14. Some masters of the spiritual life teach that it is better to divert our thoughts from certain heroic actions in which our weakness might lead us to doubt whether we should succeed or not; for example: if a persecutor should come and summon me either to renounce the faith or to die, how should I act? or, if I were to receive a terrible public insult, should I practice patience or resentment? No, they say it is not well to indulge in such imaginings because our weakness may cause us to fall before the idea of such a trial.

But should such thoughts arise, we can turn them to our good and use our very weakness to practice humility. When such ideas occur it would be well to say: I know what I ought to do on such and such an occasion, but I know not how far I can trust myself, because I know by personal experience that "my strength is weakened through poverty," [Ps. xxx, 11] and I have learnt on several occasions how my reason becomes blinded, my judgment weakened, and my will often perverted easily to evil. O my God, I can do all things if I am strengthened by Thy help; but without this I can do nothing, nor shall I ever be able to do anything! If I had to confess Thee I should miserably deny Thee; if to honor Thee by patience I should give way to vengeance; if I had to obey Thee I should offend Thee by disobedience. "Thou art a strong helper: when my strength shall fail, do not Thou forsake me." [Ps. lxx, 7, 9] Thy saying is quite true, O my God: "Without Me you can do nothing." [john xv, 5] Not only without Thee can I never do any meritorious act of virtue whatsoever, but I cannot do anything at all; as St. Augustine instructs me: " Whether it be little or whether it be great, it cannot be done without Him without Whom nothing can be done." [Tract 31 in Joan.]

This weekend is all-night vigil in our parishes where Our dear Lord is exposed overnight for all of us to adore Him.  When I read this chapter, I was reminded how few people who claim to be Catholic take advantage of this extreme privilege!!  If we do not respond to God's call of love, He will take our graces away from us.  Through the years, we have already lost a lot of what we had and didn't appreciate.  We still are blessed to have a few good things left so let us  take advantage of this great honor and adore Him!

 

 

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten!  Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee:  if I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.  Ps 136: 5-6

 

Jerusalem had long since ceased to re-echo the hurried footfalls of her children, and the winds of the desert had many years back blown away their footprints, as they went their way of exile into Babylon.  Poor slaving Jews, how the memory of Sion haunted them!  When morning broke, before the lash of the taskmaster had hissed its first stroke, they heard from out the past the silver tones of the priestly trumpet that had been wont to greet the dawn from the Temple's summit.  All through the day they would visit in memory God's holy Temple, and as darkness fell they would gather in spirit about the evening sacrifice that once ascended in an odor of sweetness to the one true God.  But oh, how sad they were that in days gone by they had so often forgotten the house of their God!  Broken-hearted, they wailed aloud on a foreign air:  "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten!  Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee:  if I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy!"

 

So, too alas! in these later days of God's love, the Blessed Sacrament, like most gifts in this shadowed world, must be taken from many of us before we appreciate it aright.  The days will come, and please God they will not be many, when we shall be far away from the One we love.  Our way may be along untrodden paths where Christ has not yet found a home, or day after day we may be far out on the lonely sea, or we may toss the long day and longer nights on our bed of pain.  Then will the past rise up before us, when in the forgetfulness of our youthful day we sped the fleeting moments and never thought to stop and stay awhile with our dearest Friend.  Sick at heart and full of sore regrets, we shall turn our face to where we know our Friend still finds His home and we shall stretch out our arms in longing for those loved portals.  Just for one short visit to our Friend!!!  Just for a moment's talk with Him whose invitation we had so often failed to heed!  How we should pour out our hearts and ease our souls of their heavy burdens - but we may not.  We fools!!  We forgot God's best gift and now we reap the fruit of our wasteful folly.  "Too late, too late, you cannot enter now!"

 

Dear Lord, strange as the prayer may seem from one who is Your friend, let me learn to visit You.  Visiting is inseparable from other friendships, then why should it be wanting in ours?  Oh, it must no be!  By Your good grace so let Your love take hold of my poor heart and the realization of Your presence on our altars so grow in my life, that I shall never pass Your home without at least a hurried call to let You know that You are ever in my thoughts.  Let me so live now, dear Lord, that when the day of separation comes, I can cry with Your Psalmist of old, "I have loved the beauty of Thy house and the place where Thy glory dwelleth."

Dear Friends,

Here are the seeds of today's preaching.

Bishop Louis Vezelis, OFM at the Portiuncula

Father Bonaventure Strandt, OFM


http://friarsminor.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_28.html--

St Francis and the sinful woman:

St. Francis de Sales was hearing confessions in his church at Annecy.
Among other penitents who went to him was a woman who had led a very bad life, but who, touched by God's grace, made a good and sincere confession of all the evil she had done. St. Francis blessed God for her conversion and felt his soul full of happiness in giving her absolution.

When she received it she said to him: "My father, what do
you think of me now since you have heard of all the crimes I have been guilty of?" "My child," he answered, "I now look upon you as a saint; let people say and think what they like, they may judge you as the Pharisee judged Mary Magdalen after her conversion, but you know what Jesus Christ thought of her and how he judged her. Your past life now
has no longer any existence. I weep tears of joy because of your resurrection from the grave of sin to a life of grace. 

The penitent was not only consoled by these words of St. Francis, but when the devil came to try to make her fall into despair by thinking of her past iniquities, they enabled her to drive the temptation away.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost 28 August 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

In today’s gospel we witness a man who was cured by Jesus and now “speaks right.” This is a very necessary thing for us to consider. Speaking rightly involves much more than vocalizing intelligible sounds. We must also consider that we need to speak only that which is true and good.

Speech is a most wonderful gift from God. Of all of His creation we are the only ones granted this blessing. The animals have no way of communicating vocally their inner desires and thoughts. The angels communicate purely with thought. Men have been commissioned by God to speak of Him to all of creation, and to be the voice of all the inarticulate creatures in praising and glorifying Him. 

In this lofty position as the head of the creatures of this earth and commissioned by God to praise Him on their behalf, we must consider how we use this gift and office. 

Speech is too precious a gift to waste upon falsehoods, vulgarity, and all manner of verbal perversity. The nobility of this gift demands a greater accounting before God. The tongue is like a two edge sword. More people slay themselves with their own tongues than they do others. In their lies, calumnies, slanders, etc. we find that the evil they project outward upon others falls principally upon themselves.

Our Lord tells us that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles him, but rather that which comes out from his mouth. It is the evil that is in his heart that he spreads with the tongue that creates the most evil. We can readily see the evil that slander and calumny produce in society, but what we often fail to observe is the destruction of the individual’s soul. 

In lashing out with evil intent and verbally doing harm to others, it is principally oneself that is wounded. The damage that we can do here upon earth is minimal compared to the damage that is eternal. While with our tongues we can do tremendous damage here on earth, our tongues can do little harm to the eternal souls of those who have come under our attack. The damage that does occur in souls and affects their eternal happiness comes to the one speaking evil not the one spoken about. In the desire to destroy here upon earth we only end up destroying our eternal happiness.

This tremendous gift that God has given us for His honor and glory is too often to our shame used to destroy that which God loves and seeks to save. It is bad enough for us to entertain such evil thoughts or suggestions, but the matter becomes progressively worse once we begin to verbalize them. Once a word has escaped our lips it can never be taken back. 

Our words can be for the edification and salvation of ourselves and our fellow men or they can be scandalous and destructive of life here on earth and therefore for our own lives in eternity. The evil example that our words offer to others may entice them to similar or even greater evils. For their sins too the scandalizer shall be held accountable. We can give the example of virtue and goodness with our speech or we can give the example of evil. The choice is in our own hands. Let us consciously strive to be an example of goodness and holiness to others and in this way we likewise will have a share in their goodness.

It is necessary that there should be scandals in the world so that the truth will be brought forward, but it is dreadful for the one who is the source of those scandals. Our Lord tells us that it would have been better for that man had he never been born. Let us learn from this deaf man to guard our speech so that when we open our mouths it will always be for the greater honor and glory of God. In this manner we will not have to fear being slain by our own tongues on judgment day.

Last night, our son Bobby graduated from Waukesha County Technical College Police Academy.  We were invited to the ceremony which included a very nice dinner and many speakers.  

 Among the speakers was Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin who is a newly elected official.  He ran on the platform of being a business man instead of a politician.  He won handily mainly because people are so sick of the politicians in Washington that they are grasping at anything.  I realize he has his detractors and some people think voting is a waste of time but that’s not the issue here. 

He gave a very sobering address to the audience which included many, many high ranking police officials and College Board members.  What he said was frightening and he did not mince words.  He started by saying that he was so glad to be back in Wisconsin – out of Washington and the debt ceiling issue.  He said that what they voted on will NOT solve the problem at all.  The debt is 14 TRILLION dollars and our worth is 14 trillion dollars which puts us in a precarious situation.  If we need to borrow money, we may not be able to do it.  Think China and other Communist nations and how they now  easily control us.  Didn't the Commies boast that they would bury us without firing a shot?  Its pretty clear now that they have accomplished that goal.

He said that we were basically all responsible to spread the word about the danger that our country is in but that unless something changes, there isn't a whole lot of hope for us.  I was envisioning the anti-Christ easily coming out of this mess.

The thought that popped into my mind was that the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary which took place on Monday, August 22 was so very essential and necessary.  In case you haven't had the pleasure to see it, here is the link.  

The bottom line is that we MUST stay in the state of sanctifying grace and pray for final perseverance.   We have no idea what form any of this will take but if we keep focused on God and heaven, hopefully we will be victorious.

Here is Psalm 2 for your encouragement:

[1] Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? [2] The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord and against his Christ. [3] Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us. [4] He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them. [5] Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage.
[6] But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment. [7] The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. [8] Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. [9] Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. [10] And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.
[11] Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling. [12] Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way. [13] When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

Here is a good example of God's Wrath

13. We have within ourselves, in our own experience and feelings, a knowledge of how greatly our frail and fallen nature is inclined to evil. Today we go and confess certain of our faults, making the resolution not to fall into them again, and tomorrow notwithstanding we commit them once more.

At one moment we make up our minds to acquire a certain virtue, and the next we do just the contrary by falling into the opposite vice. At the time when we make these resolutions of amendment we imagine that our will is firm and strong, but we soon perceive how weak and unreliable it is, for we behave as though we had never purposed amendment at all.

Our heart is like a reed that bends before every wind, or a barque tossed by every wave. It is sufficient to meet with an occasion of sin, a movement of passion, a breath of temptation, for the will to yield to evil even when in certain moments of fervor we seem most firmly rooted in good. This is a strong reason for us to be humble and not to presume anything of ourselves, praying to God continually that He may deign to confirm in our hearts that which He works through His grace. 

"Confirm, O God, what Thou hast wrought in us." [Ps. lxvii, 29]

And the Lord will create, upon every place of Mount Sion and where He is called upon, a cloud by day and a smoke and brightness of flaming fire in the night: for over all the glory shall be a protection.  And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind and from rain.         Isaias 4:5-6

 

The Risen Christ by Rembrandt

No man’s life runs smoothly and unbrokenly. 

To us all in God’s good time comes the constant interchange of light and shade, that perfects so well the great masterpiece we call our life.  Sorrow comes and joy rides close behind in the shadows.  Today we sit about our fireside and no darkness reigns in our little home, tomorrow the vacant chair tells once again its world-old story.  Life is a hard reality, at times a very hard reality, so hard that our poor hearts are affrighted at the gaunt vision of our own cheated dreams.   Childhood days pictured a fairyland where “grownups” moved and were wondrously happy, envied masters of themselves.  But childhood days have faded into the misty past and with them their fairyland and time has made life tell its own true changing story. 

Grief has long since burdened our faltering hearts:  grief for those that are with us no more; grief for the living whose wayward lives make it hard to check the ever-rising prayer that God had deigned long since to call them to Himself; grief for our own sad mistakes that maybe line all too closely our waning days.  But then as day drives back the night, joy, too has come:  the joy of well-merited success and the fullness of heart as we told our loved ones the long story of efforts crowned at last; the joy of father and mother as they watch their little ones growing into maturity, safe-shielded from the world’s dark shafts; the joy of holy men and women who have prevented the sun with their cloistered rising to praise their God and labor all day in the classroom or at the bedside of the sick, teaching souls to love the God who made them.

 

Life has its sorrows and life has its joys, too, but its sorrows will be all too heavy and its joys will be tainted and unsanctified unless we bring them one and all to the foot of the altar.  There is the tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, the daytime of pleasure when all is well with us and we are prone to forget our God, and “for a security and covert from the whirlwind and from rain,” and the darkness of trial and overburdening grief.  To us the Prophet Balaam speaks in ways beyond his knowing:  “How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel” – the tabernacles where Emmanuel dwells, the tents where the Son of Man lingers yet a while – “as woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside”!  There is our good Master, Rabboni, waiting for us in the dawn light a He waited of old for Magdalene; listening for our footfall at eventide, even as He listened for the knocking of the sick and the halt at His humble home in Galilee.  He will be to us “a cloud by day and a smoke and brightness of flaming fire in the night,” ever guiding, ever leading us on unswervingly to our home beyond the grave.

 

Jesus, gentle Saviour, God of wondrous forethought for those You love, life is all too strange a problem for me to face alone.  I need You for my guide, that I fail not in the dark and wander not in the noonday of my powers.  Be close to me, then, good Jesus, and leave me not alone.  I know You do not, but what I mean is, make me know, make me remember that You are with me always.  When the sun of life shines full, make me mindful of You, the Man of Sorrows, “who having joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame” and when the night of grief steals from us the light we love so much, let me remember that this everyone is sure of that worshippeth Thee, that his life, if it be under trial, shall be crowned: and if it be under tribulation, it shall be delivered: and if it be under correction, it shall be allowed to come to mercy.  For Thou art not delighted in our being lost: because after a storm Thou makest a calm and after tears and weeping Thou pourest in joyfulness”

When all the world is comfortless,

And wrapped in gloom as black as night.

Remind me, Lord in my distress

One spot on earth is always bright

THE TABERNACLE.

Dear Catholics,

Here are two sermons for this 10th Sunday After Pentecost, delivered by Father Bonaventure Strandt, OFM at Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in Rochester, NY and St. Anthony Friary Chapel in Waterloo, NY.

10th Sunday After Pentecost : 9AM Mass 

10th Sunday After Pentecost 2PM Mass 

http://friarsminor.org/audio/11pen10.wma

"Life is a duty, dare it;

Life is a burden, bear it;

Life is a thorn-crown, wear it;

Though it break your heart in twain,

Though the burden crush you down,

Close your lips and hide your pain,

First the cross and then the crown."

Taken from "Why A Lenten Season?"

Medjugorje bleached blond "seer" Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591): "The desire for private revelations deprives faith of its purity, develops a dangerous curiosity that becomes a source of illusions, fills the mind with vain fancies, and often proves the want of humility, and of submission to Our Lord, Who, through His public revelation, has given all that is needed for salvation. We must suspect those apparitions that lack dignity or proper reserve, and above all, those that are ridiculous. This last characteristic is a mark of human or diabolical machination. STAY AWAY FROM VISIONS, APPARITIONS, AND MIRACLES AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. BE CAREFUL OF VISIONS, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE AUTHENTIC.
    St. Vincent Ferrer: "The first remedy against spiritual temptations which the devil plants in the hearts of many persons in these unhappy times, is to have no desire to procure by prayer, meditation, or any other good work, what are called (private) revelations, or spiritual experiences, beyond what happens in the ordinary course of things; such a desire of things which surpass the common order can have no other root or foundation but pride, presumption, a vain curiosity in what regards the things of God, and in short, an exceedingly weak faith. It is to punish this evil desire that God abandons the soul, and permits it to fall into the illusions and temptations of the devil, who seduces it, and represents to it false visions and delusive revelations. Here we have the source of most of the spiritual temptations that prevail at the present time; temptations which the spirit of evil roots in the souls of those who may be called the precursors of Antichrist."
    Pope St. Pius X 1913: "When anyone tells me about the extraordinary, I am the most incredulous man in the world..., but when holiness results from the practice of virtue..., I believe in it. Just this morning ... I was saying that long ago the devil manifested himself openly in the possessed whom he caused to suffer, and from whom he could be driven out only by exorcism. Now he has changed his method; he takes the appearance of sanctity and makes people believe in visions. He even gives to certain persons the knowledge of hidden things, so that they may appear to prophesy; sometimes he even simulates stigmata! But as for holiness expressed in the simple practice of virtue..., I believe in that. That is indeed holiness.... The way to sanctity is not difficult. It is a thorny road, but easy."

Dear Friends,

My apologies for this late notice. Because of a technical glitch (my fault) you will need to go to www.ustream.com to hear the program LIVE today. The problem will be fixed tomorrow, and hopefully won't happen again.

The topic for today's program will be abortion and Lubbock Right to Life. It is broadcast from 2 - 4 p.m. (Central Time) on KRFE AM580, Lubbock, TX.

 

Thanks for your continued support and God bless you,

 

Fr. Joseph, OFM

Audio Sermons for:

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

May God bless you.
+Bishop Giles OFM

http://friarsminor.blogspot.com/
The "ECCE HOMO"
A remedy for domestic discord

A wealthy couple, in spite of all their riches, lived in constant discord and daily disputes. The married state was anything but a happy state for them; the wife especially often shed bitter tears. One day she happened to come across a manuscript book which was entitled: "Simple Remedies for the Household." It was in her grandmother's handwriting. As she idly turned over the leaves, to her surprise her eye fell upon the heading: "A household remedy against discontent." She read it eagerly; it ran thus: "Whenever you feel miserable or are out of temper, go to the picture of the "Ecce Homo," and place yourself at its feet. Contemplate it attentively for the space of three minutes, and recite three Our Fathers before you go away: this will restore peace and content to your mind. My confessor advised me to do this. I have tried the remedy for thirty years, and I have never found it to fail." The lady remembered that by a mere chance she had kept the picture in question, which had belonged to her grandmother; it was upstairs in the garret. She went up at once, dusted it carefully, and hung it on a nail in her room. Whenever she felt that a quarrel was impending, she tried the simple remedy her grandmother recommended. Through gazing at the countenance of Our Lord, so sorrowful and yet so gentle, she became so much more forbearing and complaisant that her husband remarked upon the change. She answered him with a smile: "I have found an excellent teacher." He wanted to know who that teacher was. So she told him everything quite frankly. Before long her husband also had recourse to this same remedy, when he foresaw that some household annoyance was in store for him. Thus in the course of time peace and happiness prevailed in that family circle.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Tenth Sunday after Pentecost 21 August 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

The question placed before us today is: how do we pray?

We all too often place ourselves in comparison with our neighbor. We look upon his sins and secretly think ourselves better because we have not been tempted to the same sins as he is. Or, we look upon his virtues and secretly consider ours better than his. In either case we make a great mistake.

St. Augustine reminds us that there is no sin which any man commits, that we ourselves might commit if it were not for the grace of God. (Serm 49) Without the grace of God we can fall into each and every sin possible. If we find that we ourselves have not fallen it is truly because God has protected us in this area. It would be foolish for us to consider that we have avoided this or that sin by our own strength and power. Of ourselves we have done nothing to merit praise. If there is any praise that is deserved, then it belongs totally and completely to God, who has worked this grace in us.

Rather than look down upon someone else who has fallen and considering ourselves greater; we should consider that perhaps we are so weak that God has seen fit not to even allow us to be tempted in this area. Perhaps in truth, the one who has sinned may be more pleasing to God as he has been seen fit to have been put into the battle while we are so weak that He has kept us out of the battle. The worse sin appears to be, when we are content to remain in sin, rather than repenting and rising up again to fight the good fight. Our Lord has informed us that there is more joy of the one sinner doing penance than over the ninety-nine who have no need of repentance.

St. Paul admonishes us on the other end of the spectrum not to become despondent when we see that others have received better graces than we have, or to consider that the graces that we have received somehow make us better than our neighbor.

It is the same Holy Ghost that gives one grace to one and another grace to another. He does this as He wills and not necessarily according to the merits or demerits of the person in question. Often we see that God chooses the most unworthy of His children to exhibit the greatest graces and gifts. He often uses the foolish of this world to confound the wise. (1 Cor. 1:27) In such a manner God is sure to be the one honored and glorified for His gifts and it is most obvious that the lowly instrument that He uses is not the source of such magnificent or wondrous things.

We see this manifested most clearly in the lives of the saints, who in the performance of miracles always gave the credit to God and considered themselves unfitted and unworthy of any of the credit.

We too, must learn from the saints. We must avoid considering ourselves above anyone else. If we perchance do observe something better in ourselves than in our neighbor, rather than become puffed up with pride we must constantly remind ourselves that it is God who has done this and not ourselves. Even if we have remained free from one sin or another, we have failed in many others and we would have fallen in this one too if God had not preserved us from it.

The comparison that we are to make is not with ourselves and others, but rather with ourselves and Jesus Christ. He is our role model; He is the one that we must measure up against. Every one of us must find ourselves severely lacking in this comparison and so we must all become like the Publican rather than the Pharisee. If there should ever arise the temptation to compare ourselves against our fellow men let us see in them the good that God has done, and in ourselves the grace that we have wasted or abused. In this manner our prayers will be pleasing and acceptable to God.

Warning of St. Anthony Mary Claret Concerning Immodest and Worldly Fashions

(Español)

"...Now, observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious dress of many women, and the raiment and adornments of Jesus... Tell me: what relation do their fine shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus' Feet? The rings on their hands to the nails which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the Crown of Thorns? The painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders exposed by the low-cut gown to His, all striped with Blood? Ah, but there is a marked likeness between these worldly women and the Jews who, incited by the Devil, scourged Our Lord! At the hour of such a women's death, I think Jesus will be heard saying: 'Cujus est imago haec... of whom is she the image?' And the reply will be: 'Demonii... of the Devil!' Then He will say: 'Let her who has followed the Devil's fashions be handed over to him; and to God, those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus and Mary'."

ALL HOPE AND TRUST ARE TO BE FIXED IN GOD ALONE

THE DISCIPLE

WHAT, Lord, is the trust which I have in this life, or what is my greatest comfort among all the things that appear under heaven? Is it not You, O Lord, my God, Whose mercies are without number? Where have I ever fared well but for You? Or how could things go badly when You were present? I had rather be poor for Your sake than rich without You. I prefer rather to wander on the earth with You than to possess heaven without You. Where You are there is heaven, and where You are not are death and hell. You are my desire and therefore I must cry after You and sigh and pray. In none can I fully trust to help me in my necessities, but in You alone, my God. You are my hope. You are my confidence. You are my consoler, most faithful in every need.

All seek their own interests. You, however, place my salvation and my profit first, and turn all things to my good. Even though exposing me to various temptations and hardships, You Who are accustomed to prove Your loved ones in a thousand ways, order all this for my good. You ought not to be loved or praised less in this trial than if You had filled me with heavenly consolations.

In You, therefore, O Lord God, I place all my hope and my refuge. On You I cast all my troubles and anguish, because whatever I have outside of You I find to be weak and unstable. It will not serve me to have many friends, nor will powerful helpers be able to assist me, nor prudent advisers to give useful answers, nor the books of learned men to console, nor any precious substance to win my freedom, nor any place, secret and beautiful though it be, to shelter me, if You Yourself do not assist, comfort, console, instruct, and guard me. For all things which seem to be for our peace and happiness are nothing when You are absent, and truly confer no happiness.

You, indeed, are the fountain of all good, the height of life, the depth of all that can be spoken. To trust in You above all things is the strongest comfort of Your servants.

My God, the Father of mercies, to You I look, in You I trust. Bless and sanctify my soul with heavenly benediction, so that it may become Your holy dwelling and the seat of Your eternal glory. And in this temple of Your dignity let nothing be found that might offend Your majesty. In Your great goodness, and in the multitude of Your mercies, look upon me and listen to the prayer of Your poor servant exiled from You in the region of the shadow of death. Protect and preserve the soul of Your poor servant among the many dangers of this corruptible life, and direct him by Your accompanying grace, through the ways of peace, to the land of everlasting light.

I'D LIKE TO CONGRATULATE SISTER FRANCES AND SISTER CLARE ON OUR 16TH ANNIVERSARY AS THIRD ORDER MEMBERS.  IT WAS AUGUST 16, 1995 WHEN THE THREE OF US PROFESSED IN FRONT OF FATHER BERNARD IN RADISSON, WISCONSIN.  THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST BLESSED DAYS OF OUR LIVES!

12. It has often happened that those who were more perfect than others have shamefully fallen, and this after a long period of good and virtuous works, showing the marvelous things that a man can do when able if abandoned to himself and left to the weakness of his own free-will.

God has shown His creative omnipotence by forming me out of nothing and making me a human being. Were God to withdraw His omnipotent preserving hand from me I should at once show what I am capable of when left to myself, by returning immediately into my nothingness. And, in the order of grace, the nothingness into which I relapse when left to myself is sin. How often "I am brought to nothing, and I knew not." [Ps. lxxii, 21] And what can I find to be proud of in that nothingness?

Give me grace, O my God, to know myself only as much as is necessary to keep me humble! For if I fully realized the insignificance of my own being and the extent of my malice which is capable of offending Thee in divers inconceivable ways, I fear I should be so filled with horror at myself that I should give way to despair!

 More proof that they are not really Catholic!!

Whatever happened to holy days?

Today’s Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, a holy day of obligation, not observed in California or elsewhere in US

Today, Aug. 15, marks the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation for Catholics across the world – except in California and the rest of the United States.

That’s because it falls on a Monday, and US bishops have decided it’s too much to ask of Catholics to attend Mass just a day after the obligatory Sunday Mass. Whenever a holy day – and in the US there are only six a year – falls on a Saturday or a Monday, US bishops have decided they need not be observed.

In addition to the ‘Saturday or Monday rule,’ the bishops have also moved the observance of other holy days to Sundays, further reducing the number of days other than Sunday that Catholics in the US are obliged to attend Mass. Of the 10 holy days promulgated by the universal Church, US Catholics are required to observe just three in 2011.

That’s because three holy day observances – the Epiphany, Corpus Christi and the Ascension – have all been moved to Sundays. Two others – the Solemnity of Saint Joseph and the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul – have been abandoned altogether. And two others – the Assumption and the Solemnity of Mary – fell on either a Saturday or a Monday.

That leaves just All Saints, the Immaculate Conception and Christmas. The 2011 holy day breakdown for California (and most of the rest of the US) looks like this: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Jan. 1, not a holy day because it fell on a Saturday; Ascension of the Lord, transferred to Sunday, June 5; Assumption of Mary, Aug. 15, not a holy day of obligation because it falls on a Monday; All Saints, Tuesday, Nov. 1, remains a holy day of obligation; Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, remains a holy day of obligation; Christmas, which falls this year on Sunday, Dec. 25, is always a holy day regardless of the day of the week.

There is one small exception to the wholesale reduction of the number of holy days observed in the US. With the Vatican’s approval, the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia and Omaha still observe the Ascension of the Lord on Thursdays, which means that Catholics who live in any of those areas are required to observe it as a holy day and attend Mass.

California Catholic Daily conducted a quick check of diocesan and archdiocesan websites in California and found, with a few exceptions, no mention of today as the Solemnity of the Assumption.

The Aug. 12 “Friday Update” for the Stockton diocese said this: “Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: This year the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on Monday, August 15. It is a Solemnity, and Mass should be celebrated in every parish. However, because it falls on a Monday it is NOT a holy day of obligation.” The “Update” did note, however, that chancery offices would be closed in observance of the Solemnity of the Assumption.

Only a few other dioceses made mention of the holy day on their websites. From the Diocese of Sacramento: “NOT a Holy Day of Obligation since it falls on a Monday.” From the Diocese San Diego: “Holy day; obligation dispensed.” The San Jose diocese made only a general reference: “When January 1, August 15, or November 1 falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to participate in Mass does not hold.”

The Diocese of Orange took a novel approach -- it moved the holy day backwards: “Sunday, August 15th, 2011 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Holy Day of Obligation.” Sunday, of course, was Aug. 14. 
http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=e84a5a30-301a-4a8b-bee3-996fdc1b2560

Dear Catholics,

  Here are 3 sermon links for both the 8th and 9th Sundays after Pentecost. May you have the desire and make the free time to listen for the profit of your soul.

8th Sunday After Pentecost at the Portiuncula 

Bishop Louis Vezelis, OFM 8th Sunday After Pentecost - Waterloo, NY 
 
9th Sunday After Pentecost - Fr. Bonaventure Strandt, OFM 

THOUGHTS OF ST. BERNARD ON THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY
On this day the glorified Virgin entered heaven and crowned by her
presence the holy pleasures of its inhabitants. But what mind can
conceive the glory with which the arrival of the Queen of the world
was celebrated by the brilliant heavenly hosts, their advance to
greet her, their chanting as they led her to the magnificent throne?
Who can fancy the tender gaze, the loving countenance, the divine
caresses with which she was received by her Son and placed over all
created beings, honored as became such a mother, with the glory that
became such a Son? What lips can describe the assumption of Mary? As
upon earth she, before all others, received special grace, so in
heaven she, before all others, receives special glory. If eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to
know the delights that God has prepared for those that love Him, who
shall say what is prepared for her who bore Him and loved Him more
than all! O blessed art thou, Mary! Most blessed wert thou, when thou
didst receive the Saviour; most blessed art thou, when the Saviour
receives thee!

ST. BERNARD'S PRAYER TO MARY
We accompany thee, on this day, with our most ardent wishes to thy
Son, O glorious Virgin, Queen of heaven! and follow thee from afar, O
happy Virgin! Give thy mildness to the world, give of the grace thou
hast found with God. Obtain by thy blessed intercession, grace for
the guilty, recovery for the sick, strength for the faint-hearted,
aid for those in peril! Dispense to us thy servants, who on this
glorious festival-day invoke thy sweetest name, O gentlest Queen, the
grace of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord and God, to whom be glory
forever. Amen.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 14 August 2011

The Sunday Sermon

The sorrow of Jesus is placed right alongside His anger in today’s gospel. We first see Jesus in a most tender position overlooking Jerusalem. There He sees before Him the beloved city and people that God had given so much to, and in His divinity He beholds the evil that is overruling the city and the people. He can see into the future the destruction that will come upon them because of this evil.

The desire of Jesus is to gather these errant souls together and bring them to eternal peace and happiness, but they will not allow it. They will not listen, they will not follow, they will not gather to Him. Having given men a free will, He has bound Himself to respect it. Thus, all that is left for Him to do is to weep over them. The bitterness and pain of these tears can only be measured by the love God has for us. I dare say, that only those who have truly loved and lost know even a tiny bit of the pain suffered by Our Lord on this occasion.

Just after this most touching and tender scene we are shown Jesus in the temple where He has taken up a whip and chased out the money lenders and the buyers and sellers from the temple. When those souls could not be won over by love, the next best thing for them is to be stopped in their evil tracks with force. What appears to so many to be an act of anger and violence is in truth an act of love and kindness.

By chasing the profaners from the temple Jesus prevented them from heaping more sins upon their already over burdened conscience. They were prevented from offending God further and meriting for themselves a deeper place in hell. We witness that even in his anger there is no hatred but rather love and compassion.

St. Paul in today’s epistle, gives us likewise the example of the Israelites and the evils that they committed and the punishment that fell upon them as an example to us. They had not yet seen or received Jesus Christ but, we have received Him. They had experienced the love of God but appear to have been ignorant or so blinded that they could not see it. It was necessary for God to mercifully heap punishment upon them to stop them in their evil ways.

With us, God is expecting a greater understanding and love and therefore a greater cooperation with His grace and love. These things that they did came to pass as examples to us. We therefore are called upon to see and learn from the errors and mistakes of others. If love is not enough to motivate us then, God offers us the fear of punishment as He inflicted it upon those who came before us and sinned against God.

In both cases, it is an act of mercy and love for us that God either entices us to Himself with love and goodness or stops us in our evil tracks with pain and suffering. We are given examples of both of these in today’s Mass.

If our hearts are so hard and callous that the sight of the tears of Jesus for us does not move us to abandon vice and strive for virtue, at least the fear of His anger and punishment might at least mitigate the eternal punishment that we are heaping upon ourselves.

Let us strive to soften our hearts and spiritually kneel beside our Lord as he weeps for His children. Let us contemplate His love for us and His burning desire for us to come to Him and be fed and protected as the hen protects her chicks. Let us meditate upon how this love of Jesus has taken Him all the way to the death of the cross so that we might live. In this frame of mind we should be able to make the most perfect acts of Charity and contrition, because the site of such grand and beautiful love for us cannot but force us to reciprocate such love. In this state we will strive that we may be able to love as we have been loved. In accepting His love and sacrifice for us, let us be motivated to offer our love and sacrifices to Him.

"These latter days have witnessed a notable increase in the number of the enemies of the Cross of Christ, who, by arts entirely new and full of deceit, are striving to destroy the vital energy of the Church, and, as far as in them lies, utterly to subvert the very Kingdom of Christ."

― Pope Saint Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis
(On the doctrines of the Modernists, 1907)

Inspection Of Northern Illinois Women's Center Reveals Shocking, Dangerous, And Disgusting Violations

Submitted by Editor on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 10:00am

• Rockford Pro-Life

N.I.W.C. Busted - Rockford, Il – (ProLifeCorner.com) – 8-11-2011 – by James - The call by Rockford area pro-lifers to have the Rockford abortion mill inspected has fallen on deaf ears for a longtime.  Then the abortion mill "house of horrors" in Philadelphia and its dead bodies in refrigerators and babies being left to die on the floor made news.  This may have prompted the Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Health Standards to finally take action.

In early June 2011, the Rockford abortion mill was inspected, and the Rockford Pro-Life Initiative has a copy of the report.
Below are listed some of the frightening violations documented by the State of Illinois about Rockford's abortion mill;
The Northern Illinois Women's Center did NOT meet the requirement of a sanitary facility.
It was determined "that 3 of 3 operating rooms inspected failed to ensure a sanitary environment."
NIWC failed to prevent potential contamination of clean equipment.
Gynecological cannula's were stained with a "brown substance!"  (Cannulas are surgical instruments inserted directly inside a mother.)
Shoes were stored inside an open box of surgical gloves.
Operating room #1 contained a box of opened surgical gloves stained with a dried brown substance.
The equipment used to sterilize medical instruments, called an autoclave, failed biological testing on at least two occasions!  (An autoclave is an instrument used to sterilize equipment and supplies by subjecting them to high pressure, saturated steam at 121 °C for about 15–20 minutes, depending on the size of the load and the contents.)  The autoclave should be tested weekly -  they went for 4 months between testing and then failed.  That means that at some time prior to testing, the autoclave stopped sterilizing.  If it had been tested weekly, then only a few patients would have been exposed to contaminated instruments before the failure was noted.  By going so long, they exposed countless women to potential disease.  If the instruments were used twice a week, then possibly 32 women were endangered (16 weeks times twice a week) with EACH instrument pack. 
NIWC failed to meet the requirement that a qualified Registered Nurse be present in the operating room.  This dangerous and illegal situation went on for well over three years.
NIWC did not have an RN in the operating room for over three years.  It didn't even have one on the payroll.  There was no "director of nurses" to oversee care. Unqualified and unlicensed personal were doing the work of a professional nurse.
NIWC failed to document who was accompanying a patient when leaving the facility post-surgical procedure.  It is possible that women were left to care for themselves after surgery.
Numerous instances of failing to meet state requirements in record keeping.
Failure to ensure physical exams were documented.  NIWC also failed to ensure development and review of policies and procedures.
From "brown substances" on surgical equipment and gloves, to not having a qualified nursing staff, to equipment used to sterilize surgical instruments not working properly, this report is an indictment of the very dangerous and disgusting conditions that have existed inside the Rockford abortion mill for a long time.
We have seen racism, bigotry, and grotesque hatred for God and human life displayed in the windows of this clinic building for years.  It seems this place is as careless, unprofessional, alarming, and dangerous on the inside as it is on the outside. 
A local nurse who read the report from the Illinois Dept of Public Health said, "Yet, even with all these violations and without a registered nurse in their employ, they were open for business the very next day.  What does it take for the IDPH to shut this place down?  Do women really deserve this quality of medical care?" 
Illinois Department Of Public Health reveals Northern Illinois Women’s Center is apparently as filthy on the inside as it is on the outside.
The report from the Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Health Standards documented numerous disturbing and possibly dangerous violations inside of the Rockford abortion mill.  These pictures taken last Fall show the deplorable and repulsive conditions of the outside of the Rockford abortion mill building.

Every one of these are broken daily !!
THE MARYLIKE STANDARDS

for Modesty in Dress

(as set down by the Vatican)

"A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore, dresses of transparent materials are improper."

--The Cardinal Vicar of Pope Pius XI

1. "Marylike" means modesty without compromise -- "like Mary," Christ's pure and spotless Mother.

2. Marylike dresses have sleeves extending at least to the elbows; and skirts reaching well below the knees.

3. Marylike dresses require full coverage for the bodice, chest, shoulders, and back; except for a cut-out about the neck not exceeding "two fingers breadth under the pit of the throat" and a similar breadth under the back of the neck.

4. Marylike dresses do not admit as modest coverage transparent fabrics -- laces, nets, organdy, nylons, etc. -- unless sufficient backing is added. However, their moderate use as trimmings is acceptable.

5. Marylike dresses avoid the improper use of flesh-colored fabrics.

6. Marylike dresses conceal rather than reveal the figure of the wearer; they do not emphasize, unduly, parts of the body.

7. Marylike dresses provide full coverage, even after jacket, cape or stole are removed.

8. Marylike fashions are designed to conceal as much of the body as possible, rather than reveal. This would automatically eliminate such fashions as slacks, jeans, shorts, culottes, tight sweaters, sheer blouses, and sleeveless dresses; etc. The Marylike standards are a guide to instill a "sense of modesty." A girl or woman who follows these, and looks up to Mary as her ideal and model, will have no problem with modesty in dress. She will not be an occasion of sin or source of embarrassment or shame to others.

Keep this guide with you when buying clothes. Make sure that you purchase or make only garments which meet the Marylike Standards.
''Be Marylike by being modest -- be modest by being Marylike."