A Treasure To Be Shared

Becoming more literate in Christian mystery is somewhat different from becoming knowledgeable about a subject. It involves learning, certainly, but also learning how to contemplate. The mysteries of Christianity are not puzzles to be solved so much as realities that can be entered into ever more deeply. A few practices help: Read Scripture slowly and repeatedly Read entire books for context, but also linger over individual passages. Ask not only "What happened?" but "What does this reveal about God?" The ancient practice of lectio divina is particularly valuable: read, meditate, pray, and contemplate. Learn the language of symbol and typology Christian mystery is often expressed through images, patterns, and correspondences. The Passover lamb points toward Christ. The Ark points toward Mary. The Temple points toward Christ and the Church. Learning these connections greatly enriches one's perception of Scripture and Liturgy. Attend closely to the Liturgy The Chu...

Heavenly Father, I do humbly beseech Thee, conjoin my heart to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that all my prayers may be purified of selfish intent, and grant me the ability to say 'yes' to Thy divine will with my entire being; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O Almighty and everlasting God, Thou knowest the hearts of all men. Thou knowest their true intent. Bestow upon Thy servants a plenitude of Thy grace to aid the redirection of every realm towards the Holy Gospel. Expel any nefarious ideologies that stand in opposition to Thy divine will, and bestow upon the ministers of the same Gospel the requisite talents to fulfill Thy Holy desires; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who doth live and reign with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

In His perfect genius, God creates man in His own image and likeness. Therefore man must be beautiful because man is fashioned to be in the image and likeness of Beauty Himself. The soul is beautiful, not in view of vogue standards, but in the sense of the truest beauty of all its creation to be like the Creator. We must constantly strive to see the beauty of every person around us. We are called to grow in the beauty of holiness which makes us more and more like God. See in the people around you souls linked to the Almighty Father who sees and knows all their wounds and all their heartaches. It is the call of every Christian to reach out in love to those who are broken and who do not know their beauty. Help others around you to know their worth and their beauty. There is nothing more valuable than the people who are here with us on the journey to the Promised Land. Through the beauty of people, we experience the love of the Father and the gift of His beauty. The next time you see a gl...

The ingrate is always lacking hope. Hope is the currency that the grateful man freely offers to others. The selfish man takes more than he has earned; the generous man prospers in giving. A stranger is a man whose heart is not yet known. Holiness ( sanctitas ) - God's gift of purity, illumination and unity with Him - and godliness ( pietas ) - man's practice of religion (1 Timothy 4:7) - that, aided by God's grace, disposes the soul to God's truth, love and mercy. These are the roads the saints walk that lead to the palace of God and everlasting joy. One's persecutors exist to be corrected or to prune others to become better Christians. True authority is given and received not taken, usually earned due to faithfulness to truth and goodness, and not traded as nor reduced to a commodity. The man without awe and wonder has lost his innocence. He is a man of lust and subject to perversion. A gossip is a thief and a coward. He steals goodness and mercy from the vulnerabl...

A new life in Christ awaits each person who longs for understanding and peace. So much energy is sapped up by preoccupations that linger on the margins of daily life, temptations that can be infiltrated by diabolical forces if one is not attentive to prayer, a frequent examination of conscience, and the sacraments. Spiritual exercises which dispose the soul to God's grace are necessary to help one avoid a subtle slide into confusion and despair. One must be ready to reach out for spiritual support bound to the Truth. Innocence is a frequent casualty these days. A less than prudent use of technology can quickly imprison young and old in a web of self deception and attractions to soul destroying messages and images. Instinctual urges can quickly build and overwhelm even the most balanced and battle tested individual. Indeed, the spiritual life is a battle against intrusions that can rot life - and hope and joy and trust - out of us and leave us injured. The experience of a Protestant...

Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC [Estimated read: 8 minutes] If you, dear reader, are not bothered by the downward trajectory of the celebration of the Mass, or actively contribute to liturgical abuse (e.g., by disregarding the prescribed text of the Order of Mass), you might stand to benefit from reading this post. SC 22:3. Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. For those who acknowledge, affirm and defend the Mass and promote its solemn celebration, this post will likely amount to preaching to the choir. Even we members of the choir can profit from a tune-up as the need arises. This is a brief meditation on the beauty of solemn liturgy, the necessity of reverence, and the truth that compels honest God-loving and God-fearing folk to worship God in the beauty of holiness. Grace We rely on God for the grace that sustains our faithful witness to His glorious Presence. We rely on His grace for the ab...

For Thomas, God is not the supreme being ( ens summum in his Latin), but rather ipsum esse subsistens , which means “the sheer act of to be itself.” In a word, God is not one more instance of the genus “being,” one thing, however exalted, among others; instead, he is the self-explaining source of existence as such, that great font of being in and through which all finite things subsist and act. Therefore, God does not compete for space, so to speak, on the same ontological grid as creatures; a zero-sum game does not obtain in regard to God’s activity and creaturely activity—the more we ascribe to one, the less we have to ascribe to the other. - Bishop Robert Barron If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when ...

In the struggle against evil, some news worth repeating. Edward Pentin reported: A group of priests has issued a plea to all the world’s bishops to “reaffirm Christ’s teaching” in the face of today’s “pastoral crisis” in the Catholic Church.  Here is their/our plea. A Pastoral Appeal to the Bishops for an Apostolic Reaffirmation of the Gospel (Official Text) http://www.curapastoralis.org/ Good Shepherd Sunday 22 April 2018 Your Eminence or Your Excellency, As priests ordained to assist in the pastoral care of God’s people, we write to request your help in dealing with a mistaken approach to the Christian moral life that we frequently encounter and that grievously harms those misled by it. We believe much of the damage could be healed or mitigated if you were to reaffirm Christ’s teachings and to correct those errors with the full authority of your apostolic office. Doing so would benefit those entrusted to your care as a diocesan bishop, and as...