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.