Diego, St. Bernadette, and so many other saints and holy men and women throughout the ages.  They trusted Mary as their mother; we must do the same.  And like all mothers, she wants to hear from us, especially those words that tell her that we love her.

Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt, O Virgo, super omnia bendicta. I am all yours, and all that is mine is yours, O Virgin, blessed above all. – St. Louis de Montfort.

Web Sites & A Locked Church

theophilus February 2nd, 2009

I have found two websites recently that are outstanding reminders.

One is the First Friday Society.  Historically, the First Friday of every month is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The most important way to show our devotion on this day is to attend Mass.  The First Friday Society will send you an email in the days before the first Friday of the month reminding you to go to Mass.  It will also remind you of Holy Days of Obligation.  If you don’t go to weekday Mass regularly, this reminder will help you become more devoted to Christ through the Eucharist.

The other website is the Apostleship of Prayer.  I knew that the Holy Father always has his monthly intentions (see my left sidebar), but I didn’t know that these intentions started through the efforts of the Apostleship of Prayer  ministry in 1844.  The Apostleship encourages us to say a Morning Offering upon waking to offer every part of our day to Christ.  I’ve been praying a Morning Offering for a year or so.  It’s just such a great way to start the day.

On a totally unrelated note, I have a frustration with locked churches.  I like to drop in for a visit to the Blessed Sacrament when very few people are there.  I like being in Christ’s presence, the solitary silence, and the spiritual sanctuary that only an empty church can offer.  I especially love traditional churches, which are often only found in urban areas.  So, there are too many times when I want to enter into this blessed wonderland only to be faced with the cold, hard sound of locked doors.

Today, I had some time between meetings in the city, so I went to the Cathedral in downtown Covington, Kentucky, which is in an urban area across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio.  For some reason, I was surprised that I found the doors were locked.

I then went to Mother of God Church in downtown Covington and likewise found their doors locked.  I then saw a passageway to the side door of the church and decided to give it a try.  The door was locked.  But, there was a door buzzer with a sign stating “press for admission.”  I looked up and saw the camera mounted above the door, pressed the button, “presented” myself to the camera, and the door buzzed.  I entered by the confessional on the side of the church.

It all became a great juxtaposition of events.  Today is the Feast of the Presentation.  Monday is the Joyful Mysteries for the Holy Rosary.  Mother of God is an old German church with a huge fresco of the Annunciation, Visitation and Nativity above the altar, and the Presentation and Finding Jesus in the Temple above the altars of St. Joseph and Mary respectively.  So, I was led by the Holy Spirit to pray a very powerful and blessed Rosary.

Towards the end of my prayer, a gentleman came up to me to let me know that they had to lock down the church.  He sheepishly apologized to me and warmly told me to come back.  I left knowing that this circumstance was just a sign of the times; a contradiction expressed by Simeon.

As I got back to my car in the side parking lot, I noticed an elderly lady who was having great difficulties trying to balance some things in her arms while she got out of her car.  We still have a great deal of ice around because of last week’s ice storm and she couldn’t get a good foothold on a patch of ice surrounding her car.  So, I went over, took her hand, then her arm, and navigated her through the ice.

The point isn’t my gesture.  It was the Christian, Christ-like and chivalrous thing to do.  The point is more profound.  What would have happened to her if I hadn’t been kicked out of church?

Interesting times we live in.  Interesting times.  Remember, God is in control.

Mother’s Day in January

theophilus January 1st, 2009

I’m not a theologian but I think I’m finally starting to get something.

Today is, of course, January 1st.  For us Catholics, it should be Mother’s Day for Mary because it’s the Feast Day or Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

It is the day for us to contemplate Mary as the Mother of Jesus, and as such the Mother of God.  Mary is also our mother, as we are all children of God (see John 1 from yesterday’s gospel and Galatians 4 from today’s second reading).  We must not forget to give her the respect, attention and love due to such a noble and caring intercessor, protector, comforter, confidante and guide.

This feast is also the time to continue our contemplation of Jesus as true God and true man.

It is this second contemplation that has had my mind turning all day.

In Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours), I was struck by two of the intercessions.  One prayed that “[y]ou made yourself like us, in your mercy grant that we may become more like you.” The other prayed that “[y]ou made yourself a citizen of our earthly city, grant that we may become citizens of our true homeland, your kingdom in heaven.”

The first intercession reminds us that Jesus was true man.  He was fully human.  He was one of us.  The second intercession reminds us that Jesus is true God and he has a divine kingdom, which is heaven.

The first intercession urges us to emulate the man he was while on earth, so that our second intercession can be granted; that we may join him in heaven.  If we follow his human example, we can share in his divine and eternal life.

As I speed into this new year, I am going to try and spend more time in asking God and Mary to help me become more like Jesus in the coming year.  I really don’t know exactly what this request entails, but I know the Holy Spirit will let me know as each day unfolds.

Also, on this New Year’s Day, I was especially moved by today’s first reading from Numbers 6.  It’s the blessing we have heard so many times before.  “The Lord bless you and keep you!  The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!  The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

God does extend this blessing to us each and every day.  It’s up to us to acknowledge and accept this blessing each and every day.  If we allow ourselves to be so blessed, we will emulate Jesus and we will spend our eternal lives with him.

As this new year dawns, God’s firm hand is extended; Jesus is inviting us to walk by his side; Mary’s arms are open wide to greet us.  It’s up to us to accept and go to them through prayer, devotion, charity, sacrifice, commitment to work, and love for our family, friends and neighbors.  It’s up to us to have a running dialogue with God and ensure that we are offering every moment of our days to Jesus, through Mary.

It’s up to us to live as true children of God; to embrace our divine filiation with our Creator.  I’m thinking that’s not a bad New Year’s resolution at all.

Anna’s Turn

theophilus December 30th, 2008

Today’s gospel carries the rest of the story from Luke 2 of the Presentation of the Lord; and with it, more lessons for us to carry into the new year.

We hear about the octogenarian prophetess Anna.  She worshipped in the temple day and night and spoke about this baby as the Messiah to all who would listen.  She had great faith; a faith that, like Simeon’s, was justified when she held baby Jesus in her arms.

She kept God close to her heart.  She truly believed and hoped.  She, like Simeon, persevered in her long life and was richly and spiritually rewarded.

There are also other lessons from the Presentation.  It’s almost a side note, but this story closes with an observation from St. Luke that “[w]hen they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, . . ..”  The “they” was Mary & Joseph, who showed absolute obedience to what God wanted for them.  In the Presentation, they also showed a humility and earthly detachment that is an example for us all.

They instinctively knew of what St. John writes in today’s first reading from 1 John 2.

“Do not love the world or the things of the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world.  Yet the world and its enticement are passing away.  But whoever does the will of God remains forever.”

In the coming year, along with the lessons learned from Simeon (patience, perseverance and faith), I’m also going to work on the lessons learned from Anna and the Holy Family at the Presentation.  Obedience, sharing the faith, prayer and devotion, hope, trust, humility, and worldly detachment are all good things to work on to bring me closer to Christ.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve; the end of a very tumultuous year for most of us.  Tomorrow is a good day to allow the Holy Spirit to help you reflect on the year past and what Christ wants you to do in the year to come.  It’s time to reflect on the lessons learned and the lessons that need to be learned.  It’s time to put our lives in God’s hands and recommit our energies to the work of laboring in the fields.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

theophilus December 12th, 2008

What’s so hard to understand about the following passage from Luke 1 -

“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.’“

The BABE leaped in her womb.  Blessed is the FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB.  The MOTHER of my Lord.  The BABE in my womb.

If you read the Bible, if you believe in the Bible, if you believe in Christ, there is no room for discussion.  The unborn child is a child; the “fetus”, by-product of a woman’s ’reproductive right”, the “blob of tissue” is a human being worthy of the basic human and natural right of life.

I don’t understand these Catholics and Christians who can be pro-abortion or pro-choice or pro-reproductive rights or whatever it is they are calling themselves these days.  The babe in the womb is a child.  The Bible and our faith says so; science has proved it; modern photo-imaging is overwhelmingly conclusive.  The babe in the womb is a child worthy of our protection.

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas and the protector of the unborn.  Through this apparition, Mary gave us a gift so profound that it escapes the vast majority of us in the United States.  And how do we repay her?  We for the most part ignore this gift and continue to acquiesce to the killing of her children.

We should know better.  We are America.  We defend the defenseless.  We stand up for the powerless.  We fight tyranny.  We do not give in to evil.  We believe that everyone is endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights – the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  But somewhere along the line, we allowed the pursuit of happiness to trump and undermine every other right and responsibility.

Those who are vocal advocates for the unborn must continue the fight.  Those who are silent supporters of the unborn must make their voices heard.  Those who allow abortion, advocate for abortion, perform abortions, or have had abortions must be prayed for.  And those children who have been aborted or may be aborted must be tended with special care in our hearts and souls.

We are the Church.  The unborn are God’s children; they are Mary’s children; they are Jesus’ flock.  We must do everything we can to ensure that these children are allowed to live and do not succumb to our culture of death.

Our Lady of Guadalupe pray for us! 

Windshield Wipers

theophilus December 10th, 2008

My car is going on five years old.  And I finally broke down and bought a new pair of windshield wipers.  I was still on my first set.

I tend to put things off.  I waited until my windshield was totally obstructed during a rainstorm before I broke down and bought the new wipers.

I had a meeting Downtown today and had to drive home during rush hour.  It’s a dark and rainy night, and I was beginning to let the gloom of the weather and traffic send me over the edge.

And then it dawned on me as I peered through my car window.  I could see!

The car in front of me was clear as day.  No blurs, no streaks, no guessing.  I could see!

I didn’t realize how bad my wipers had gotten until I saw the world through new ones.

There is a lesson here for Advent.  With all of the hoopla surrounding gift buying, company parties, kids events, and classic TV shows, Advent is a time for us to clear away the blurs and streaks in our lives and start seeing the light of Christ.

Light is a major symbol during this time.  it’s the light of the Advent Wreath, the Christmas Tree, the lights in the neighborhood, the glow of the moon off of the newly fallen snow.  It’s the light given off by our children’s eyes, laughter and smiles.  It’s the light of the special cheer shown by even the most ill-tempered of folk.

Advent is like a new pair of wiper blades on a dark, stormy night.  Advent allows us to see clearly.  To see our Eternal Father, Christ, Mary, St. Joseph, and the angels so clearly that we can reach out and touch them.  To see the peace and joy in others.  To feel the peace and joy in ourselves.

And if we are not seeing clearly, then maybe it’s time for a new pair of wiper blades.   Say a prayer, ask for perspective, allow yourself to enjoy this most blessed of seasons.  Decide that you are going to allow yourself to see clearly.  Accept the grace of this gift that God gives us each December.  The gift of the birth of his son, our savior; the gift of the renewal of the hope that is our birthright as His children. 

Things in Perspective

theophilus October 8th, 2008

Wow, the thrills just keep on coming.  We are absolutely living through history.

I’ve been trying to keep things in perspective lately.  I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t do well with uncertainty; and we seem to have enough of it going around to last a lifetime.  I envy those who can watch with detachment those things which are not in their control; their moods personally unaffected.

I’ve been praying a great deal.  I’m actually praying some novenas, which I always thought, for some reason, were kind of silly.  But, I’m starting to see the majesty in these petitions.

Yesterday, for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I prayed the entire Rosary in one day (that’s all twenty mysteries).  Never having prayed more than one set of mysteries in a day, I started on my way to the office and prayed it in segments throughout the day, finishing up before I turned out the lights.  And when I finally got to the “Hail, Holy Queen,” Mary had me feeling more at peace, with a clearer view of things.

And this morning, I came across a devotional reading on St. Francis.  It discussed our tendency to create necessities and our inability to detach ourselves from material things.  As this passage was starting to sound awfully close to home, I had to consider whether my anxiety is stemming from a fear of the unknown and what I might lose.

So, I started thinking about the things I absolutely wouldn’t want to live without; and I was suprised when the list was few and full of intangibles.  Here it is -

  1. Our faith and access to the Mass and prayer.
  2. Involvement with family and friends.
  3. A hospitable roof over our heads.
  4. Sustaining food on our table.
  5. Our good health and the ability to be active.
  6. Meaningful work for our minds and hands.
  7. Liberty from tyranny.
  8. Ability to help our neighbor.
  9. My books.

That great woman who shares my life and my love reminded me yesterday that things get a great deal simpler when you break down what you are afraid of losing.  I now understand that my fear of loss is what is driving my fear and anxiety. 

And the one thing we cannot lose (unless we want it lost) is our hope in God’s plan for us.  There is nothing more important in our lives than what he wants for us.  We have to trust that he will give us what he wants for us and what we actually need, and will do so over-abundantly.  After all, we are his children and he is Our Father (which is today’s gospel reading, BTW).

Faith, hope and love aren’t just buzzwords; Christian peace and joy aren’t just abstract concepts.  They are the light through this unknown. 

This is a time for prayer; and a time for keeping everything in perspective.

Our Lady of the Rosary

theophilus October 6th, 2008

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.

This is the time to pray the Rosary and to unite ourselves with Mary, our Mother.  These are the times for which the Rosary was given to us, so that we could use these beads as a compass to guide us through turbulent waters.

Mary is with us.  Christ is with us.  Our Eternal Father is with us.  We just need to reach out to them and make them part of our lives as we are part of their divine heritage and God’s promised covenant.

The Rosary gives us peace, joy, mercy, hope, faith, zeal, trust, confidence, love, and ultimately faith.  It is the salve for whatever makes us anxious in the uncertainty of today’s news.

Mary is our patroness.  She wants what is best for us and our nation.  She loves us and cares about us because we are her own children.  We just need to reach out to her.  And the Rosary is her prayer; our petition for her most magnificent intercession.

Grab your Rosary and pray today.  If you don’t remember the prayer and/or don’t have a Rosary. search “Rosary” and the prayer will be provided for you.  But, whatever you do, just pray it.  Our Blessed Mother wants a call from us.

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