Paschal Lamb, Genesis 17:3-9, Psalms, 105:4-9, John 8:51-59, Pope Frances Daily Activity, St Benedetta Cambiagio, Bread of Life Discourse, The Mystical City of God The Divine History and Life of The Virgin Mother of God - Book 5:6 BAPTISM OF CHRIST. HIS FAST. MARY'S DOINGS DURING THESE EVENTS, Catholic Catechism Part Two Section 1:1:1 The Liturgy The Work of the Holy Trinity
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Thursday in Lent
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
AUDIENCE WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CHURCHES AND
ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES AND OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES AND OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE FRANCIS
Clementine Hall
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
(Accessed March 21, 2013)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Before all else, I express my heartfelt thanks for what my brother Andrew has said to us. Many thanks! Many thanks!
It is a source of particular joy for me to
meet today with you, the delegates of the Orthodox Churches, of the
Oriental Orthodox Churches and of the Ecclesial Communities of the West.
I thank you for taking part in the celebration which marked the
beginning of my ministry as the Bishop of Rome and the Successor of
Peter.
Yesterday morning, during Holy Mass, through
you I felt the spiritual presence of the communities which you
represent. In this expression of faith, it seemed that we were
experiencing all the more urgently the prayer for unity between
believers in Christ and at the same time seeing prefigured in some way
its full realization, which depends on God's plan and our own faithful
cooperation.
I begin my apostolic ministry during this year
which my venerable predecessor Benedict XVI, with truly inspired
intuition, proclaimed for the Catholic Church as a Year of Faith.
With this initiative, which I wish to continue and which I trust will
prove a stimulus for our common journey of faith, he wanted to mark the
fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council by
proposing a sort of pilgrimage towards what all Christians consider
essential: the personal, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who died and rose for our salvation. The core message of the
Council is found precisely in the desire to proclaim this perennially
valid treasure of faith to the men and women of our time.
Along with you, I cannot forget all that the
Council meant for the progress of ecumenism. Here I would like to recall
the words of Blessed John XXIII, the fiftieth anniversary of whose
death we shall soon celebrate, in his memorable opening address: "The
Catholic Church considers it her duty to work actively for the
fulfilment of the great mystery of that unity for which Jesus Christ
prayed so earnestly to his heavenly Father on the eve of his great
sacrifice; the knowledge that she is so intimately associated with that
prayer is for her an occasion of ineffable peace and joy" (AAS 54 , 793.
These were the words of Pope John.
Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let
us all feel closely united to the prayer of our Saviour at the Last
Supper, to his appeal: ut unum sint. Let us ask the Father of
mercies to enable us to live fully the faith graciously bestowed upon us
on the day of our Baptism and to bear witness to it freely, joyfully
and courageously. This will be the best service we can offer to the
cause of Christian unity, a service of hope for a world still torn by
divisions, conflicts and rivalries. The more we are faithful to his
will, in our thoughts, words and actions, the more we will progress,
really and substantially, towards unity.
For my part, I wish to assure you that, in
continuity with my predecessors, it is my firm intention to pursue the
path of ecumenical dialogue, and I thank the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity for the help that it continues to provide, in
my name, in the service of this most noble cause. I ask you, dear
brothers and sisters, to bring my cordial greetings and the assurance of
my prayerful remembrance in the Lord Jesus to the Christian communities
which you represent, and I beg of you the charity of a special prayer
for me, that I may be a pastor according to the heart of Christ.
And now I turn to you, the distinguished
representatives of the Jewish people, to whom we are linked by a most
special spiritual bond, since, as the Second Vatican Council stated "the
Church of Christ recognizes that in God's plan of salvation the
beginnings of her faith and her election are to be found in the
patriarchs, Moses and the prophets" (Nostra Aetate, 4). I thank
you for your presence and I trust that, with the help of the Most High,
we can make greater progress in that fraternal dialogue which the
Council wished to encourage (cf. ibid.) and which has indeed taken place, bearing no little fruit, especially in recent decades.
I also greet and cordially thank all of you,
dear friends who are followers of other religious traditions; first
Muslims, who worship God as one, living and merciful, and invoke him in
prayer, and all of you. I greatly appreciate your presence: in it, I see
a tangible sign of a will to grow in mutual esteem and in cooperation
for the common good of humanity.
The Catholic Church is conscious of the
importance of promoting friendship and respect between men and women of
different religious traditions – I want to repeat this: promoting
friendship and respect between men and women of different religious
traditions – a sign of this can be seen in the important work carried
out by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The Church is
likewise conscious of the responsibility which all of us have for our
world, for the whole of creation, which we must love and protect. There
is much that we can do to benefit the poor, the needy and those who
suffer, and to favour justice, promote reconciliation and build peace.
But before all else we need to keep alive in our world the thirst for
the absolute, and to counter the dominance of a one-dimensional vision
of the human person, a vision which reduces human beings to what they
produce and to what they consume: this is one of the most insidious
temptations of our time.
We know how much violence has resulted in
recent times from the attempt to eliminate God and the divine from the
horizon of humanity, and we are aware of the importance of witnessing in
our societies to that primordial openness to transcendence which lies
deep within the human heart. In this, we also sense our closeness to all
those men and women who, although not identifying themselves as
followers of any religious tradition, are nonetheless searching for
truth, goodness and beauty, the truth, goodness and beauty of God. They
are our valued allies in the commitment to defending human dignity, in
building a peaceful coexistence between peoples and in safeguarding and
caring for creation.
Dear friends, once again I thank you for your presence. I offer all of you my heartfelt, fraternal good wishes.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 3/21/2013.
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March 18 2013 Message to the World via Annual Apparition to Mirjana:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."
March 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayers and fasting, by His Cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank you.”
February 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
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Today's Word: paschal lamb pas·chal lamb [pass-cuhl lam]
Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English
noun
1.Jewish History . a lamb slaughtered and eaten on the eve of the first day of Passover. Ex. 12:3–11.
2. ( initial capital letters ) Christ.
3. ( initial capital letters ) any of several symbolic representations of Christ, as the Agnus Dei.
4.( initial capital letters ) . Also called Holy Lamb. Heraldry. a representation of a lamb passant having around its head a nimbus and supporting on the dexter shoulder a crosslike staff bearing a flag argent charged with a cross gules.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 105:4-9
4 Seek Yahweh and his strength, tirelessly seek his presence!
5 Remember the marvels he has done, his wonders, the judgements he has spoken.
6 Stock of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob whom he chose!
7 He is Yahweh our God, his judgements touch the whole world.
8 He remembers his covenant for ever, the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,
9 which he concluded with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac
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Today's Epistle - Genesis 17:3-9
3 And Abram bowed to the ground. God spoke to him as follows,
4 'For my part, this is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.
5 And you are no longer to be called Abram; your name is to be Abraham, for I am making you father of many nations.
6 I shall make you exceedingly fertile. I shall make you into nations, and your issue will be kings.
7 And I shall maintain my covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as a covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8 And to you and to your descendants
after you, I shall give the country where you are now immigrants, the
entire land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity. And I shall be their God.'
9 God further said to Abraham, 'You for your part must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.
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Today's Gospel Reading - John 8: 51-59
In all truth I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death. The Jews said, 'Now we know that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, "Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?' Jesus answered: If I were to seek my own glory my glory would be worth nothing; in fact, my glory is conferred by the Father, by the one of whom you say, 'He is our God,' although you do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say, 'I do not know him,' I should be a liar, as you yourselves are. But I do know him, and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad. The Jews then said, 'You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!' Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I am. At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.
Reflection
• Chapter 8
seems an exhibition of works of art, where it is possible to admire
and contemplate famous paintings, next to one another.
Today’s Gospel presents us a painting, and a dialogue
between Jesus and the Jews. There is not too much
connection between one and the other painting. It is the spectator who,
thanks to his/her attentive and prayerful observation,
succeeds to discover the invisible thread that binds the
paintings, the dialogues among themselves. Thus, we
penetrate into the divine mystery which envelops the person of Jesus.
• John 8, 51: Whoever keeps the word of Jesus will not see death. Jesus makes a solemn affirmation; the prophets said: Oracle of the Lord! Jesus says: “Truly, I say to you!” And the solemn affirmation is the following: “Whoever keeps my word will not see death!” This same theme appears and reappears many times in the Gospel of John. These are words of a great depth.
• John 8, 52-53: Abraham and the prophets died. The reaction of the Jews is immediate: “Now we know that you are out of your mind. Abraham died and the prophets also died. And you say: “Whoever keeps my word will never see death”. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who are you claiming to be?” They did not understand the importance and significance of the affirmation of Jesus. It was a dialogue of the deaf.
• John, 8, 54-56: I am glorified by my Father. Once again and as always Jesus hits on the same key: He is so united to the Father that everything that he says or does is his. Everything is the Father’s. And he says: “The one who glorifies me is my Father, the one whom you say, ‘He is our God!” and you do not know him. But I know him. And if I were to say, ‘I do not know him’, I should be a liar, as you yourselves are. But I do know him and I observe his word. Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad”. These words of Jesus must have been like a spade which wounded the self esteem of the Jews. To tell the religious authority: “You do not know the God whom you say you know. I know him and you do not know him!” It is like accusing them of total ignorance exactly regarding the theme on which they think they are specialized doctors. And the final word increases the measure: “Abraham, your father, rejoiced in the hope of seeing my Day, he saw it and was glad”.
• John 8, 57-59: “You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham! They took everything literally, thus showing that they did not understand anything of what Jesus was saying. And Jesus makes another solemn affirmation: "In all truth I tell you: before Abraham ever was, I AM”.
For those who believe in Jesus, here we reach the heart of the mystery of the story. Once again they pick up stones to kill Jesus. But neither this time will they succeed, because his hour has not as yet come. The one who determines the hour is Jesus himself.
Personal questions
• It is a
dialogue with the deaf between Jesus and the Jews. Have you sometimes
had the experience of speaking with a person who thinks
exactly the opposite of what you think and is not aware of
it?
• How can we understand this phrase: “Abraham, your father, rejoiced in the hope of seeing my Day, he saw it and was glad”?
• How can we understand this phrase: “Abraham, your father, rejoiced in the hope of seeing my Day, he saw it and was glad”?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Benedetta of Cambiagio
Feast Day: March 21
Patron Saint: n/a
Attributes: n/a
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| St Benedetta Cambiagio (1791-1858) |
Biography
Frassinello was born on October 2, 1791 in Langasco, an inland village of Genoa, Italy. Her father, Joseph and mother Frances, were farmers and had five children. The family moved to Pavia when she was 13 years old. It was during this time that she began to read biographies of saints and Christian doctrine.She married Giovanni Frassinello in 1816. The marriage lasted two years when Giovanni, moved by the works of Benedetta, agreed that the two should be chaste and live together "as brother and sister".[1] They cared for Benedetta's younger sister, Maria, who was dying of intestinal cancer.
When Maria eventually died in 1825, Giovanni became a priest in while Benedetta joined the Ursuline Congregation of Capriolo.[1] After recovering from an illness, she began to educate young girls as well as ministry to the poor. With the help of Giovanni, they began to reach out to the abandoned girls in Pavia.
Benedetta eventually founded the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Providence whose main priority is the education of young girls. Today, the order can be found in Italy, Spain, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Peru and Brazil.
She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 19 May 2002.
References
- ^ "Benedetta Cambiago Frassinello". Vatican City. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
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Today's Snippet I: Bread of Life Discourse
The title Bread of Life for Jesus is based on this Biblical episode which takes place in the Gospel of John shortly after the Feeding the multitude episode (in which Jesus feeds the crowds with five loaves of bread and two fish) after which the crowds follow Jesus to the other side of lake after Jesus' walk on water.[2]
In the Gospel of John:
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:32-35, New Revised Standard Version) [3]The Gospel of John does not include an account of the blessing of the bread during the Last Supper, e.g. as in the Gospel of Luke 22:19. However, this discourse does communicate teachings regarding the Eucharist that have been very influential in the Christian tradition.[4]
In the Christological context, the use of the Bread of Life title is similar to the Light of the World title in John 8:12 where Jesus states: "I am the light of the world: he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."[5] These assertions build on the Christological theme of John 5:26 where Jesus claims to possess life Just as the Father does and provide it to those who follow him.[5][6]
References
- ^ The Gospel According to John: A Literary and Theological Commentary by Thomas L. Brodie 1997 ISBN 0-19-511811-1 page 266
- ^ Who do you say that I am?: essays on Christology by Jack Dean Kingsbury, Mark Allan Powell, David R. Bauer 1999 ISBN 0-664-25752-6 page 83
- ^ [1]
- ^ The Eucharist in the New Testament by Jerome Kodell 1988 ISBN 0-8146-5663-3 page 118
- ^ Christology in Context by Marinus de Jonge 1988 ISBN 978-0-664-25010-2 page 147
- ^ The person of Christ by Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer 1954 ISBN 0-8028-4816-8 page 163
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Today's Snippet II: Book 5, Chapter 6
The Mystical City of God,
The Divine History and
Life of The Virgin Mother of God
BAPTISM OF CHRIST. HIS FAST. MARY'S DOINGS DURING THESE
EVENTS.
Leaving his beloved Mother in the poor dwelling at Nazareth,
our Redeemer, without accompaniment of any human creature, but altogether taken
up with the exercise of his most ardent charity, pursued his journey to the
Jordan, where, in the neighborhood of a town called Bethany, otherwise called
Betharaba, on the farther side of the river, his Precursor was preaching and
baptizing. At the first steps from the house, our Redeemer, raising his eyes to
the eternal Father, offered up to Him anew with an infinite love, whatever He
was now about to begin for the salvation of mankind: his labors, sorrows,
passion and death of the Cross, assumed for them in obedience to the eternal
Will, the natural grief at parting as a true and loving Son from his Mother and
at leaving her sweet company, which for twenty-nine years He had now enjoyed.
The Lord of all creation walked alone, without show and ostentation of human
retinue. The supreme King of kings and Lord of lords (Apoc. 19, 16), was unknown
and despised by his own vassals, vassals so much his own, that they owed their
life and preservation entirely to Him. His royal outfit was nothing but the
utmost poverty and destitution.
While proceeding on his way to the Jordan our Savior
dispensed his ancient mercies by relieving the necessities of body and soul in
many of those whom He encountered at different places. Yet this was always done
in secret; for before his Baptism He gave no public token of his divine power
and his exalted office. Before appearing at the Jordan, He filled the heart of
saint John with new light and joy, which changed and elevated his soul.
Perceiving these new workings of grace within himself, he reflected upon them
full of wonder, saying: "What mystery is this? What presentiments of
happiness? From the moment when I recognized the presence of my Lord in the womb
of my mother, I have not felt such stirring of my soul as now! Is it possible
that He is now happily come, or that the Savior of the world is now near
me?" Upon this enlightenment of the Baptist followed an intellectual
vision, wherein he perceived with greater clearness the mystery of the
hypostatic union of the person of the Word with the humanity and other mysteries
of the Redemption. In the fulness of this intellectual light he gave the
testimonies, which are recorded by saint John in his Gospel and which occurred
while the Lord was in the desert and afterwards, when He returned to the banks
of the Jordan. The Evangelist mentions one of these public testimonies as
happening at the interpellation of the Jews, and the other when the Precursor
exclaimed: "Behold the lamb of God," as I shall narrate later
on (John 1, 36). Although the Baptist had been instructed in great mysteries,
when he was commanded to go forth to preach and baptize; yet all of them were
manifested to him anew and with greater clearness and abundance on this
occasion, and he was then notified that the Savior of the world was coming to be
baptized.
The Lord then joined the multitude and asked Baptism of saint
John as one of the rest. The Baptist knew Him and, falling at his feet,
hesitated, saying: "I have need of being baptized, and Thou, Lord, askest
Baptism of me?" as is recorded by saint Matthew. But the Savior answered:
"Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfill all
justice."
When saint John had finished baptizing our Lord, the heavens
opened and the Holy Ghost descended visibly in the form of a dove upon his head
and the voice of his Father was heard: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased" (Matth. 3, 17). Many of the bystanders heard this voice,
namely, those who were not worthy of such a wonderful favor; they also saw the
Holy Ghost descending upon the Savior. This was the most convincing proof which
could ever be given of the Divinity of the Savior, as well on the part of the
Father, who acknowledged Him his Son, as also in to the nature of the testimony
given; for without any reserve was Christ manifested as the true God, equal to
his eternal Father in substance and in perfection. The Father himself wished to
be the first to testify to the Divinity of Christ in order that by virtue of his
testimony all the other witnesses might be ratified. There was also another
mystery in this voice of the eternal Father: it was as it were a restoration of
the honor or Son before the world and a recompense for his having thus
humiliated Himself by receiving the Baptism of the remission of sins, though He
was entirely free from fault and never could have upon Him the guilt of (Heb. 7,
26).
Let us return now to the main subject of this history,
namely, to the occupations of our great Queen and Lady. As soon as her most holy
Son was baptized, although She knew by the divine light of his movements, the
holy angels who had attended upon their Lord brought Her intelligence of all
that had happened at the Jordan; they were those that carried the ensigns or
shields of the passion of the Savior, as described in the first part. To
celebrate all these mysteries of Christ's Baptism and the public proclamation of
his Divinity, the most prudent Mother composed new hymns and canticle of praise
and of incomparable thanksgiving to the Most High and to the incarnate Word. All
his actions of humility and prayers She imitated, exerting Herself by many acts
of her own to accompany and follow Him in all of them. With ardent charity She
interceded for men, that they might profit by the sacrament of Baptism and that
it might be administered all over the world. In addition to these prayers and
hymns of thanksgiving, She asked the heavenly courtiers to help Her in
magnifying her most holy Son for having thus humiliated Himself in receiving
Baptism at the hands of one of his creatures.
Without delay Christ our Lord pursued his journey from the
Jordan to the desert after his Baptism. Only his holy angels attended and
accompanied Him, serving and worshipping Him, singing the divine praises on
account of what He was now about to undertake for the salvation of mankind. He
came to the place chosen by Him for his fast: a desert spot among bare and
beetling rocks, where there was also a cavern much concealed. Here He halted,
choosing it for his habitation during the days of his fast (Matth. 4, 1). In
deepest humility He prostrated Himself upon the ground which was always the
prelude of his prayer and that of his most blessed Mother. He praised the
eternal Father and gave Him thanks for the works of his divine right hand and
for having according to his pleasure afforded Him this retirement. In a suitable
manner He thanked even this desert for accepting his presence and keeping Him
hidden from the world during the time He was to spend there. He continued his
prayers prostrate in the form of a cross, this was his most frequent occupation
in the desert; for in this manner He often prayed to the eternal Father for the
salvation of men.
After the Savior had begun his fast He persevered therein
without eating anything for forty days, offering his fast to the eternal Father
as a satisfaction for the disorder and sins to which men are drawn by the so
vile and debasing, yet so common and even esteemed vice of gluttony. Just as our
Lord overcame this vice so He also vanquished all the rest, and He made
recompense to the eternal Judge and supreme Legislator for the injuries
perpetrated through these vices by men. According to the enlightenment
vouchsafed to me, our Savior, in order to assume the office of Preacher and
Teacher and to become our Mediator and Redeemer before the Father, thus
vanquished all the vices of mortals and He satisfied the offenses committed
through them by the exercises of the virtues contrary to them, just as He did in
regard to gluttony. Although He continued this exercise during all his life with
the most ardent charity, yet during his fast He directed in a special manner all
his efforts toward this purpose.
A loving Father, whose sons have committed great crimes for
which they are to endure the most horrible punishment, sacrifices all his
possessions in order ward off their impending fate: so our most loving Father
and Brother, Jesus Christ, wished to pay our debts. In satisfaction for our
pride He offered his profound humility; for our avarice, his voluntary poverty
and total privation of all that was his; for our base and lustful inclinations,
his penance and austerity; for our hastiness and vengeful anger, his meekness
and charity toward his enemies; for our negligence and laziness, his ceaseless
labors; for our deceitfulness and our envy, his candid and upright sincerity and
truthfulness and the sweetness of his loving interactions. In this manner He
continued to appease the just Judge and solicited pardon for us disobedient and
bastard children; and He not only obtained this pardon for them, but He merited
for them new graces and favors, so that they might make themselves worthy of his
company and of the vision of his Father and his own inheritance for all
eternity. Though He could have obtained all this for us by the most
insignificant of his works; yet He acted not like we. He demonstrated his love
so abundantly, that our ingratitude and hardness of heart will have no excuse.
In order to keep informed of the doings of our Savior the
most blessed Mary needed no other assistance than her continual visions and
revelations; but in addition to all these, She made use of the service of her
holy angels, whom She sent to her divine Son. The Lord himself thus ordered it,
in order that, by means of these faithful messengers, both He and She might
rejoice in the sentiments and thoughts of their inmost hearts faithfully
rehearsed by these celestial messengers; and thus They each heard the very same
words as uttered by Each, although both Son and Mother already knew them in
another way. As soon as the great Lady understood that our Redeemer was on the
way to the desert to fulfill his intention, She locked the doors of her
dwelling, without letting any one know of her presence; and her retirement
during the time of our Lord's fast was so complete, that her neighbors thought
that She had left with her divine Son. She entered into her
oratory and remained there for forty days and nights without ever leaving it and
without eating anything, just as She knew was done by her most holy Son. Both of
them observed the same course of rigorous fasting. In all his prayers and
exercises, his prostrations and genuflections She followed our Savior, not
omitting any of them; moreover She performed them just at the same time; for,
leaving aside all other occupations, She thus profited by the information
obtained from the angels and by that other knowledge, which I have already
described. Whether He was present or not, She knew the interior operations of
the soul of Christ. All his bodily movements, which She had been wont to
perceive with her own senses, She now knew by intellectual vision or through her
holy angels.
While the Savior was in the desert He made every day three
hundred genuflections, which also was done by our Queen Mary in her oratory; the
other portion of her time She spent in composing hymns with the angels, as I
have said in the last chapter. Thus imitating Christ the Lord, the Holy Queen
co-operated with Him in all his prayers and petitions, gaining the same
victories over the vices, and on her part proportionately satisfying for them by
her virtues and her exertions. Thus it happened, that, while Christ as our
Redeemer gained for us so many blessings and abundantly paid all our debts, most
holy Mary, as his Helper and our Mother, lent us her merciful intercession and
became our Mediatrix to the fullest extent possible to a mere creature.
Christ the Savior permitted Lucifer to remain under the false
impression, that He was a mere human creature though very holy and just; He
wished to raise his courage and malice for the contest, for such is the effect
of any advantages espied by the devil in his attacks upon the victims of his
temptations. Rousing his courage by his own arrogance, he began this battle in
the wilderness with greater prowess and fierceness than the demons ever
exhibited in their battles with men. Lucifer and his satellites strained all
their power and malice, lashing themselves into fury against the superior
strength which they soon found in Christ our Lord. Yet our Savior tempered all
his actions with divine wisdom and goodness, and in justice and equity concealed
the secret source of his infinite power, exhibiting just so much as would
suffice to prove Him to be a man so far advanced in holiness as to be able to
gain these victories against the infernal foes. In order to begin the battle as
man, He directed a prayer to the eternal Father from his inmost soul, to which
the intelligence of the demon could not penetrate, saying: "My Father and
eternal God, I now enter into battle with the enemy in order to crush his power
and humble his pride and his malice against my beloved souls. For thy glory, and
for the benefit of souls I submit to the daring presumption of Lucifer. I wish
thereby to crush his head in order that when mortals are attacked by his
temptations without their fault, they may find his arrogance already broken. I
beseech Thee, my Father, to remember my battle and victory in favor of mortals
assailed by the common enemy. Strengthen their weakness through my
triumph, let them obtain victory; let them be encouraged by my example, and let
them learn from Me how to resist and overcome their enemies.
During this battle the holy angels that attended upon Christ
were hidden from the sight of Lucifer, in order that he might not begin to
understand and suspect the divine power of our Savior. The holy spirits gave
glory and praise to the Father and the Holy Ghost, who rejoiced in the works of
the incarnate Word. The most blessed Virgin also from her oratory witnessed the
battle in the manner to be described below. The temptation of Christ
began on the thirty-fifth day of his fast in the desert, and lasted to the end
of the fast, as related by the Evangelists. Lucifer assumed the shape of a man
and presented himself before the Lord as a stranger, who had never seen or known
Him before. He clothed himself in refulgent light, like that of an angel, and
conjecturing that the Lord after his long fast must be suffering great hunger,
he said to Him: "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread (Matth. 4, 3). By thus cunningly resting his advice on the
supposition of his being the Son of God, the demon sought some information on
what was giving him the greatest concern. But the Savior of the world answered
only in these few words: "Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every
word that proceedeth from mouth of God."
Lucifer found himself repulsed by the force or answer and by
the hidden power which accompanied it; but he wished to show no weakness, nor
desist from the contest. The Lord allowed the demon to continue in his
temptation and for this purpose permitted Himself carried by the devil bodily to
Jerusalem and to be placed on the pinnacle of the temple. Here the Lord could
see multitudes of people, though He himself was not seen by anybody. Lucifer
tried to arouse in the Lord, the vain desire of casting Himself down from this
high place, so that the crowds of men, seeing Him unhurt, might proclaim Him as
a great and wonderful man of God. Again using the words of the holy Scriptures,
he said to Him: "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down, for it is
written (Ps. 90, 11): that He hath given his angels charge over Thee, and in
their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest perhaps Thou dash thy foot against a
stone" (Matth. 4, 6). The heavenly spirits who accompanied their King, were
full of wonder that He should permit Lucifer to carry Him bodily in his hands,
solely for the benefit of mortal man. With the prince of darkness were gathered
innumerable demons; for on that occasion hell was almost emptied of its
inhabitants in order to furnish assistance for this enterprise. The Author of
wisdom answered: "It is also written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God" (Deut. 6, 16). While giving these answers the Redeemer of the world
exhibited a matchless meekness, profoundest humility, and a majesty so superior
to all the attempts of satan, as was of itself alone sufficient to crush
Lucifer's arrogance and to cause him torments and confusion never felt before.
Being thus foiled, he attacked our Lord in still another way,
seeking to rouse his ambition by offering Him some share in his dominion. For
this purpose he took the Lord upon a high mount, from whence could be seen many
lands, and said to Him with perfidious daring: "All these will I give to
Thee, if falling down, Thou wilt adore me" (Matth. 4, 9). Exorbitant
boldness, and more than insane madness and perfidy! Offering to the Lord what he
did not possess, nor ever could give, since the earth, the stars, the kingdoms,
principalities, riches and treasures, all belong to the Lord, and He alone can
give or withhold them when it serves and pleases Him! Never can Lucifer give
anything, even not of the things of the earth, and therefore all his promises
are false. The King and Lord answered with imperial majesty: "Begone, satan,
for it is written: The Lord thy God thou shalt adore, and Him only shalt thou
serve." By this command, "Begone satan," Christ the Redeemer took
away from Lucifer permission further to tempt Him, and hurled him and all his
legions into the deepest abysses of hell. There they found themselves entirely
crushed and buried in its deepest caverns, unable to move for three days. When
they were permitted again to rise, seeing themselves thus vanquished and
annihilated, they began to doubt whether He, who had so overwhelmed them, might
not be the incarnate Son of God. In this doubt and uncertainty they remained,
without ever being able to come to certain conviction until the death of the
Savior. Lucifer was overcome by hellish wrath at his defeat and was almost
consumed in his fury.
Our divine Conqueror Christ then sang hymns of praise and
thanks to the eternal Father for having given Him this triumph over the common
enemy of God and man; and amid the triumphal songs of a multitude of angels, He
was borne back to the desert. They carried Him in their hands, although He had
not need of their help, since He could make use of his own divine power; but
this service of the angels was due to Him in recompense for enduring the
audacity of Lucifer in carrying to the pinnacle of the temple and to the
mountaintop the sacred humanity of Christ, in which dwelt substantially and
truly the Divinity itself. It would never have entered into the thoughts of man,
that the Lord should give such a permission to satan, if it had been made known
to us in the Gospels.
Let us return to Nazareth, where, in her oratory, the
Princess of the angels had witnessed the battles of her most holy Son. She had
seen them all by the divine light already described and by the uninterrupted
messages of her angels, who brought them back and forth between the Savior and
the blessed Queen. She repeated the same prayers as the Lord and at the same
time! She entered likewise into the conflict with the dragon, though invisibly
and spiritually. From her retreat She anathemized and crushed Lucifer and his
followers co-operating in all the doings of Christ in our favor. When She
perceived that the demon carried the Lord from place to place, She wept
bitterly, because the malice of sin reduced the King of kings to such misusage.
In honor of all the victories, which He gained over the devil, She composed
hymns of praise to the Divinity and the most holy humanity of Christ, while the
angels set them to music and were sent with them to congratulate Him for the
blessings won for the human race. Christ on his part sent back the angels with
words of sweet consolation and rejoicing on account of his triumphs over
Lucifer.
The Master directed his most faithful steps toward the
Jordan, where his great Precursor saint John was still preaching and baptizing.
By his presence and appearance there He wished to secure new testimony of his
mission and Divinity through the mouth of saint John. Moreover He was drawn by
his own love to see and speak with him, for during his Baptism the heart of the
Precursor had become inflamed and wounded by the divine love of the Savior,
which so resistlessly attracted all creatures. In the hearts which were well
disposed, as was that of saint John, the fire of love burned with so much the
greater ardor and violence. When the Baptist saw the Savior coming to him the
second time, his first words were those recorded by the Evangelist: "Behold
the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world." Saint
John gave this testimony while pointing out the Lord with his finger to those
who were listening to his instructions and were receiving Baptism at his hands.
He added: "This is He of whom I said: after me there cometh a Man, who is
preferred before me; because He was before me. And I knew Him not; but that He
may be made manifest in Israel, therefore I am come baptizing with water."
The two first disciples of Christ who were with saint John at
the time, heard this testimony and, moved by it and by the light and grace
interiorly imparted to them began to follow the Lord. Benignantly turning to
them the Lord asked them, what they sought (John 1, 38). They answered that they
wished to know where He lived; and the Lord bade them follow. They were with him
that day as saint John tells us. One of them, he says, was saint Andrew, the
brother of saint Peter; the other he does not mention. But I was made to
understand that it was saint John himself, who in his great modesty, did not
wish to give his name. These two, then, saint John and saint Andrew, were the
first of the Baptist's apostolate, being the first of the disciples of
the Baptist who followed the Savior in consequence of his express testimony and
without being outwardly called by the Lord. Saint Andrew immediately sought his
brother Simon and took him along, saying that he had found the Messias, who
called Himself Christ. Looking upon Peter He said: "Thou art the son of
Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter." All this
happened within the confines of Judea and on the next day the Lord entered
Galilee. There He found saint Philip and called him to his following. Philip
immediately sought Nathanael and brought him to Jesus, telling him what had
happened and that they had found the Messias in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Nathanael, having spoken with the Lord as recorded in the first chapter of saint
John's Gospel, joined as the fifth of the disciples of Christ.
With these five disciples, the first stones in the foundation
of the new Church, Christ, the Savior, entered Galilee for the purpose of
beginning his public preaching and baptizing. In the Apostles thus called He
enkindled, from the moment of their joining the Master, a new light and fire of
divine love and showered upon them the sweetness of his blessings (Ps. 20, 4).
It is not possible worthily to describe the labors undergone by the divine
Teacher in the vocation and education of these and of the other disciples, in
order to found upon them the Church. He sought them out with great diligence and
solicitude; He urged them on frequently by the powerful and efficacious help of
his grace; He enlightened their hearts and enriched them with incomparable gifts
and blessings; He received them with admirable kindness; He nourished them with
the sweetest milk of his doctrines; He bore with them with invincible patience;
He caressed them as a most loving Father caresses his tender and darling sons.
As our nature is base and uncouth material for the exalted and exquisite
aspirations of the Spirit, and as they were to not only perfect disciples, but
consummate masters of perfection in the world and in the Church, the work of
transforming and raising them from their rough natural state into such a
heavenly and divine position by his instructions and example, necessarily was a
vast enterprise. In the performance of this work the Lord has left a most
exalted example of patience, and charity for all the prelates, princes and
whoever is charged with the guidance of subjects. Not less significant for us
sinners are the proofs of his fatherly kindness: for He was not satisfied with
simply bearing with their faults and defects, their natural inclinations and
passions but He allowed his tender kindness to overflow thus wonderfully toward
them, in order that we might be cheered on to trust Him and not permit ourselves
to be dismayed amidst the countless imperfections and weaknesses natural to our
earthly existence.
By the means already mentioned the Queen of heaven was
informed of all the wonderful doings of our Savior in the vocation of the
Apostles and disciples and in his public preaching. She gave thanks to the
eternal Father for these the first disciples, acknowledging and admitting them
in imitation of her Son as her spiritual children, and offering them to the
divine Majesty with new songs of praise and joy. On this occasion of the choice
of the first disciples She was favored by a new revelation of the Most High in
which She was informed again of his holy and eternal decree concerning the
Redemption of man and of the manner in which it was to be executed in the
preaching of his most holy Son.
The five disciples of the Lord begged Him to grant them the
consolation of seeing and reverencing his mother. In accordance with their
petition, He journeyed directly to Nazareth through Galilee, continuing to
preach and teach publicly on the way and proclaiming Himself as the Master of
truth and eternal life. Many, carried away by the force of his doctrines and by
the light and grace overflowing into their hearts, began to listen to Him and to
follow Him; though He did not, for the present, call any more to be his
disciples. It is worthy of notice that though the five disciples had conceived
such an ardent devotion to the heavenly Lady and though they saw with their own
eyes how worthy She was of her eminent position among creatures, yet they all
maintained strict silence about their thoughts.
The Savior then pursued his way to Nazareth instructing his
new children and disciples not only the mysteries of faith, but in all virtues
by word and example, as He continued to do during the whole period of his
evangelical preaching. With this in view He searched out the poor and afflicted,
consoled the sick and sorrowful, visited the infirmaries and prisons, performing
miracles of mercy as well for body as for soul. Yet He did not profess Himself
as the Author of miracles until he attended the marriage feast at Cana as I
shall relate in the next chapter. While the Savior proceeded on his journey his
most holy Mother prepared to receive him and his disciples at Nazareth; for She
was aware of all that happened, and therefore hospitably set her poor dwelling
in order and solicitously procured the necessary victuals beforehand for their
entertainment. Thus, just as the Son had in absence instilled into their minds
the reverence for the dignity of his Mother, so the most prudent and faithful
Mother, in the presence of her Son, wished to instruct them in regard to the
worship due to their divine Master, as to their God and Redeemer. The profound
humility and worship with which the great Lady received Christ the Savior filled
the disciples with new devotion and reverential fear for their divine Master;
henceforth She served them as an example and model of true devotion, entering at
once into her office as Instructress and spiritual Mother of the disciples of
Christ by showing then how to converse with their God and Redeemer. They were
immediately drawn toward their Queen and cast themselves on their knees before
Her, asking to be received as her sons and servants. The first to do this was
saint John, who from that time on distinguished himself in exalting and
reverencing Mary before all the apostles, while She on her part received him
with an especial love; for, besides his excelling in virginal chastity, he was
of a meek and humble disposition.
The great Lady received them all as her guests, serving them
their meals and combining the solicitude of a Mother with the modesty and
majesty of a Queen, so that She caused admiration even in the holy angels. She
served her divine Son on her knees in deepest reverence. At the same time She
spoke of the Majesty of their Teacher and Redeemer to the Apostles instructing
them in the great doctrines of the Christian faith. During that night, when the
Apostles had retired, the Savior betook himself to the oratory of his purest
Mother as He had been wont to do, and She, the most Humble among the humble,
placed Herself at his feet as in the years gone by. In regard to the practice of
humility, all that She could do seemed little to the great Queen, and much less
than She ought to in view of his infinite love and the immense gifts received at
his hands. She confessed Herself as useless as the dust of the earth. The Lord
lifted Her from the ground and spoke to Her words of life and eternal salvation,
yet quietly and serenely. For at this period He began to treat Her with greater
reserve in order to afford Her a chance of merit, as I have mentioned when I
spoke of this departure for the desert and for his Baptism.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN. (The Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of
Agreda, Spain.)
My daughter, I see thee much moved to emulation and desire by
the great happiness of the disciples of my most holy Son, and especially that of
saint John, my favored servant. It is certain that I loved him in a special
manner; because he was most pure and candid as a dove; and in the eyes of the
Lord he was very pleasing, both on account of his purity and on account of his
love toward me. His example should serve thee as a spur to do that which my Son
and I expect of thee. Thou art aware, my dearest, that I am the most pure Mother
and that I receive with maternal affection those who fervently and devoutly
desire to be my children and servants in the Lord. By the love which He has
given me, I shall embrace them with open arms and shall be their Intercessor and
Advocate. Thy poverty, uselessness and weakness shall be for me only a more
urgent motive for manifesting toward thee my most liberal kindness.
Therefore, I call upon thee to become my chosen and beloved daughter in the holy
Church.
I shall, however, make the fulfillment of my promise depend
upon a service on thy part: namely, that thou have a true and holy emulation of
the love with which I loved saint John, and of all the blessings flowing from
it, by imitating him as perfectly as thy powers will allow. Hence, thou must
promise to fulfill all that I now command thee, without failing in the least
point. I desire, then, that thou labor until all love of self die within thee,
that thou suppress all the effects of the first sin until all the earthly
inclinations consequent upon it are totally extinguished; that thou seek to
restore within thee that dove-like sincerity and simplicity which destroys all
malice and duplicity. In all thy doings thou must be an angel, since the
condescension of the Most High with thee was so great as to furnish thee with
the light and intelligence more of an angel than that of a human creature. I
have procured for thee these great blessings and, therefore, it is but
reasonable on my part to expect thee to correspond with them in thy works and in
thy thoughts. In regard to me thou must cherish a continual affection and loving
desire of pleasing and serving me, being always attentive to my counsels and
having thy eyes fixed upon me in order to know and execute what I command. Then
shalt thou be my true daughter, and I shall be thy Protectress and loving
Mother.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Sect 1:1:1
CHAPTER ONE THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH
Article 1
THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY
1077
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he
chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before him. He destined us before him in love to be his sons through
Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his
glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."Eph 1:3-6
1078
Blessing is a divine and life-giving action, the source of which is the Father;
his blessing is both word and gift.eu-logia, bene-dictio When applied to man, the word
"blessing" means adoration and surrender to his Creator in
thanksgi
1079
From the beginning until the end of time the whole of God's work is a blessing.
From the liturgical poem of the first creation to the canticles of the heavenly
Jerusalem, the inspired authors proclaim the plan of salvation as one vast
divine blessing.
1080
From the very beginning God blessed all living beings, especially man and
woman. the covenant with Noah and with all living things renewed this blessing
of fruitfulness despite man's sin which had brought a curse on the ground. But
with Abraham, the divine blessing entered into human history which was moving
toward death, to redirect it toward life, toward its source. By the faith of
"the father of all believers," who embraced the blessing, the history
of salvation is inaugurated.
1081
The divine blessings were made manifest in astonishing and saving events: the
birth of Isaac, the escape from Egypt (Passover and Exodus), the gift of the
promised land, the election of David, the presence of God in the Temple, the
purifying exile, and return of a "small remnant." the Law, the
Prophets, and the Psalms, interwoven in the liturgy of the Chosen People,
recall these divine blessings and at the same time respond to them with
blessings of praise and thanksgiving.
1082
In the Church's liturgy the divine blessing is fully revealed and communicated.
the Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings
of creation and salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for
us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his Word, he pours into our hearts
the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit.
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