60 days before Easter and counting. This is a time of conversion – conversion from what? From a sinful lifestyle engendered by our fallen nature as a result of Original Sin and our pride, stoked by the evil, which leads us to commit actual sins. The antidote is a full examination of conscience, confession, and a commitment to place our seeds in the fruitful earth spoken of in today’s gospel. Let us not be among those sowers who heard the Word of God and summarily went their way to perdition.
It is important to fight the effects of original sin and actual sins by practicing intense penance now. Say the act of contrition often and never give up. Get back up after each fall as Our Lord did when He was carrying His Cross.
Laetare Sunday
After announcements we learn about St. Thomas Aquinas the angel of purity. After the Epistle and Gospel the significance of the Rose and Laetare is explained. Then the Easter sacraments of Baptism and Holy Eucharist are described. This Sunday is a foretaste of Easter joys in mid-Lent. The details of the Miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes as sign of institution of Holy Eucharist at the last Supper is given with the citation of St. John Chrysostom about the Blessed Sacrament.
Most temptations come from the devil and prayer is our defense. A prayerful person in life will die with a prayer on his lips. Humility is the source of our virtues and God allows humiliations so that we will pray.
St. Paul teaches purity in this Sunday’s Epistle. The Transfiguration is meant to encourage apostles and us to persevere and to reveal Christ’s divinity. Our only goal in life is heaven. Read the Mass texts for Lent. Pray for mercy.
After hearing the importance of Psalm 90 for Lent and the sacramental of ashes, Father gives suggestions for penances and practices for this holy season. From the Gospel Our Lord teaches us how to combat the devil and temptations. St. Valentine’s day is explained in light of the saint whose feast is honored on Feb. 14.
Passion Sunday 2015 “The reason that you do not hear is because you are not of God.” We should pray that these frightening words are never directed towards us. We must ask ourselves who is more evil, the people in this Gospel who desire to put Christ to death, or all of us, who believe in Christ’s divinity and still continue to sin? There is still time to hear the voice of God and change the direction of our lives. This season of the Passion is given to us so we may make a conversion of life. We must follow the example of the Apostles’ conversion in these final days of Lent. #20150322S
Laetare Sunday 2015 Penance has a variety of meanings. It refers to the infused virtue that inclines a person to hate his faults, the sacrament of penance, and the works we perform to make up for our sins. Mortification refers to works which put to death evil inclinations. Propitiation is an act by which someone who has been offended is now appeased. The Mass and our prayers are great works of propitiation. When we make satisfaction, we punish ourselves for our sins. Our sufferings may be offered to God as a form of satisfaction. Atonement refers to the union with God which is achieved when our sins are expiated or wiped away. This is the Sunday of the Golden Rose, on which the pope would take a golden rose and give it to a privileged monarch, who was favored by the pope. The rose is seen as a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven. #20150315
3rd Sunday in Lent 2015 This is the Mass of sight, and today we ask God to let us see the truth and follow it. Today we are reminded to know our enemy and not underestimate him. The miracle of this Gospel is discredited by modern “theologians,” who are the equivalent of the pharisees in our day. Every Mass during this season is teaching us. We are like the catechumens during this season and should take advantage of the lessons in the Mass texts, which warn us about the devil and encourage us to be forearmed against his assaults. #20150308M
First Friday Conference – March 2015 We know the story of Saints Perpetua and Felicity from their firsthand account. During one of the general persecutions of the Church, these two heroic, young women gave their lives for Christ.
It is important to understand the meaning of a “type” and how God uses types or prophecies to foreshadow things to come. We see one of the most vivid types of Christ in the patriarch Joseph. Just as Joseph was the favorite son of his father and the envy of his brothers led to their murderous desires, so too was Our Lord, the only Son of God, put to death out of envy. Joseph became the savior of his family by offering them life-giving bread during famine, as Christ redeemed the world and gives to us the Holy Eucharist.
Catholics should not be troubled by temptations, or confuse them with sins, but view them as opportunities for merit. Even those trials from the devil may be turned to acts of love for God.
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Servants of the Holy Family, a Catholic religious community in Colorado Springs was founded on the Feast of the Holy Family in 1977 and is placed under the patronage of the Sacred Persons of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Read more
