Fourth Sunday of Easter (C)
Readings for Mass
First Reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 100:1-2, 3, 5
Second Reading: Revelation 7:9, 14-17
Gospel: John 10:27-30
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus tells us: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27). This is a very nice image, and rightly so. It is an image which helps us to trust more in Jesus, it gives us peace and confirmation of security in truly following the Good Shepherd. Jesus had said to His disciples that in order to adhere to Him, to His Word, it is necessary to be called by the Father, to be drawn by Him by way of the gift of grace (Jn 6:44; 65). Of course this gift He would like to give to everyone. But a condition is necessary: to be open, that is disposed to receive the Truth listening to His voice, as is stated in the parable of the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1-16), to which today’s reading makes reference to.
The sheep, in fact, of which one speaks of here, do not indicate only those who believe in Jesus, but rather those in which the faith and openness to Jesus has arrived to it’s full development: they are those who Jesus has drawn into a communion, in a profound familiarity with Him, based on knowing and reciprocal giving of each other.
These people “listen to the voice of Jesus”; they have, that is, acquired a taste for Him. They are ever more in tune with His thoughts, with His sentiments, with His teaching. They possess a supernatural discernment and thus succeed in distinguishing from afar if a way of thinking and of living is in accord with the teaching of Jesus (and so they welcome it), or if it is in opposition to it (and so they repel it).
God totally respects our primordial gift of freedom. This is true love on the part of God even if we choose to say NO to God and end up in hell for all eternity. Many so-called theologians and even many priests and bishops today want to deny this great human dignity of being able to make an astounding choice between union or separation from the Creator for all eternity. Many people in the Church try to tell us that it is almost impossible to commit a mortal sin or they might insinuate that a loving Father would never send anyone to hell if it even exists! But God sends no one to hell; we freely choose to not want to be with God. The absence of God is the greatest pain in hell even though the damned souls would suffer even more near God in paradise! Many priests and bishops do not even believe that the devil exists (http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2879)! This is totally contrary to the official Church teachings approved by the Pope.
Do we trust in this Good Shepherd and thus do we truly listen to His voice? A child, who does not feel loved by his Dad, has great difficulty doing what his Dad asks him to do when it is something difficult. Children readily have an intuition if there is true love or on the contrary if there is not true love from their parents, even without spoken words. If the child feels loved by his Dad, it is much easier for the child to trust and obey his Dad even when his Dad asks him to do something difficult or contrary to his own ideas.
A great number of people today are in the situation of a child who received very little true love, if any, from their parents and perhaps also never made contact or had the experience of divine, gratuitous love in a parish or in a group where the members truly live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus these people have a very difficult time believing in the love of the Good Shepherd and thus do not seek His voice or trust His voice. About 60 years ago the love between a great number of married couples was poisoned at the root of their marriage relationship when they accepted to use the “pill” and enter into the contraceptive mentality. The use of artificial contraception drives a profound wedge between the marital act and life, between the sexual act and responsibility. Thus the family and children were poisoned as well, and the children never really received true love of which the Good Shepherd speaks. These married couples did not trust the Good Shepherd perhaps because they too never discovered and experienced how much this Good Shepherd loves His sheep so as to trust Him even when He asks them to do something difficult and that seems totally absurd to the mentality of the modern world that surrounds them, such as to be open to life and responsibility during the conjugal act. They were not able to make that leap of faith into the arms of their loving Father. Unfortunately there were a great number of priests and bishops who even encouraged these numerous couples to reject the constant teaching of the Catholic Church, reconfirmed by Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae (1968). A great number of priest, bishops and parents do as Peter did at the beginning of his walk with Jesus when Peter rebuked Jesus who revealed to the Apostle that He must “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed” (Mt 16:21). Peter later matured to the point of giving his life as a martyr for Jesus. Jesus would say to these numerous priests, bishops and parents, who never matured as Christian, the same as He said to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men” (Mt 16:23).
This poisoning of the most fundamental human relationship between the husband and the wife not only poisoned the children but also the most fundamental cell of society, the family. We are seeing the results of the contraceptive culture more and more today; we have not even come close yet to hitting the bottom of our downward spiral in the very destructive “culture of death” that we are living in today! These parents did not trust in the loving words of the Good Shepherd explained by the authority He left us on earth, the Catholic Church, with the Pope as the head (Mt 16:18). See “Prophecies of Humanae Vitae” (http://pop.org/201003231196/prophecies-of-humanae-vitae).
Over a hundred years ago the state did not provide a pension plan and so the parents had more children in order to provide for their future. When the state began offering a pension plan, the great majority of parents decided it was too much sacrifice to have more than one or two children; one or two children were basically welcome primarily for the gratification of the parents. But the state always needs children to pay for the pensions! And then we do not understand the connection between the poisoning of the family and the moral and economic crisis that we have today!
It takes a certain amount of humility to be a good Catholic. There are literally thousands of independent protestant groups in the U.S. who each interpret the Bible in their own way, often in contradictory ways, even though there is but one Jesus Christ, one God and one Bible. Jesus knew full well that this would happen and so He promised to protect the authority He left us here on earth, the Catholic Church, with the Pope as the head, until the end of time (Mt 16:18). Only the Pope has this protection; the bishops and priests do not enjoy this promise of infallibility in matters of faith and morals which history has often proven to be true. Lay men and women should follow those priests and bishops who are in union with the Pope if they are interested in finding the saving and liberating truth.
Thus the children of these parents who took the easy way out with the pill and other devices, never received the foundation of true love and trust. Many of these children of these parents who bought into the contraceptive mentality, were the ones who rebelled on university campuses in Europe and the U.S. in 1968, and many of them have now taken control of the cultural motors of our societies (schools at all levels, mass media and even religious institutions) and are now in control of the governments in Europe and in the U.S. ready to thrust upon mankind the “New World Order”, a perfect world without God which will end up far worse than the dictatorships of Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Mao Tse Tung all together! Do we really believe that the New World Order will treat the citizens well if this regime wants nothing to do with God? But even the great proud leaders of this rising dictatorship have forgotten that “there is no honor among thieves” and so they too will end up being treated as they have and will treat us!
In terms of its fundamental view of the human person, Pope John Paul II pointed out in his encyclical “Centesimus Annus” (1991) that the problem with socialism is that it denies the reality of human free choice and free will. It is clear with Marx and Engels, they had a major problem with the family, marriage, and religion, specifically Catholicism. They were very deterministic in that all is determinate in what they call historical materialism. “Socialism considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism, so that THE GOOD OF THE INDIVIDUAL IS COMPLETELY SUBORDINATED TO THE FUNCTIONING OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC MECHANISM.” (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus_en.html).
As always, there are many voices in the world today. We can ask ourselves: Does man manufacture the truth or does man perceive the truth? Up until a few centuries ago it was believed by just about everyone that man perceived the truth found outside of himself (Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, etc.). After the modern philosophers (Kant, Descartes, etc.) people began to believe that each person manufactures the truth inside of himself (subjectivism). This has taken over contemporary thought processes. According to most university professors and students today, if I say that a rose is an elephant, it becomes an elephant! If I say that marriage is no longer indissolvable, then this is truth for me! Pope Benedict calls this the “tyranny of relativism” because this relativistic foundation of thought and culture leads to “might makes right” since all laws, even those laws inherent in nature, are rejected or changed according to each ones egotistical whims! Is this not the same original temptation of Satan all over again (Gen 3:4-5)? The only thing that is important is what I feel comfortable with. There is only one commandment: ME, my ego! We choose evil that is dressed up as good, with lots of glitter and sparkles, such as “women’s reproductive rights” or “pro-choice”, which used to be called murder (abortion)!
Homosexual activists call their movement "GAY RIGHTS." This accomplishes two major objectives: (1) The use of the word gay rather than homosexual masks the controversial sexual behavior involved and accentuates instead a vague but positive-sounding cultural identity – gay, which, after all, once meant "happy"; and (2) describing their battle as one over "rights" implies homosexuals are being denied the basic freedoms of citizenship that others enjoy. The game plan of these shrewd gay activists was to employ powerful marketing and public relations techniques as well as science to undermine old time religion. And they have done exactly that. IS THIS NOT VERY UPSETTING and unjust?!? Does this not make it more difficult to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd?
Today subjectivism has taken over. Just about everyone has become a little god! I thought only Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived immaculate; instead just about everyone believes to have been conceived immaculate! There is not more sin! Alleluia! We do not need a Redeemer because we are all perfect little gods! Christ wasted his time, energy and suffering according to us intelligent and wise people of these modern times! Premarital sex is OK if you feel good about it; drugs are OK if the “high” makes you happy. The mind creates truth that is not there, that does not exist! The fundamental commandment of Satan is “Don’t suffer!” “Avoid suffering and self sacrifice at all costs!” This commandment of Satan is transmitted in the most sophisticated ways ever developed today to literally brainwash the masses of unwitting people.
A pertinent example of this manipulation of the public can be seen in two leading homosexual activists, Kirk and Madsen who wrote "AFTER THE BALL (1989): How America Will Conquer It’s Fear and Hatred of Gays in the '90s", in which they outlined very carefully the way in which they were going to manipulate the way in which Americans think about this issue! What was THE BOTTOM LINE of Kirk and Madsen's master plan? "The campaign we outline in this book, though complex, depends centrally upon a program of unabashed propaganda, firmly grounded in long-established principles of psychology and advertising." (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=32898).
Kirk and Madsen's "war goal," explains marketing expert Paul E. Rondeau of Regent University, was to "force acceptance of homosexual culture into the mainstream, to silence opposition, and ultimately to convert American society." Visit: “37. The Astounding Impact of the Ruthless Manipulation of Militant Gay Activists!” (http://markbeast.blogspot.com). It is my contention that the American population does not want to be manipulated; they do not want to be toyed with or played with.
This is not a new technique. In 1970, the CALIFORNIA MEDICAL JOURNAL released an article how ABORTION WOULD BE A VERY LUCRATIVE BUSINESS; it was admitted in the article that indeed that if this were to be presented to the American population it would never fly because the American population would never permit the killing of a child in the womb. It was admitted in the article that everyone knows that life begins at the moment of conception. So they had to change the language; they had to change the way in which people refer to the child in the womb; they had to begin to depersonalize the child. (“Recycling Wrongs: All Over Again”; http://lawreview.vermontlaw.edu/articles/v32/3/short.pdf; http://www.all-creatures.org/murti/pub-thelib-01.html; http://www.prolifecare.com/holyinnocents/evidence.html).
Amid all the deceptive voices in the world today, do we succeed in tuning in to the frequency of the voice of the Good Shepherd? With tremendous love, the Good Shepherd leads each person of good will and open to His voice towards Jerusalem, toward Calvary, toward ever more self sacrifice and dying to self in order to love Jesus hidden in each neighbor before us in each present moment. Christians who remain at an immature level of Christianity use religion to satisfy themselves, like a baby that always wants the mother to coddle him without ever trying to do the same for others. These underdeveloped Christians seek only consolations in their prayers and religious practices. The mature Christians seek to discover and to do the will of God, to satisfy Jesus; they seek not the consolations of God but the God of consolations. Dead bodies, like dead fish, float downstream; live bodies, like live fish, swim upstream against the very strong currents of our culture of death. Live fish swim upstream with great difficulty, often losing their lives, to give birth to new fish. We, instead, who have been given so much by our Creator including life itself and everything else, kill our offspring to enjoy our life! What a great contrast with the true saints, such as St. Gianna Berretta Molla, whose feast day we celebrate in this period, who gave her life in order to let the baby in her womb live!!! Her baby girl, who was not aborted, is now a doctor herself in Italy.
As CS LEWIS said, GOD whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but SHOUTS to us in our PAIN. Jesus is there for us, and while suffering does not cease to exist, what Jesus has done is take away all the power of suffering, he strengthens us in mind or faith or body, and helps us get through it. Jesus will not stand by when we suffer: he is there to take the brunt of our suffering Himself, as He did on the cross. The answer to pain is Jesus' being by our side when we pray. God's goodness comes through pain.
“BUT WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1Cor 1:23-25)!
In this same chapter of today’s Gospel Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep” (Jn 10:7). The great majority of people today listen to the very numerous and self-satisfying voices of the world; few listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd who asks us to sacrifice ourselves for love. “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt 7:13-14). The “narrow gate” or “door” is Jesus crucified in our lives! Just about all Christians follow the risen Lord, but few follow our crucified Lord!
One of the most important revelations that Jesus revealed to us is the culture of the Most Holy Trinity. Just as a foreigner brings with him his habits and culture to a new land, so too for Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Of course this culture is the culture of love. The theologians use a word “kenosis” to describe the total emptying of the Father to receive totally the Son and vise versa. By ourselves we are unable to live this deep mystery of love. But with the sacrament of Baptism and the other sacraments and graces of God, we can and are obliged to become totally empty and set aside all of our baggage of worries and difficulties before Jesus hidden in each person before us in each present moment of each day. This way of living gives rise to a very efficacious presence of Jesus “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:29). Behold the reason why the early Church grew so rapidly.
Tertullian, one of the first Christian writers, reported what was being said of the Christians: “See how they love one another, and how they are ready even to die for one another.” It was Jesus' words coming true: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, If you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).
Do we love as Jesus loves us? Is our parish or group growing like the early Church? Visit http://trueevangelization.blogspot.com/2010/01/hope-of-world.html.
When we succeed in overcoming a tiny bit of our egoism, we are happier. But the only way to do this is by way of suffering in denying ourselves in self sacrifice for others. There is a great difference between the happiness that the world offers and the joy that the Good Shepherd offers. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in great sorrow at the foot of the cross, was full of joy because she knew she was doing and fulfilling the will of God! The world promises happiness without sacrifice, and then follows disaster and destruction. Precisely those things which our poisoned culture of death offers to us in the name of “freedom” leads us to the worst kind of slavery and captivity, interiorly and exteriorly. Satan is a liar and the father of lies (Jn 8:44).
God offers us a tiny piece of His suffering and sorrow on the cross, while holding our hand; if we recognize, embrace and love this real and personal presence of Jesus Crucified in our lives, then afterwards follows true and lasting joy.
St. Rose of Lima (died 1617, Peru) wrote: “The Lord, our Savior, raised his voice and spoke with incomparable majesty. ‘Let all know’, he said, ‘that after sorrow grace follows. … Let them be on their guard against error or deception; this is the only ladder by which paradise is reached; WITHOUT THE CROSS THERE IS NO ROAD TO HEAVEN.’ … If they but knew, surely they would direct their energy with all care and diligence to procuring sufferings and afflictions for themselves. Instead of good fortune all men everywhere would seek out troubles, illness and suffering that they might obtain the inestimable treasure of grace. This is the final profit to be gained from patient endurance. No one would complain about the cross or about hardships coming seemingly by chance upon him, if he realized in what balance they are weighed before being distributed to men.” (Office of Readings; August 23).
“OH, IF ONLY THE SUFFERING SOUL KNEW HOW IT IS LOVED BY GOD, it would die of joy and excess of happiness! Some day, we will know the value of suffering, but then we will no longer be able to suffer. The present moment is ours.” (Diary of St. Faustina (died 1938, Poland), No. 963).
We must do as St. Paul in the first letter and come out of our comfort zone and be missionaries of love and truth. Then we too will be ready to enter the “great tribulation” indicated in the second letter, and we will come out with our garments as white as snow, washed in the blood of the Lamb, for all eternity!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Lent 6C Palm
Today we begin Holy Week. Today we read the Passion of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived 33 years. His most intense period were His last 3 years. His most intense week was Holy Week. His Body, the Church, has been going through the life of the Body of Christ, with Jesus as the invisible head, in the last 2000 years. Christ’s Body is about to enter into its Holy Week! Most of us have a roof over our head and enough to eat right now… And so right now with our bellies full, we are ready to spout off like Peter: “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” (Lk 22:33)! But when we enter into the great trial, WE WILL DO EXACTLY AS PETER DID: IF WE DO NOT PRAY EVERYDAY, with our whole heart the Rosary as a family if possible, if we do not go to the Holy Mass at least each Sunday, if we do not confess our sins regularly (once a month), if we do not seek to live our faith, we will not be ready “when the wood is dry” (Lk 23:31), that is, the holy week and Good Friday of the Body of Christ, the Church!
Jesus said: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren" (Lk 22:31-32). Then afterwards Jesus said: “PRAY THAT YOU MAY NOT ENTER INTO TEMPTATION” (Lk 22:40). “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:46). Peter slept and thus Peter denied Jesus three times (Lk 22:54-62); the other disciples forsook Jesus and fled (Mt 26:56). Peter and the other disciples did not prepare for their holy week, their Good Friday. But at least Peter “went out and wept bitterly” (Lk 22:62). Several saints have indicated that Peter went to the Mother of Jesus in order to obtained the grace of repentance as we saw in the film “The Passion of Christ” by Mel Gibson. Will we have the grace to weep as Peter did during our holy week, at the moment of our Good Friday? GOD OFFERS US NOW so many possibilities and graces in order to repent and obtain the precious mercy of God. AFTERWARDS, IT WILL BE TOO LATE! We will not be offered later the grace to “weep bitterly” and repent as Peter did. SEE THE APPENDIX BELOW.
In the liturgy, we read the Passion of Jesus Christ only two times each year: today and Good Friday, even though the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus is central in our faith and central in the Gospels. DURING THE YEAR, HOW MANY TIMES DID WE ENTER THE CHURCH by ourselves or together as a family or as a group TO PRAY THE WAY OF THE CROSS? Are the images of the Way of the Cross in our churches only for decoration?
If a wife is suffering tremendously and her husband does not care at all (or vise versa), it is an ugly situation. But this pain is a small drop compared to that which Jesus suffered. Jesus, who gave us all that we have, who died IN A HORRIBLE WAY for each one of us personally and individually, DO WE CARE?!? If I were the only person on the face of the earth, my sins are so terrible that Jesus would have come to the earth in order to suffer His whole dreadful passion and death just for me alone! We are so immersed in the “tyranny of relativism”, without realizing it, that we see this reality of the passion and death of Jesus from our criteria and point of view without seeking to discover and to understand this cosmic event from the criteria and point of view of Jesus.
God loves each of us immensely if we like it or not. God did not ask us if we wanted to be created, but God asks each of us if we want to be redeemed! So many children who are so much loved by their parents rebel against this love because THEY DO NOT WANT TO RESPOND TO THIS LOVE and they do not feel comfortable at all in this situation. But often we too think that our sins are not so bad, and after all, Jesus is happy and comfortable in heaven. And so we say: “Enough, let’s not talk about it anymore!”
We forget that THE GREATER THE LOVE IS, THE GREATER IS THE PAIN due to insensitivity and indifference. God who loves each one of us immensely suffers more than we can imagine due to our indifference. One might say how can this be if Jesus already died 2000 years ago? We must remember that for God there is no past or future but only THE ETERNAL PRESENT. Jesus suffered (“suffers”) not only for the sins of those who lived before and during his crucifixion, but also for all of the sins after his crucifixion. We slough off so easily this fundamental indifference of not responding to love. We think that the delinquents who we read about in the newspapers are the bad ones but we are the good ones!!! But we are in the same house with the Lord and thus our indifference causes Jesus to suffer much more than the assassins and the prostitutes! God is love; He created us freely out of love and then suffers and dies on the cross in the eternal present for our not responding to this immense and personal love for each one of us.
Very often children do not think about how much their parents have worked and suffered for them; we are truly blind in our egoism. LOVE ACCORDING TO THE WORLD EXPECTS A RETURN, at least in a hidden way. While parents and other persons are useful to us, we put up with them! At a funeral, one feels sorrow for the person in the casket, but for Jesus crucified!?! And then we do not understand why one spends so many years in purgatory, or worse! Sister Mary Gabriel in purgatory told Sister Mary of the Cross: “Each day thousands of souls come to Purgatory and most of them remain thirty to forty years, some for longer periods, others for shorter. I tell you this in terms of earthly calculations because here it is quite different” (http://purgatory-manu.blogspot.com/).
An entire life is not enough to penetrate and understand the love of Jesus for each one of us in His Passion. OH HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MEDITATE EVERYDAY ON THE PASSION OF JESUS. Slowly our hearts become more soft and receptive, and we begin to see the passion of Christ from the point of view of Christ instead of from our point of view closed in our presumption and egoism, like ungrateful children. The saints meditated everyday on the passion of Christ. When the people offered to construct the Way of the Cross at San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio responded that this was the most beautiful thing they every did. Let us read the passion in the Gospels; let us meditate the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary often.
It is not simply a question of mathematical knowledge and then we know it all. It is a question of the heart and thus IT IS A WALK OF LOVE IN THE SEARCH OF THE TRUTH of how much Jesus loves each of us and how much we are blind and indifferent in our egoism. Meditating on the passion of Jesus we discover the great price that Jesus paid for our salvation due to our sins. Our dignity is so great, created in the image of God Himself, that there was needed such great suffering by the Son of God Himself. Not responding to Love due to our horrible indifference, is a sin beyond our imagination! Meditating on the passion helps us TO UNDERSTAND THE GRAVITY OF SIN and its consequences; otherwise we remain in our indifference, cold and heartless as the beasts! The Popes Pius XII and John Paul II said that the gravest sin today is to believe that there is no sin! But above all, let us meditate often on the passion of Jesus IN ORDER TO OFFER TO JESUS CONSOLATION and company in His great agony!
A great number of people will say to Jesus at judgment: “I did not know how much you loved me!” They had willfully decided to not seek or want to discover the truth. So many think and say: “Ignorance is bliss!” But it is rather: “DESIRED AND CHOSEN IGNORANCE IS CONDEMNATION!” “The Truth Shall Set You Free” (Jn 8:32)!
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APPENDIX:
We read in Revelation 15:8: “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and NO ONE COULD ENTER THE TEMPLE until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.” This seems to indicate that the Temple area is sealed to angels and men during the final forty-two months of the Tribulation hour. God’s throne, which symbolizes MERCY AND LOVE, IS CLOSED AT THIS TIME. This is also indicated in Second Thessalonians (2:11-12). "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Jesus told St. Faustina regarding the LUKEWARM AND INDIFFERENT SOULS: "These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy" (diary 1228).
Regarding this closure of divine mercy, we find in the DIARY OF ST. FAUSTINA: “Oh, what great graces I will grant to souls who say this chaplet; the very depths of My tender mercy are stirred for the sake of those who say the chaplet. Write down these words, My daughter. Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. IT IS A SIGN FOR THE END TIMES; AFTER IT WILL COME THE DAY OF JUSTICE. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them” (848). “Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, BECAUSE THE AWFUL DAY, THE DAY OF MY JUSTICE, IS NEAR” (965). “These words are for you. Do all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be worshiped, and I AM GIVING MANKIND THE LAST HOPE OF SALVATION; that is, recourse to My mercy. My heart rejoices in this feast” (998). “Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: BEFORE I COME AS JUST JUDGE, I FIRST OPEN WIDE THE DOOR OF MY MERCY. HE WHO REFUSES TO PASS THROUGH THE DOOR OF MY MERCY MUST PASS THROUGH THE DOOR OF MY JUSTICE…” (1146). “Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but IT WILL BE TOO LATE” (1448). “In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. BEFORE THE DAY OF JUSTICE I AM SENDING THE DAY OF MERCY” (1588).
Sister Lucia of Fatima said to Father Agostino Fuentes (1957): “Our Lady said that if we do not listen and if we still offend we will not be pardoned. Father, it is urgent that we realize this terrible reality. We do not want to fill the souls with fear, but only it is urgent a recall to reality. From when the Holy Virgin gave such a great efficaciousness to the Rosary, there does not exist any material, spiritual, national or international problem that cannot be resolved with THE HOLY ROSARY AND WITH OUR SACRIFICES. To recite it with devotion will be to consol Mary and to wipe away so many tears from her Immaculate Heart.”
In the final message of the Blessed Virgin on October 13, 1973, at AKITA, JAPAN, on the anniversary of the miracle of the Sun at Fatima, she said to Sister Agnes Sasagawa: "As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be A PUNISHMENT GREATER THAN THE DELUGE, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The SURVIVORS will find themselves so desolate that they WILL ENVY THE DEAD. The only arms that will remain for you will be the Rosary and Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the pope, the bishops, and the priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their conferees…churches and altars sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromise and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them." (http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/akita.htm).
Jesus said: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren" (Lk 22:31-32). Then afterwards Jesus said: “PRAY THAT YOU MAY NOT ENTER INTO TEMPTATION” (Lk 22:40). “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:46). Peter slept and thus Peter denied Jesus three times (Lk 22:54-62); the other disciples forsook Jesus and fled (Mt 26:56). Peter and the other disciples did not prepare for their holy week, their Good Friday. But at least Peter “went out and wept bitterly” (Lk 22:62). Several saints have indicated that Peter went to the Mother of Jesus in order to obtained the grace of repentance as we saw in the film “The Passion of Christ” by Mel Gibson. Will we have the grace to weep as Peter did during our holy week, at the moment of our Good Friday? GOD OFFERS US NOW so many possibilities and graces in order to repent and obtain the precious mercy of God. AFTERWARDS, IT WILL BE TOO LATE! We will not be offered later the grace to “weep bitterly” and repent as Peter did. SEE THE APPENDIX BELOW.
In the liturgy, we read the Passion of Jesus Christ only two times each year: today and Good Friday, even though the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus is central in our faith and central in the Gospels. DURING THE YEAR, HOW MANY TIMES DID WE ENTER THE CHURCH by ourselves or together as a family or as a group TO PRAY THE WAY OF THE CROSS? Are the images of the Way of the Cross in our churches only for decoration?
If a wife is suffering tremendously and her husband does not care at all (or vise versa), it is an ugly situation. But this pain is a small drop compared to that which Jesus suffered. Jesus, who gave us all that we have, who died IN A HORRIBLE WAY for each one of us personally and individually, DO WE CARE?!? If I were the only person on the face of the earth, my sins are so terrible that Jesus would have come to the earth in order to suffer His whole dreadful passion and death just for me alone! We are so immersed in the “tyranny of relativism”, without realizing it, that we see this reality of the passion and death of Jesus from our criteria and point of view without seeking to discover and to understand this cosmic event from the criteria and point of view of Jesus.
God loves each of us immensely if we like it or not. God did not ask us if we wanted to be created, but God asks each of us if we want to be redeemed! So many children who are so much loved by their parents rebel against this love because THEY DO NOT WANT TO RESPOND TO THIS LOVE and they do not feel comfortable at all in this situation. But often we too think that our sins are not so bad, and after all, Jesus is happy and comfortable in heaven. And so we say: “Enough, let’s not talk about it anymore!”
We forget that THE GREATER THE LOVE IS, THE GREATER IS THE PAIN due to insensitivity and indifference. God who loves each one of us immensely suffers more than we can imagine due to our indifference. One might say how can this be if Jesus already died 2000 years ago? We must remember that for God there is no past or future but only THE ETERNAL PRESENT. Jesus suffered (“suffers”) not only for the sins of those who lived before and during his crucifixion, but also for all of the sins after his crucifixion. We slough off so easily this fundamental indifference of not responding to love. We think that the delinquents who we read about in the newspapers are the bad ones but we are the good ones!!! But we are in the same house with the Lord and thus our indifference causes Jesus to suffer much more than the assassins and the prostitutes! God is love; He created us freely out of love and then suffers and dies on the cross in the eternal present for our not responding to this immense and personal love for each one of us.
Very often children do not think about how much their parents have worked and suffered for them; we are truly blind in our egoism. LOVE ACCORDING TO THE WORLD EXPECTS A RETURN, at least in a hidden way. While parents and other persons are useful to us, we put up with them! At a funeral, one feels sorrow for the person in the casket, but for Jesus crucified!?! And then we do not understand why one spends so many years in purgatory, or worse! Sister Mary Gabriel in purgatory told Sister Mary of the Cross: “Each day thousands of souls come to Purgatory and most of them remain thirty to forty years, some for longer periods, others for shorter. I tell you this in terms of earthly calculations because here it is quite different” (http://purgatory-manu.blogspot.com/).
An entire life is not enough to penetrate and understand the love of Jesus for each one of us in His Passion. OH HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MEDITATE EVERYDAY ON THE PASSION OF JESUS. Slowly our hearts become more soft and receptive, and we begin to see the passion of Christ from the point of view of Christ instead of from our point of view closed in our presumption and egoism, like ungrateful children. The saints meditated everyday on the passion of Christ. When the people offered to construct the Way of the Cross at San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio responded that this was the most beautiful thing they every did. Let us read the passion in the Gospels; let us meditate the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary often.
It is not simply a question of mathematical knowledge and then we know it all. It is a question of the heart and thus IT IS A WALK OF LOVE IN THE SEARCH OF THE TRUTH of how much Jesus loves each of us and how much we are blind and indifferent in our egoism. Meditating on the passion of Jesus we discover the great price that Jesus paid for our salvation due to our sins. Our dignity is so great, created in the image of God Himself, that there was needed such great suffering by the Son of God Himself. Not responding to Love due to our horrible indifference, is a sin beyond our imagination! Meditating on the passion helps us TO UNDERSTAND THE GRAVITY OF SIN and its consequences; otherwise we remain in our indifference, cold and heartless as the beasts! The Popes Pius XII and John Paul II said that the gravest sin today is to believe that there is no sin! But above all, let us meditate often on the passion of Jesus IN ORDER TO OFFER TO JESUS CONSOLATION and company in His great agony!
A great number of people will say to Jesus at judgment: “I did not know how much you loved me!” They had willfully decided to not seek or want to discover the truth. So many think and say: “Ignorance is bliss!” But it is rather: “DESIRED AND CHOSEN IGNORANCE IS CONDEMNATION!” “The Truth Shall Set You Free” (Jn 8:32)!
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APPENDIX:
We read in Revelation 15:8: “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and NO ONE COULD ENTER THE TEMPLE until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.” This seems to indicate that the Temple area is sealed to angels and men during the final forty-two months of the Tribulation hour. God’s throne, which symbolizes MERCY AND LOVE, IS CLOSED AT THIS TIME. This is also indicated in Second Thessalonians (2:11-12). "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Jesus told St. Faustina regarding the LUKEWARM AND INDIFFERENT SOULS: "These souls cause Me more suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revulsion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.' The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy" (diary 1228).
Regarding this closure of divine mercy, we find in the DIARY OF ST. FAUSTINA: “Oh, what great graces I will grant to souls who say this chaplet; the very depths of My tender mercy are stirred for the sake of those who say the chaplet. Write down these words, My daughter. Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. IT IS A SIGN FOR THE END TIMES; AFTER IT WILL COME THE DAY OF JUSTICE. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them” (848). “Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, BECAUSE THE AWFUL DAY, THE DAY OF MY JUSTICE, IS NEAR” (965). “These words are for you. Do all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be worshiped, and I AM GIVING MANKIND THE LAST HOPE OF SALVATION; that is, recourse to My mercy. My heart rejoices in this feast” (998). “Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: BEFORE I COME AS JUST JUDGE, I FIRST OPEN WIDE THE DOOR OF MY MERCY. HE WHO REFUSES TO PASS THROUGH THE DOOR OF MY MERCY MUST PASS THROUGH THE DOOR OF MY JUSTICE…” (1146). “Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but IT WILL BE TOO LATE” (1448). “In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. BEFORE THE DAY OF JUSTICE I AM SENDING THE DAY OF MERCY” (1588).
Sister Lucia of Fatima said to Father Agostino Fuentes (1957): “Our Lady said that if we do not listen and if we still offend we will not be pardoned. Father, it is urgent that we realize this terrible reality. We do not want to fill the souls with fear, but only it is urgent a recall to reality. From when the Holy Virgin gave such a great efficaciousness to the Rosary, there does not exist any material, spiritual, national or international problem that cannot be resolved with THE HOLY ROSARY AND WITH OUR SACRIFICES. To recite it with devotion will be to consol Mary and to wipe away so many tears from her Immaculate Heart.”
In the final message of the Blessed Virgin on October 13, 1973, at AKITA, JAPAN, on the anniversary of the miracle of the Sun at Fatima, she said to Sister Agnes Sasagawa: "As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be A PUNISHMENT GREATER THAN THE DELUGE, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The SURVIVORS will find themselves so desolate that they WILL ENVY THE DEAD. The only arms that will remain for you will be the Rosary and Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the pope, the bishops, and the priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their conferees…churches and altars sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromise and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them." (http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/akita.htm).
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Lent 3C
In the FIRST LETTER we read: “When the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see, God called (“shouted”) to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.” Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Ex 3:4-5).
We have in the Eucharist not just a holy thing but the DIVINE PERSON! What do we do? Like Moses, would God shout also at us due to our behavior before the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, in Person?
When Moses offered before the Lord “a bull calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish”, … “A fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.” (Lev 9:2,24).
SEE THE APPENDIX below regarding the respect and reverence due to the Most Holy Eucharist!
In the GOSPEL, Jesus said: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish…” (Lk 13:2-3).
Today Jesus would say: “Do you believe that those 230,000 people in the Indian Ocean (sea quake, Dec. 26, 2004) or in Haiti (earthquake, Jan. 12, 2010) or in Chile (earthquake, Feb. 27, 2010) or in Turkey (earthquake, March 8, 2010) were worse sinners than all of you? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish…” Before “they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mt 24:30), … “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES: all this is but the beginning of the sufferings…” (Mt 24:7).
In the same passage of the GOSPEL for this Sunday Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down’.” (Lk 13:6-9). THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD IS GOD who does not find fruit for many years from humanity. THE VINEDRESSER IS THE QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE at Fatima (1917) who prostrates herself before the infinite God to beg Him for another 100 years for humanity!
Are we the fig tree? THE DIGGING ABOUT IT AND THE PUTTING OF MANURE in the parabola represents the sufferings and the trials that God sends us for our good and for our conversion. If we accept and embrace these sufferings as trusting children, we render fruits; if we complain and rebel, there will be no fruits and in the end we will be cut down and burned like the fig tree.
“Unless you repent…” Many saints tell us that we love Jesus only to the point that we love an irritating beggar! Saint Therese of the Child Jesus sought out the most disagreeable sisters in her community. We love Jesus only to the point that we love THE MOST DIFFICULT PEOPLE! “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Mt 5:46; Lk 6:32).
In the SECOND LETTER Saint Paul tells us: “Nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1Cor 10:10-12). If we are standing erect, Jesus does not meet us, because He lives bent over with His hands extended to lift up the fallen and so we remain sterile like the fig tree, all leaves and no fruit.
In the Old Testament, when the people listened to the prophets of God and did penance, as at Nineveh (Jon 3:5), God did not punish them. But when they did not listen to the prophets of God, as at Sodom and Gomorrah, they were destroyed (Gen 19). “The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah” (Mt 12:41). Seven times the people of Israel abandoned God in the Book of Judges. In our times God sends THE GREATEST PROPHET, the Queen of the entire Universe!
Sister Lucy of Fatima said to Father Agostino Fuentes, the postulator of the cause of beatification of Giacinta e Francesco (December 26, 1957): “Our Lady is very displeased because it is not taken into account her message of 1917. Neither the good nor the bad have held them in consideration. Believe me my Father, the Lord will punish the world very soon; the punishment is immanent! Many nations will disappear from the face of the earth, many nations will be annihilated. … The devil knows that the religious and the priests, not living up to their beautiful vocation, drag many souls to hell. … We have at our disposition TWO EFFICACIOUS MEANS: Prayer and Sacrifice. … The third time she said that, THE OTHER MEANS EXHAUSTED AND DESPISED BY MEN, HE WILL GIVE WITH TREMBLING THE LAST ANCHOR OF SALVATION WHICH IS THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN IN PERSON, SIGNS OF TEARS, MESSAGES OF SEERS SPREAD IN ALL THE PARTS OF THE EARTH. Our Lady said that if we do not listen and if we still offend we will not be pardoned. Father, it is urgent that we realize this terrible reality. We do not want to fill the souls with fear, BUT ONLY IT IS URGENT A RECALL TO REALITY. From when the Holy Virgin gave such a great efficaciousness to the Rosary, there does not exist any material, spiritual, national or international problem that cannot be resolved with THE HOLY ROSARY AND WITH OUR SACRIFICES. To recite it with devotion will be to consol Mary and to wipe away so many tears from her Immaculate Heart. … Our Lady expressly said: “We are approaching the end times”.”
In the final message of the Blessed Virgin, October 13, 1973, on the anniversary of the last apparition and of the miracle of Fatima, at AKITA, JAPAN, she said to Sister Agnes Sasagawa: “As I told you, IF MEN DO NOT REPENT AND BETTER THEMSELVES, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms that will remain for you will be the Rosary and Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the pope, the bishops, and the priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their conferees…churches and altars sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromise and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.” (http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/akita.htm).
OUR LADY WARNS US BECAUSE SHE LOVES US; she cries for us! Pope Benedict XVI wrote in the book "The Ratzinger Report" (1985): "One of the signs of our times is that the announcements of 'MARIAN APPARITIONS' ARE MULTIPLYING ALL OVER THE WORLD."
We are so far from God today, in our indifference and in our “TYRANNY OF RELATIVISM”, that when the punishment arrives to us, THE GREAT MAJORITY WILL BLASPHEME and will put the blame on God, if they even still believe in God! We do not succeed in understanding the connection between the crisis of today and our egoism in our society and culture today. For the first time in the history of the world, in the rich countries as in Europe and in North America, there are more grand parents than babies; and we ask why there is an economic crisis!?! Many adults complain about the youth. But it is we adults who put the world the condition it is today; the youth arrived only now! The egoism of the grandparents and parents caused this world crisis which is now only the beginning!
WE DO NOT TRUST ANYMORE IN GOD and in His Holy Mother Church that Jesus left us here on earth for our own good; the great majority of Catholics trust in themselves instead of in Jesus who expresses Himself in the teachings of the Church, such as “Humanae Vitae”! We are surrounded by a culture (TV, manipulated mass media, sabotaged schools, etc.) that brain wash us that our dignity is at the level of the animals, and thus it seems normal to have sex when and where we want, just like the animals. The greater the love of God for us, the greater the dignity and thus the greater the responsibility as human beings created in the image of God Himself! God cannot love us half way; He loves us immensely whether we like it or not! Each of our callings, our vocations, is great! There is no place in heaven for the mediocre even though many of us would prefer to live an easier, more comfortable mediocre life! Our Head and Model is Jesus Crucified who continually headed toward Jerusalem, to Calvary, all of His life! Life is a “dour combat with the powers of evil” (CCC 409)! Jesus would say to many of us today, including to many priests and bishops, as He said to the first pope at the beginning of his walk with Christ: “Get behind me Satan! Your are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men” (Mt 16:23).
OUR TRUE GOD-GIVEN DIGNITY, created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), is at the level of the angels, and thus the sexual act is great within matrimony, blessed by God! So many young people today have never heard or experienced this, and thus have not discovered the truth of their great dignity before their Creator, and thus they do not understand why it does so much damage and it is so evil to have sex outside of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Many of our young people have never experienced the true freedom offered by Jesus (Jn 8). Our culture today has swallowed the lies of Satan who says that God and His Church take away our freedom, they restrict our liberty. Our culture today tells us: “You do not want to be over there; come over here. Because over here, you are free to do whatever you want.” What is our cultural affirmation for this lie? “If it feels good, do it!” But here is the ironic thing. The very things that the culture says that are going to make us happy, that are going to make us free, are the very same things that we become enslaved to in the worst way. We must help the people of good will to come out of this COMFORTABLE AND DECEPTIVE ILLUSION proposed with great force by our “CULTURE OF DEATH”, as Pope John Paul II wrote, in order to go toward THE TRUTH who is Jesus on the Cross! (http://testimony-polo.blogspot.com/).
Why did our Lady of Fatima show the three shepherd children a vision of hell with thousands of souls falling into the abyss everyday like sparks into a great fire? Precisely because so many bishops and priests and parents DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT THESE SO IMPORTANT ETERNAL TRUTHS ANYMORE! It is easier and more pleasant to make the people happy and to say what they prefer to hear, without saying the stronger words of Jesus in the Gospel. Our Lady at Oulx in Val di Suza (TO) was crying because children, even eight years old, end up in hell for all eternity! Lucy of Fatima revealed to Father Fuentes (1957) that the face of our Lady was always very sad. Our Lady sheds tears for each of her children who fall into hell for all eternity! Lucy of Fatima revealed to Father Fuentes (1957) that the face of our Lady was always very sad. Our Lady sheds tears for each of her children who fall into hell for all eternity! Our Lady sheds tears for each of her children who fall into hell for all eternity! God respects our primordial gift of our free will, being created in His image (Gen 1:26-27). This is true love! We are capable of saying NO to GOD! Hell exists! The devil exists even if so many bishops and priests do not believe this (http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2879).
If I am heading toward hell, I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL, for all eternity, if someone might pray and offer sacrifices for me so that I might convert before I die and go to the lowest place in purgatory for countless years, instead of going to hell for all eternity!
LET US LISTEN TO OUR HEAVENLY MAMMA, and let us dry her tears who cries in extreme pain for every child she looses for eternity! Let us pray and offer many sacrifices for the conversion of souls before they die! The fig tree is about to be cut down!
When the three shepherd children ask the name of the beautiful Lady, she replied: “I am the Lady of the Rosary” (Fatima; October 13, 1917)! What was Our Lady trying to tell us by choosing this title?!? (http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/fatima.htm).
Jesus lived 33 years. His most intense years were His last 3 years. His most intense week was the Holy Week. His most intense hours were His last 3 hours. Even though Jesus in His humanity desired not to suffer (Mt 26:39), Jesus did the will of His Father for love of us. Throughout His life, Jesus headed toward Jerusalem, toward Calvary, to fulfill His hour (Mt 26:45)! His Body, the Church, has been going through the life of the Body of Christ, with Jesus as the invisible head, in the last 2000 years. Christ’s Body is about to enter into its Holy Week! Each of us can ask ourselves: “Am I ready to be crucified as part of the Body of Christ, the Church? There is no Resurrection without the Crucifixion; there is no Easter without Good Friday!
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APPENDIX:
(To read the rest of the articles and references, visit the Web addresses indicated.)
On May 29, 1969 the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship issued “MEMORIALE DOMINI”, containing the Instruction on the Manner of Distributing Holy Communion, which is still in vigor and could be summarized as follows: the prohibition of receiving Holy Communion in the hand remains in vigor in the universal mode and the bishops, priests and faithful are heartily exhorted to diligently follow this law newly reasserted. Nonetheless, WHERE THIS USE MAY HAVE BEEN ENTRENCHED AND INTRODUCED IN AN ILLICIT MANNER, there is provided the possibility to concede to those sectors which are NOT DISPOSED TO OBEY THIS EXHORTATION.
MEMORIALE DOMINI:
“Therefore, taking into account the remarks and the advice of those whom "the Holy Spirit has placed to rule over" the Churches, in view of the gravity of the matter and the force of the arguments put forward, the Holy Father has decided not to change the existing way of administering holy communion to the faithful. … The Apostolic See therefore emphatically urges bishops, priests and laity to obey carefully the law which is still valid and which has again been confirmed.”
http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwmemor.htm
In the volume of the “ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS” of 1969, one reads:
“In reply to the request of your conference of bishops regarding permission to give communion by placing the host on the hand of the faithful, I wish to communicate the following. Pope Paul Vl calls attention to the purpose of the Instruction “Memoriale Domini” of 29 May 1969, on retaining the traditional practice in use. At the same time he has taken into account the reasons given to support your request and the outcome of the vote taken on this matter. The Pope grants that throughout the territory of your conference, each bishop may, according to his prudent judgment and conscience, authorize in his diocese the introduction of the new rite for giving communion. The condition is the complete avoidance of any cause for the faithful to be shocked and any danger of irreverence toward the Eucharist. The following norms must therefore be respected.” [My emphasis. One wonders if this condition is being met.] …”
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/communion_in_hand.htm
Note: In the ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS (pp. 546-547) the Instruction was accompanied by a sample of the letter (in French) which is sent to hierarchies who ask for and are granted permission to introduce the practice of holy communion on the hand. The letter laid down the following regulations:
1. The new method of administering communion should not be imposed in a way that would exclude the traditional usage....
http://wherethereispeter.blogspot.com/2010/01/holy-communion-on-tongue-or-hand.html
“POPE BENEDICT Sets the Norm for Receiving Communion”; “In other words, it is an exception to the norm, and Pope Benedict is making it clear what the norm has been and still is: Communion on the tongue while kneeling. … In L'Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican, Monsignor Guido Marini was asked whether the "practice [is] destined to become habitual in papal ceremonies." I really think so. . . . The method adopted by Benedict XVI tends to underscore the force of the norm valid for the whole Church. In addition, one could perhaps also note a preference for using this method of distribution which, without taking anything from the other, better sheds light on the truth of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, it helps the devotion of the faithful, introduces them more easily to a sense of mystery. Aspects which, in our time, speaking pastorally, it is urgent to highlight and recover.” (http://catholicism.about.com/b/2008/06/26/pope-benedict-sets-the-norm-for-receiving-communion.htm).
The Papal master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini announced a new Vatican protocol for receiving communion in L’Osservatore Romano this week. From now on, to receive communion from Pope Benedict at papal liturgies, one will have to kneel and receive on the tongue. Though the current norms allow the faithful to receive in the hand while standing, Pope Benedict has indicated a clear preference for the traditional posture going forward. This is totally consistent with his revival of the traditional Latin Mass (to say nothing of various papal accessories). (http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blogposts_ID=462&blog_ID=2).
INAESTIMABILE DONUM
Instruction Concerning Worship Of The Eucharistic Mystery
10. The faithful, whether religious or lay, who are authorized as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist can distribute Communion only when there is no priest, deacon or acolyte, when the priest is impeded by illness or advanced age, or when the number of the faithful going to Communion is so large as to make the celebration of Mass excessively long.[20] Accordingly, a reprehensible attitude is shown by those priests who, though present at the celebration, refrain from distributing Communion and leave this task to the laity.
11. The Church has always required from the faithful respect and reverence for the Eucharist at the moment of receiving it.
With regard to the manner of going to Communion, the faithful can receive it either kneeling or standing, in accordance with the norms laid down by the Episcopal conference: "When the faithful communicate kneeling, no other sign of reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament is required, since kneeling is itself a sign of adoration. When they receive Communion standing, it is strongly recommended that, coming up in procession, they should make a sign of reverence before receiving the Sacrament. This should be done at the right time and place, so that the order of people going to and from Communion is not disrupted."[21]
The Amen said by the faithful when receiving Communion is an act of personal faith in the presence of Christ.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2INAES.HTM
GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL
Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship
“The people should kneel at the consecration unless prevented by the lack of space, the number of people present, or some other good reason.” (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/GIRM.HTM).
Cardinal Cañizares on Communion Received Kneeling
CARDINAL ANTONIO CAÑIZARES, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is still at the same time Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Toledo. There, during Holy Week, he reinstated the communion rail in the Cathedral and encouraged the faithful to receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue (cf. report in Spanish here; kneelers for receiving Holy Communion kneeling have also been recently introduced at two other Spanish Cathedrals, that of Málaga, beginning with the Chrism Mass, and that of the Diocese of the Armed Forces in Madrid, cf. report in Spanish here). After his successor, Msgr. Braulio Rodríguez, until now Archbishop of Valladolid, has been named last week, Cardinal Cañizares before leaving the Archdiocese has granted an interview to the Spanish newspaper ABC. Here is the question concerning the reception of Holy Communion in an NLM translation:…
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/04/cardinal-canizares-on-communion.html
Words from Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera
He's of one mind with His Holiness.
“Urgent business there is every morning, referring to excesses and errors which are being committed in the liturgy, but above all, THE MOST URGENT ISSUE that is pressing all over the world, is that the sense of the liturgy be truly recovered.” (http://gregorianrite2007.blogspot.com/2009/11/words-from-cardinal-antonio-canizares.html).
AT LAST: POPE BENEDICT'S LITURGICAL REFORMS ARE TAKING SHAPE
“Pope Benedict’s cleaning-up of trendified liturgy is happening too slowly for most traditionalists – but it is definitely happening. Over the weekend we learned that he has approved a top-level Vatican document supporting more worship ad orientem – the priest “with his back to the people”, as the liberals say – and encouraging the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue instead of in the hand. The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, no less, is discussing plans for bishops and priests to face east for parts of the modern Mass. Also, we now know that a plenary session of the Congregation voted in March (2009) to reaffirm that Communion in the hand is not the norm. (You might call it the extraordinary form of receiving the Sacrament.)” (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100007373/at-last-pope-benedicts-liturgical-reforms-are-taking-shape/).
To see many Church documents regarding the respect and reverence due to the Most Holy Eucharist, visit: “The Real Presence Christ In The Eucharist” (http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/link/e-doc.html).
To read about many “Eucharistic Miracles”, visit: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html.
We have in the Eucharist not just a holy thing but the DIVINE PERSON! What do we do? Like Moses, would God shout also at us due to our behavior before the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, in Person?
When Moses offered before the Lord “a bull calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish”, … “A fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.” (Lev 9:2,24).
SEE THE APPENDIX below regarding the respect and reverence due to the Most Holy Eucharist!
In the GOSPEL, Jesus said: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish…” (Lk 13:2-3).
Today Jesus would say: “Do you believe that those 230,000 people in the Indian Ocean (sea quake, Dec. 26, 2004) or in Haiti (earthquake, Jan. 12, 2010) or in Chile (earthquake, Feb. 27, 2010) or in Turkey (earthquake, March 8, 2010) were worse sinners than all of you? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish…” Before “they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mt 24:30), … “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES: all this is but the beginning of the sufferings…” (Mt 24:7).
In the same passage of the GOSPEL for this Sunday Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down’.” (Lk 13:6-9). THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD IS GOD who does not find fruit for many years from humanity. THE VINEDRESSER IS THE QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE at Fatima (1917) who prostrates herself before the infinite God to beg Him for another 100 years for humanity!
Are we the fig tree? THE DIGGING ABOUT IT AND THE PUTTING OF MANURE in the parabola represents the sufferings and the trials that God sends us for our good and for our conversion. If we accept and embrace these sufferings as trusting children, we render fruits; if we complain and rebel, there will be no fruits and in the end we will be cut down and burned like the fig tree.
“Unless you repent…” Many saints tell us that we love Jesus only to the point that we love an irritating beggar! Saint Therese of the Child Jesus sought out the most disagreeable sisters in her community. We love Jesus only to the point that we love THE MOST DIFFICULT PEOPLE! “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Mt 5:46; Lk 6:32).
In the SECOND LETTER Saint Paul tells us: “Nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1Cor 10:10-12). If we are standing erect, Jesus does not meet us, because He lives bent over with His hands extended to lift up the fallen and so we remain sterile like the fig tree, all leaves and no fruit.
In the Old Testament, when the people listened to the prophets of God and did penance, as at Nineveh (Jon 3:5), God did not punish them. But when they did not listen to the prophets of God, as at Sodom and Gomorrah, they were destroyed (Gen 19). “The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah” (Mt 12:41). Seven times the people of Israel abandoned God in the Book of Judges. In our times God sends THE GREATEST PROPHET, the Queen of the entire Universe!
Sister Lucy of Fatima said to Father Agostino Fuentes, the postulator of the cause of beatification of Giacinta e Francesco (December 26, 1957): “Our Lady is very displeased because it is not taken into account her message of 1917. Neither the good nor the bad have held them in consideration. Believe me my Father, the Lord will punish the world very soon; the punishment is immanent! Many nations will disappear from the face of the earth, many nations will be annihilated. … The devil knows that the religious and the priests, not living up to their beautiful vocation, drag many souls to hell. … We have at our disposition TWO EFFICACIOUS MEANS: Prayer and Sacrifice. … The third time she said that, THE OTHER MEANS EXHAUSTED AND DESPISED BY MEN, HE WILL GIVE WITH TREMBLING THE LAST ANCHOR OF SALVATION WHICH IS THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN IN PERSON, SIGNS OF TEARS, MESSAGES OF SEERS SPREAD IN ALL THE PARTS OF THE EARTH. Our Lady said that if we do not listen and if we still offend we will not be pardoned. Father, it is urgent that we realize this terrible reality. We do not want to fill the souls with fear, BUT ONLY IT IS URGENT A RECALL TO REALITY. From when the Holy Virgin gave such a great efficaciousness to the Rosary, there does not exist any material, spiritual, national or international problem that cannot be resolved with THE HOLY ROSARY AND WITH OUR SACRIFICES. To recite it with devotion will be to consol Mary and to wipe away so many tears from her Immaculate Heart. … Our Lady expressly said: “We are approaching the end times”.”
In the final message of the Blessed Virgin, October 13, 1973, on the anniversary of the last apparition and of the miracle of Fatima, at AKITA, JAPAN, she said to Sister Agnes Sasagawa: “As I told you, IF MEN DO NOT REPENT AND BETTER THEMSELVES, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms that will remain for you will be the Rosary and Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the pope, the bishops, and the priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their conferees…churches and altars sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromise and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.” (http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/akita.htm).
OUR LADY WARNS US BECAUSE SHE LOVES US; she cries for us! Pope Benedict XVI wrote in the book "The Ratzinger Report" (1985): "One of the signs of our times is that the announcements of 'MARIAN APPARITIONS' ARE MULTIPLYING ALL OVER THE WORLD."
We are so far from God today, in our indifference and in our “TYRANNY OF RELATIVISM”, that when the punishment arrives to us, THE GREAT MAJORITY WILL BLASPHEME and will put the blame on God, if they even still believe in God! We do not succeed in understanding the connection between the crisis of today and our egoism in our society and culture today. For the first time in the history of the world, in the rich countries as in Europe and in North America, there are more grand parents than babies; and we ask why there is an economic crisis!?! Many adults complain about the youth. But it is we adults who put the world the condition it is today; the youth arrived only now! The egoism of the grandparents and parents caused this world crisis which is now only the beginning!
WE DO NOT TRUST ANYMORE IN GOD and in His Holy Mother Church that Jesus left us here on earth for our own good; the great majority of Catholics trust in themselves instead of in Jesus who expresses Himself in the teachings of the Church, such as “Humanae Vitae”! We are surrounded by a culture (TV, manipulated mass media, sabotaged schools, etc.) that brain wash us that our dignity is at the level of the animals, and thus it seems normal to have sex when and where we want, just like the animals. The greater the love of God for us, the greater the dignity and thus the greater the responsibility as human beings created in the image of God Himself! God cannot love us half way; He loves us immensely whether we like it or not! Each of our callings, our vocations, is great! There is no place in heaven for the mediocre even though many of us would prefer to live an easier, more comfortable mediocre life! Our Head and Model is Jesus Crucified who continually headed toward Jerusalem, to Calvary, all of His life! Life is a “dour combat with the powers of evil” (CCC 409)! Jesus would say to many of us today, including to many priests and bishops, as He said to the first pope at the beginning of his walk with Christ: “Get behind me Satan! Your are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men” (Mt 16:23).
OUR TRUE GOD-GIVEN DIGNITY, created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), is at the level of the angels, and thus the sexual act is great within matrimony, blessed by God! So many young people today have never heard or experienced this, and thus have not discovered the truth of their great dignity before their Creator, and thus they do not understand why it does so much damage and it is so evil to have sex outside of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Many of our young people have never experienced the true freedom offered by Jesus (Jn 8). Our culture today has swallowed the lies of Satan who says that God and His Church take away our freedom, they restrict our liberty. Our culture today tells us: “You do not want to be over there; come over here. Because over here, you are free to do whatever you want.” What is our cultural affirmation for this lie? “If it feels good, do it!” But here is the ironic thing. The very things that the culture says that are going to make us happy, that are going to make us free, are the very same things that we become enslaved to in the worst way. We must help the people of good will to come out of this COMFORTABLE AND DECEPTIVE ILLUSION proposed with great force by our “CULTURE OF DEATH”, as Pope John Paul II wrote, in order to go toward THE TRUTH who is Jesus on the Cross! (http://testimony-polo.blogspot.com/).
Why did our Lady of Fatima show the three shepherd children a vision of hell with thousands of souls falling into the abyss everyday like sparks into a great fire? Precisely because so many bishops and priests and parents DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT THESE SO IMPORTANT ETERNAL TRUTHS ANYMORE! It is easier and more pleasant to make the people happy and to say what they prefer to hear, without saying the stronger words of Jesus in the Gospel. Our Lady at Oulx in Val di Suza (TO) was crying because children, even eight years old, end up in hell for all eternity! Lucy of Fatima revealed to Father Fuentes (1957) that the face of our Lady was always very sad. Our Lady sheds tears for each of her children who fall into hell for all eternity! Lucy of Fatima revealed to Father Fuentes (1957) that the face of our Lady was always very sad. Our Lady sheds tears for each of her children who fall into hell for all eternity! Our Lady sheds tears for each of her children who fall into hell for all eternity! God respects our primordial gift of our free will, being created in His image (Gen 1:26-27). This is true love! We are capable of saying NO to GOD! Hell exists! The devil exists even if so many bishops and priests do not believe this (http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2879).
If I am heading toward hell, I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL, for all eternity, if someone might pray and offer sacrifices for me so that I might convert before I die and go to the lowest place in purgatory for countless years, instead of going to hell for all eternity!
LET US LISTEN TO OUR HEAVENLY MAMMA, and let us dry her tears who cries in extreme pain for every child she looses for eternity! Let us pray and offer many sacrifices for the conversion of souls before they die! The fig tree is about to be cut down!
When the three shepherd children ask the name of the beautiful Lady, she replied: “I am the Lady of the Rosary” (Fatima; October 13, 1917)! What was Our Lady trying to tell us by choosing this title?!? (http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/fatima.htm).
Jesus lived 33 years. His most intense years were His last 3 years. His most intense week was the Holy Week. His most intense hours were His last 3 hours. Even though Jesus in His humanity desired not to suffer (Mt 26:39), Jesus did the will of His Father for love of us. Throughout His life, Jesus headed toward Jerusalem, toward Calvary, to fulfill His hour (Mt 26:45)! His Body, the Church, has been going through the life of the Body of Christ, with Jesus as the invisible head, in the last 2000 years. Christ’s Body is about to enter into its Holy Week! Each of us can ask ourselves: “Am I ready to be crucified as part of the Body of Christ, the Church? There is no Resurrection without the Crucifixion; there is no Easter without Good Friday!
- - - - - - -
APPENDIX:
(To read the rest of the articles and references, visit the Web addresses indicated.)
On May 29, 1969 the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship issued “MEMORIALE DOMINI”, containing the Instruction on the Manner of Distributing Holy Communion, which is still in vigor and could be summarized as follows: the prohibition of receiving Holy Communion in the hand remains in vigor in the universal mode and the bishops, priests and faithful are heartily exhorted to diligently follow this law newly reasserted. Nonetheless, WHERE THIS USE MAY HAVE BEEN ENTRENCHED AND INTRODUCED IN AN ILLICIT MANNER, there is provided the possibility to concede to those sectors which are NOT DISPOSED TO OBEY THIS EXHORTATION.
MEMORIALE DOMINI:
“Therefore, taking into account the remarks and the advice of those whom "the Holy Spirit has placed to rule over" the Churches, in view of the gravity of the matter and the force of the arguments put forward, the Holy Father has decided not to change the existing way of administering holy communion to the faithful. … The Apostolic See therefore emphatically urges bishops, priests and laity to obey carefully the law which is still valid and which has again been confirmed.”
http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwmemor.htm
In the volume of the “ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS” of 1969, one reads:
“In reply to the request of your conference of bishops regarding permission to give communion by placing the host on the hand of the faithful, I wish to communicate the following. Pope Paul Vl calls attention to the purpose of the Instruction “Memoriale Domini” of 29 May 1969, on retaining the traditional practice in use. At the same time he has taken into account the reasons given to support your request and the outcome of the vote taken on this matter. The Pope grants that throughout the territory of your conference, each bishop may, according to his prudent judgment and conscience, authorize in his diocese the introduction of the new rite for giving communion. The condition is the complete avoidance of any cause for the faithful to be shocked and any danger of irreverence toward the Eucharist. The following norms must therefore be respected.” [My emphasis. One wonders if this condition is being met.] …”
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/communion_in_hand.htm
Note: In the ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS (pp. 546-547) the Instruction was accompanied by a sample of the letter (in French) which is sent to hierarchies who ask for and are granted permission to introduce the practice of holy communion on the hand. The letter laid down the following regulations:
1. The new method of administering communion should not be imposed in a way that would exclude the traditional usage....
http://wherethereispeter.blogspot.com/2010/01/holy-communion-on-tongue-or-hand.html
“POPE BENEDICT Sets the Norm for Receiving Communion”; “In other words, it is an exception to the norm, and Pope Benedict is making it clear what the norm has been and still is: Communion on the tongue while kneeling. … In L'Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican, Monsignor Guido Marini was asked whether the "practice [is] destined to become habitual in papal ceremonies." I really think so. . . . The method adopted by Benedict XVI tends to underscore the force of the norm valid for the whole Church. In addition, one could perhaps also note a preference for using this method of distribution which, without taking anything from the other, better sheds light on the truth of the Real Presence in the Eucharist, it helps the devotion of the faithful, introduces them more easily to a sense of mystery. Aspects which, in our time, speaking pastorally, it is urgent to highlight and recover.” (http://catholicism.about.com/b/2008/06/26/pope-benedict-sets-the-norm-for-receiving-communion.htm).
The Papal master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini announced a new Vatican protocol for receiving communion in L’Osservatore Romano this week. From now on, to receive communion from Pope Benedict at papal liturgies, one will have to kneel and receive on the tongue. Though the current norms allow the faithful to receive in the hand while standing, Pope Benedict has indicated a clear preference for the traditional posture going forward. This is totally consistent with his revival of the traditional Latin Mass (to say nothing of various papal accessories). (http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blogposts_ID=462&blog_ID=2).
INAESTIMABILE DONUM
Instruction Concerning Worship Of The Eucharistic Mystery
10. The faithful, whether religious or lay, who are authorized as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist can distribute Communion only when there is no priest, deacon or acolyte, when the priest is impeded by illness or advanced age, or when the number of the faithful going to Communion is so large as to make the celebration of Mass excessively long.[20] Accordingly, a reprehensible attitude is shown by those priests who, though present at the celebration, refrain from distributing Communion and leave this task to the laity.
11. The Church has always required from the faithful respect and reverence for the Eucharist at the moment of receiving it.
With regard to the manner of going to Communion, the faithful can receive it either kneeling or standing, in accordance with the norms laid down by the Episcopal conference: "When the faithful communicate kneeling, no other sign of reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament is required, since kneeling is itself a sign of adoration. When they receive Communion standing, it is strongly recommended that, coming up in procession, they should make a sign of reverence before receiving the Sacrament. This should be done at the right time and place, so that the order of people going to and from Communion is not disrupted."[21]
The Amen said by the faithful when receiving Communion is an act of personal faith in the presence of Christ.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2INAES.HTM
GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL
Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship
“The people should kneel at the consecration unless prevented by the lack of space, the number of people present, or some other good reason.” (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/GIRM.HTM).
Cardinal Cañizares on Communion Received Kneeling
CARDINAL ANTONIO CAÑIZARES, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is still at the same time Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Toledo. There, during Holy Week, he reinstated the communion rail in the Cathedral and encouraged the faithful to receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue (cf. report in Spanish here; kneelers for receiving Holy Communion kneeling have also been recently introduced at two other Spanish Cathedrals, that of Málaga, beginning with the Chrism Mass, and that of the Diocese of the Armed Forces in Madrid, cf. report in Spanish here). After his successor, Msgr. Braulio Rodríguez, until now Archbishop of Valladolid, has been named last week, Cardinal Cañizares before leaving the Archdiocese has granted an interview to the Spanish newspaper ABC. Here is the question concerning the reception of Holy Communion in an NLM translation:…
http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/04/cardinal-canizares-on-communion.html
Words from Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera
He's of one mind with His Holiness.
“Urgent business there is every morning, referring to excesses and errors which are being committed in the liturgy, but above all, THE MOST URGENT ISSUE that is pressing all over the world, is that the sense of the liturgy be truly recovered.” (http://gregorianrite2007.blogspot.com/2009/11/words-from-cardinal-antonio-canizares.html).
AT LAST: POPE BENEDICT'S LITURGICAL REFORMS ARE TAKING SHAPE
“Pope Benedict’s cleaning-up of trendified liturgy is happening too slowly for most traditionalists – but it is definitely happening. Over the weekend we learned that he has approved a top-level Vatican document supporting more worship ad orientem – the priest “with his back to the people”, as the liberals say – and encouraging the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue instead of in the hand. The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, no less, is discussing plans for bishops and priests to face east for parts of the modern Mass. Also, we now know that a plenary session of the Congregation voted in March (2009) to reaffirm that Communion in the hand is not the norm. (You might call it the extraordinary form of receiving the Sacrament.)” (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100007373/at-last-pope-benedicts-liturgical-reforms-are-taking-shape/).
To see many Church documents regarding the respect and reverence due to the Most Holy Eucharist, visit: “The Real Presence Christ In The Eucharist” (http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/link/e-doc.html).
To read about many “Eucharistic Miracles”, visit: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html.
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