Sanguis Christi, inebria me

This past week has been so full of blessings.

Although this actually stretches back further than a week, I will only start last Sunday because I want to do something like justice to what my Lord has been doing for me. I will start by offering a few quotes which sum up my feelings, thoughts and experiences; then, I will outline briefly what's been happening; finally, I will offer some other thoughts on these matters, some questions.

***

Firstly, I must quote Emily who yesterday morning summed up the week in this manner:

When you get retreat knees from spending all week with your frineds; without having been on a retreat!

 From Callum, on his blog Catholic Splash:

O Mother most Pure, hold us in your arms, just as you did hold your dearly beloved Son’s fragile and wounded Body.
O pray for me Our Lady of Sorrows, let me share in your sorrows, the sorrows of your Precious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (x)

From Bishop Giaquinta, founder of the Pro Sanctity Movement:

Every Apostle, indeed every Christian, must rest on the heart of Christ. The Church, aware of her birth from the heart of Christ, needs to return to His heart in order to be truly faithful. (x) 

 We must correspond with all of our strength, that is, to the maximum, to this love of the Father and of Jesus, accepting and actuating the message received. (Ibid.)

The three dimensions of holiness are personal, fraternal, and societal. As Pro Sanctity, we must be convinced that holiness is the only possible solution to social problems. This, however, does not mean our personal holiness is the only thing we are responsible for, but rather, we are called to be active in the second and third dimensions as well. (Quoted here)

From St John Vianney:

...the more we know of Him, the more we love Him. (Quoted here)

***

Sunday 9th:

Holy Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; Lunch; Adoration and Holy Conversation at the Parish of St Bernadette; Theology of the Body and St Thomas More's Parish

Monday 10th:
Holy Hour and Holy Mass in the Holy Spirit Chapel at UNDA; Conversations about the Faith afterward

Tuesday 11th:
Adoration at All Saints' Chapel; Work, concluding in a lesson on music history which started with Gregorian Chant and finished with a discussion on the Holy Trinity with year fours

Wednesday 12th:
University; Holy Hour & Holy Mass at St Therese's Chapel with CYM followed by supper and fellowship; Holy Hour at the Parish of St Bernadette 

Thursday 13th:
University; Work; NDSSJ Sleep Out, including Divine Office, the Holy Rosary and other prayers, and fellowship

Friday 14th:
 Waking at UNDA; Divine Office - Lauds & Matins; Angelus & Holy Mass at St Therese's Chapel with CYM; catching up with my Spiritual Director; Eucharistic Adoration at Sacred Heart Parish

Saturday 15th:
Rosary Walk around Lake Monger; Holy Mass at the Parish of St Bernadette; holy Conversations followed by All Night Eucharistic Adoration at the same

Sunday 16th:
Holy conversation and walking prayer; Young Adults Gathering at the Redemptorist Monestary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Holy Mass in the Church of Sts Peter and Paul

***

What return can I make to the Lord for the good that He has done to me? What shall a man give in return for his life?

How do I live in a manner worthy of these gifts which he has so generously given me?

How do I become a Saint?

Litany to the Holy Family

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, most worthy of our veneration, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, called “the Holy Family” from all time, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, son, mother, and head of the Holy Family, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, divine child, pure spouse, and chaste spouse, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, restorers of fallen families, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, image of the Blessed Trinity here on earth, Pray for us.
Holy Family, tested by the greatest of difficulties, Pray for us.
Holy Family, with much suffering on the journey to Bethlehem, Pray for us.
Holy Family, without a welcome in Bethlehem, Pray for us.
Holy Family, visited by the poor shepherds, Pray for us.
Holy Family, obliged to live in a stable, Pray for us.
Holy Family, praised by the Angels, Pray for us.
Holy Family, venerated by the wise men from the East, Pray for us.
Holy Family, greeted by the pious Simeon in the temple, Pray for us.
Holy Family, persecuted and exiled to a foreign country, Pray for us.
Holy Family, hidden and unknown in Nazareth, Pray for us.
Holy Family, faithful in the observance of divine laws, Pray for us.
Holy Family, perfect model of the Christian family, Pray for us.
Holy Family, center of peace and concord, Pray for us.
Holy Family, whose protector is a model of paternal care, Pray for us.
Holy Family, whose mother is a model of maternal diligence, Pray for us.
Holy Family, whose Divine Child is a model of filial obedience, Pray for us.
Holy Family, poor in material goods, but rich in divine blessings, Pray for us.
Holy Family, as nothing in the eyes of men, but so great in heaven, Pray for us.
Holy Family, our support in life and our hope in death, Pray for us.
Holy Family, patron and protector of our Congregation, Pray for us.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Let us pray.
O God of infinite goodness and kindness, who has deigned to call us to this Congregation, give us the grace to venerate Jesus, Mary and Joseph, so that, imitating them in this life, we may enjoy with them the life to come. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PARTAY!!!

Come and Celebrate

The Birthday of 

The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

In grand style at

The Upper Room
followed by a Street Party
in Jerusalem

As this is too far away for most people, alternative arrangements have been made at your local Catholic Parish, including a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet called The Holy Sacrafice of the Mass. See your local Parish for details.

And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.

Beauty and Deificaiton

I leave with something somewhat unrelated from Saint John of the Cross. Take some time to read it carefully. Reread it.

Let us so act taht by means of this loving activity we may attain the vision of ourselves in Your beauty in eternal life. That is: That I be so transformed in Your beauty that we may be alike in beauty, and both behold ourselves in You beauty, possessing Your very beauty; this, in such a way that each looking at the other may see his own beauty, since both are Your beauty alone, I being so absorbed in Your beauty; hence, I shall see You in Your beauty, and I shall see myself in You in Your beauty, and You will see Yourself in me in Your beauty; that I may resemble You in Your beauty and my beauty be Your beauty, and Your beauty my beauty; wherefore I shall be You in Your beauty, and You will be me in Your beauty, because Your very beauty will be my beauty; and therefore we shall behold each other in Your beauty.

Seriously, take a few hours to mull it over if you can.
Then go and adore Our Lord in the Most Holy Sacarment of the Altar.
Then pray this passage.
All the time.
Even if it's just the first line: Let us so act that by means of this loving activity we may attain the vision of ourselves in Your beauty in eternal life.

Religious Diversity

This week (the final week of my Philosophy of Religion class) we are discussing Religious Diversity.
This is a quote from one of the slides:

Religious diversity does provide a problem for certain religions, like Christianity. Christianity teaches that Fod is all-loving and all-powerful, and yet he chose to reveal his saving truth by way of a human sacrifice in a remote corner of the Roman empire 2000 years ago, and will forever torture everyone who hasn't heard of this or can't believe it.

Now to me, this seems like a grossly unfair claim. I cannot think of a single mainstream Christian denomination holds that God will "forever torture everyone who hasn't heard of this or can't believe it." Indeed, the true Christian denomination - namely Catholicism - does not hold that at all.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that:

"Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery."⁶³ Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.

The foot note [63] says GS 22 § 5; cf. LG 16; AG 7.

 Moreover, "[w]hosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved." (Lumen Gentium 14) This implies that unless you know, epistemologically speaking, "that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ" you can be saved outside the Church. 

Does that mean that we should reject the Chruch? Absolutely not! If you actively seek truth, the Truth, you will come to know that Christ founded the Catholic Church is that it is necessary for salvation and the only sure means thereof. 

The limitless loving devotion to God, and the gift God makes of Himself to you, are the highest elevation of which the heart is capable; it is the highest degree of prayer. The souls that have reached this point are truly the heart of the Church. - Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

That your joy may be complete...

I was doing some preparation for today's Mass when I stumbled upone this quote from St Fancis de Sales:

“The one has great need and capacity to receive, the other great abundance and inclination to bestow. Nothing is more suited to indigence than affluence; and the kinder affluence is, the stronger its inclination to give. The more needy indigence is, the more eager it is to be satiated. The meeting then, of affluence and indigence is sweet and happy; and we could scarcely say which should enjoy the more contentment, abundance to be communicated, or deficiency to be filled, had not our Lord told us that it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive.”

— St. Francis de Sales

Just imagine the joy that fills your heart when you recieve Our Lord after having prepared well for doing so. This joy is nothing compared to the great joy that we will recieve upon entering His presence; this joy, again, is small compared to the joy He has in giving Himself to you, to us; to me.

As my Parish Priest constantly reiterates: "If He could give you more than Himself, He would; but He can't becuase He's infinite and you can't get more than infintie."

Many Parts.

Today it the Third Day in the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity.
I could write about, or I could deffer to the Successor of Peter. I will do the latter.

Discipleship

Two priests within the past week have each said something hat has made me sit back and consider what being a Catholic means.

"Really, the only sin is not being open to God's Grace."

-Fr Bill

"Christianity is not a sentimental philosophy that we turn to only when things become difficult for us."
-Fr Roman

Not accepting our Lord's Grace is, indeed, the root of all sin; for, without Grace, we can not Love; and since Love is His Way and sin is, by nature, against the Way, sin must be cause by a lack of Grace. Given that Grace is always suffcient and that the only way we can not have the Grace we need to follow Christ is by rejecting - not accepting - it.

This is by no means easy, but it is the only Way to the Father.

I feel so sorry for those people who have never asked themselves why they are Christians. I feel even sorrier for those who have and who can't find an answer they find saisfactory. If eiher of these are you, know that you're in my prayers. I pity those who, in all things, have to see to believe: they will not see the mercy of God, they will not see LoveItself.

A very wise boy once said to me, "Sometimes you have to believe to see."