HWP: Immaculate Heart of Mary

Happy Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord! I was hoping to find a nice prayer for the feast, but came up with nothing. So we default to the monthly devotion: the Immaculate Heart of Mary! I didn't find the author of this beautiful prayer to the Immaculate Heart, but it is certainly rich in it's praises of Mary and pleas for her help. Enjoy this...

Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Heavenly beauty and splendor of the Father, You are the most valued Heavenly treasure. New Eve, immaculate in soul, spirit and body, Created of the godly seed by the Spirit of God, You are the spiritual Mother of mankind. Pure Virgin, full of grace then and now, Your whole being was raised Heavenly in full glory, To be elevated above all the hosts within the Kingdom of God. O Heavenly Mother, Queen of Heaven and earth, I recognize the glory of your highest title, The Immaculate Heart of Mary! Loving Mother, dispenser of endless blessings, You who continuously intercedes on our behalf, Please present my need before your loving Son Jesus. (Here, speak to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as you would speak to another person, begging your Heavenly Mother to plea to Jesus on your behalf, that you be granted your special request.) O Immaculate Heart of Mary, I know that you are now presenting my need before Jesus, For you have never turned away those in dire need. Mother dearest, I await your favorable answer, Submitting myself to the Divine will of the Lord, For all glories are His forever and ever.

Dogs, God, and Us

Readings for Sunday, August 3/ 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Isaiah 55:1-3
Psalm 145:8-9, 15-18
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21

How much do we trust Jesus Christ?

All of the readings this weekend highlight the fact that the Lord will provide for all of our needs, and yet we are faced with the reality spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, that we still spend our wages on that which fails to satisfy rather than turn to the Lord who will fill us with wine and milk and give us heavenly bread.

All of us have needs. All of us need food, drink, and air simply to survive. We need education and healthcare to survive and thrive in this world. We need intimacy with others, that closeness with others that permits us to know and be known, love and be loved. We all have needs and it is God Himself who wants to provide for them, but the catch is that we have to be willing to be fed.

Some of you may have noticed the black dog that wanders around the parking lot from time to time. He sits out in the yard across from the church and sometimes comes over and walks around, car to car, person to person looking for some food and attention. The funny thing is that I live here and see him all the time and I want to give him food and attention and he won’t come to me because he doesn’t trust me yet. I want to provide for him but he won’t let me yet. And we’re much the same with the Lord.

He wants to provide for our every need, but we’re hesitant to come near to Him because we’re afraid. In the past we’ve all gotten burned from trusting too much in people, and we are now hesitant to place our trust in the Father who made us - what happens when the day comes that we pray our hardest and try our best to be holy people and things don’t work out the way we want them to? What happens on the day that we feel like God, who is supposed to provide for our needs, isn’t listening? Those days come for all of us because God doesn’t always give us the things we want and He doesn’t always give us the things we need when we want them. He gives us our needs in due season, as Psalm 145 reminded us.

The temptation we all face is trusting not so much in Christ, but in ourselves. The scriptures tell me that if I trust in Jesus I will be richly provided for and will have more than I could have asked. But the thing is that in our wounded, mistrustful humanity, we often settle for a lower payout in exchange for having some control over the situation. We gladly take a worse situation just so that we don’t have to risk our heavenly Father letting us down. But if we never take the risk, we never get the payoff. If we never trust in Jesus in this life, how can we expect to inherit the gifts He has waiting for us in the next?

Y’all, God created us because He loves us. You parents and grandparents know what that love feels like; you know the lengths you would go and often have gone just to take care of your kids. And God’s love is even greater than that. He will provide for our needs, absolutely. But if we trust in Him, He’ll sometimes even provide for our wants, just like earthly parents do. All my life I have wanted to own one of those big orange traffic cones. I can’t explain why; I just wanted one. And guess what I had sitting in the patio of the rectory here at St. Ann’s when I arrived – a big orange traffic cone. It’s crazy, but you know what, I think God makes stuff like that happen sometimes. He loves us so much but He is just patiently waiting for us to realize the extent of that love for ourselves and come to Him to be fed with the grace in store for us, to receive our needs in this life, and to rejoice in the riches of the life to come. He is infinitely trustworthy because He makes no promise He has not kept; the question is how much do we trust Him?

Novena Alert!

Well, folks, St. Philomena's feast day is coming up on August 11 and that means that the novena starts today (if you want to end on the 10th) or tomorrow (if you want to end on her feast).

The novena prayers composed by St. Jean Vianney are available HERE (scroll about half-way down).

The shorter novena prayers are available HERE.

And for more information on the Life, Martyrdom and Intercessory Power of St. Philomena, check out the website of her shrine HERE and click the 'About' section at the top for options.

Papal Intentions for August 2014

Prayer for the Pope

V. Let us pray for Francis, our Pope.

R. May the Lord preserve him, give him life, 

and make him blessed upon the earth, 

and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Our Father... Hail Mary...

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Francis, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. 

Through Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

Papal Intentions for August 2014

Universal Intention: That refugees, forced by violence to abandon their homes, may find a generous welcome and the protection of their rights. 

Mission Intention: The Christians in Oceania may joyfully announce the faith to all the people of that region. 

HWP: St. Martha

Last Tuesday we celebrated the feast of St. Mary Magdelene. Yesterday we celebrated the feast of her sister, St. Martha. These two women of faith are great models in the Gospels to show us the way to love and serve the Lord Jesus. In looking for this week's HWP, I found this powerful prayer that opens the way for us to bring our troubled hearts to the Lord, where we might find rest in Him. So, take a moment and recollect the many things that have been on your heart in recent days and pray with me this...

Prayer to St. Martha

O blessed St. Martha, your faith led Jesus to proclaim, “I am the resurrection and the life”; and faith let you see beyond his humanity when you cried out, “Lord I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” With firm hope you said, “I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him”, and Jesus called your brother Lazarus back from the dead. With pure love for Jesus you welcomed him into your home.

Friend and servant of our Saviour, I too am “troubled about many things”. (mention your intentions) Pray for me that I may grow in faith, hope and love, and that Jesus, who sat at your table, will hear me and grant me a place at the banquet of eternal life. Amen.

Smelly Fish and Fine Pearls

Readings for Sunday, July 27/ 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
1 Kings 3:5,7-12

Psalm 119
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52

Last weekend the Lord gave us three parables about the identifying features of the Kingdom of Heaven: the evil mixed with the good, the exponential growth from seed to bush, and the transformative power of even the smallest bit. Today we continue with that section of the Gospel and hear the Lord Jesus tell us that it is not enough simply to know where the Kingdom of Heaven is. We must choose it for ourselves and be willing to give up everything in order to attain it.

The parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price illustrate well the challenge of Jesus. The individuals found something that was of greater worth than all of their other possessions and went to sell all that they had in order to attain the great treasure and pearl. There was nothing that could stop them from doing so because they were filled with such joy and the same should be said of the Kingdom of Heaven that is to come and the Kingdom of Heaven among us and within us even now. There is no greater treasure in the world. Do we live it?

The men who found the treasure and the pearl, if they had found them and then gone off rejoicing that they had found the special treasure but failed to actually go back and get it for themselves would be absolute fools. And us – we, too, would be absolute fools to discover the Kingdom of Heaven and fail to take the steps to attain it because it is greater even than the pearl of great price and the precious treasure. It is so great that there is nothing in this world that can compare to it. That’s why it’s worth setting everything else aside to attain it. But sometimes that ‘everything’ can be difficult to part with.

It’s been said that the cost of discipleship is nothing less than everything, all that we have and are. When I was discerning the priesthood there were many places where I encountered that ‘nothing less than everything’ in concrete ways and the one that was most difficult for me was, of course, the concrete cost of not having a wife and children. The desire for a spouse and children is written in every human heart, but some are invited to live that desire out in a spiritual manner rather than physical and I struggled with that discernment and the ultimate step of willingness to pay that cost. My consolation in those times was to turn to the words of Jesus in Matthew 19, where He says ‘whoever leaves behind father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and lands for my sake and the sake of the gospel will have it paid back a hundred-fold in this lifetime and more in the next.’ Well, I’m here today to tell you that I kinda think Jesus was lying to the disciples when He said a hundred-fold because as a pastor, I am quickly realizing I have way more than a hundred wives because every lady in the parish has a honey-do list for me, I have more kids than I could have dreamed of having and each has specific needs, and I have more brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and so-on than I know what to do with! I say Jesus was lying to them because the abundance of repayment that comes when we give up something for His sake is far beyond a hundred-fold. If He had been more accurate I think it would have scared the disciples at the immensity of the gift they would shortly receive. And that’s not even the best part!

A couple of weeks ago we heard St. Paul’s letter to the Romans tell us that ‘the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us.’ The worst things in this life will seem as absolutely nothing compared to the glory we will experience. But that applies also to the joys – the joys of this life, as good as they are, aren’t even a small bit of what is to come. It’s like comparing apples and Ferraris! That’s the kingdom that awaits us!

Often when we realize this blessed gift that is freely offered to us, there is a sense that in order to accept it and to live it we have to become this entirely new person; I have to stop being me and start being a holy person. This is not at all what Christ calls us to. He actually just calls us to be ourselves, but enlivened with His Holy Spirit. I’ve always had a great love for music. I love to listen to it, sing it, I used to play and write it. When I was in my teens I wanted to be a rock star, so when confirmation time came around I figured who better to help that dream come true than the patron saint of musicians – Pope St. Gregory the Great. So, I picked Gregory and knew I’d be set for the big stage. Fast-forward a few years and I’m in the seminary learning a new style of singing, writing different music, and preparing to perform on an entirely different ‘stage’ for the Lord. My love for music wasn’t erased but it was given a new focus by the Lord and my passion for it has changed to glorify Him in the liturgy instead of at bars and arenas. We could look to St. Paul who zealously lived the Jewish faith and persecuted the Church, but after his conversion he fought for the Church and endured the persecution he once inflicted on the Christians. St. Ignatius of Loyola took a cannonball to the knee in battle and while in the hospital read the life of Christ and learned of the saints and was converted, becoming soon a powerful soldier in the army of Christ. This is what Jesus means in that strange conclusion at the end of the reading today.

Jesus asks if the disciples if they understand and they say ‘Yes!’ (because a good disciple always does, right?) and He continues, saying, “every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” The 'old' is me, my gifts, my desires, my weakness, and all that God has made in 'me'. The 'new' is the Holy Spirit-led mission that Christ wants to live out through those 'old' aspects. The point is that Jesus wants us to be ourselves, not anyone else. Whether we’re working at the farm, teaching in the classroom, caring for kids or grandkids, volunteering in the community, or anything else under the sun – do those things as a Catholic. We must not simple be Catholic. We must live Catholic. That’s the little piece about the fish in the net. The Church is the Kingdom and she is full of all sorts of different ‘fish’. But simply being in the net, simply being Catholic, is not enough to get into Heaven. We must be good fish worth keeping. Like a crawfish boil – you don’t eat the dead ones! The same with the Lord; He only takes to Himself the good fish to celebrate the heavenly banquet and the rest are cast into fire because they have no life.

As we come to receive the Lord Jesus today, let us ask these graces: to set aside anything that separates us from Him and to be open to the grace to live the life He has called us to live. Don’t worry about being someone extraordinary. Just be yourself in Christ – that is enough for you and it is enough for Him who made you.  

HWP: St. Anne

Being that this Saturday is the feast of St. Ann/Anne and I'm the Pastor of St. Ann's Catholic Church, I feel compelled to offer this week's Half-Way Prayer to the mother of the Blessed Virgin, mother of the Lord Jesus. The problem is that there are so many beautiful prayers! After reading through a handful, this one seemed fitting. If you want to check out this others, you can find them HERE. So, we pause to drink of the wellspring of grace as well pray...

A Prayer to St. Anne

Good St. Anne, you were especially favored by God to be the mother of the most holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Savior. By your power with your most pure daughter and with her divine Son, kindly obtain for us the grace and the favor we now seek. Please secure for us also forgiveness of our past sins, the strength to perform faithfully our daily duties and the help we need to persevere in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.