Thursday, October 25, 2007
Code of Canon Law s.1725
One way this law can be expressed and visibly practised is through the Sacrament of Confession. As Catholics we all know that power that has been given to every Catholic priest through the minsitry of the Church is able to completly remit all our sins and ensures the salvation of our souls.
I'm sure you heard others talk about how some dying patients are so blessed to be able to receive their last absolution. Well... I'm sure none of us want to wait till that time before reconciling with God and to God. Sometimes death calls us at the most unexpected time; we could be driving on the road, we could be on the plane, we could be asleep in our beds (remember the recent news of the 21 year old undergrad?). We must always be in a state of grace so that at anytime the Lord calls, we are ready to meet Him.
I'm writing all this because two parishes I visited refused me this Sacrament. At the first parish, the secretariat insisted that confession could not be heard on any other day except Sunday at the stipulated times and denied me entry to the office. At the second, a priest- clad in business attire and aviator shades- said confession could wait as he went for his afternoon tea with a female parishioner. "Too bad, wrong time..." were his last words as he entered the car.
I mean, what is so difficult to hear a confession? It not require more than 3 minutes to hear a confession anyway. Such attitudes are not healthy especially to Catholics who are not firmly grounded in the faith or spiritual life. They could view it as something unimportant and cease to recommend themselves to it or exclude it to an mere annual practice.
Anyone with any views?
Labels: Confession, Personal, Rants/Musings/Thoughts
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Readings:
First Reading: Ephesians 3:14-19
Responsorial: Psalm 22 R/ v.1
Acclamation: Matthew 11:25
Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30
Introduction
St. Margaret M. Alacoque was born at Verosvres, France in 1647 and entered the Order of the Visitation in 1671. Jesus appeared to her in numerous visions, displaying His Sacred Heart, sometimes burning as a furnace, and sometimes torn and bleeding on account of the coldness of the sins of men. In 1675 the great revelation was made to her that she, in union with Father de la Colombiere S.J., was to be the chief instrument for instituting the Feast of the Sacred Heart and for the spreading of the devotion throughout the world. St. Margaret M. Alacoque died on October 17, 1690.
“It is the ingratitude of men which has hurt Me more than all the suffering I underwent during My Passion. If only they would make some return for My love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were it possible, to suffer still more. But the sole return they make for all My eagerness to do them good is to reject Me and treat Me with coldness. Do thou at least console Me by supplying for their ingratitude as far as thou art able.”
Contemplation
The contemplation of the benefits of Jesus towards us ought to become the source of our practical devotion to the Sacred Heart. For only love alone can respond to love. In his appearance to St. Margaret, Jesus 'complains' of the lack of love in return for His love: "Behold this heart that has so loved men and which receives from them only ingratitude." Thus, it is clear that it is only by love, by the gift of the heart that we should respond to Christ Jesus. The suggested hymn for the feast of the Sacred Heart rightly expresses this by the following words, "Who will not love in return for the one Who loves him? Who being redeemed will not love His Redeemer?" Today we question our love for Jesus. Do we really love Him? Can we assuredly say that if we were on Calvary 2000 years ago, we would have embraced the cross on which hung our Lord?
“Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much, that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love; and in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me, that treat Me thus...”
Love of God
The love we offer God if to be perfect must bear a double character. A great English abbot once explained that there is "first of all, affective love; it consists in the different feelings which move in the heart towards a person loved." I would believe such feelings to include: admiration, joy, and thanksgiving. The other character, he explained is praise. Such a love as described above gives birth the praise. For we want to praise the works of His hands, the blessings He has bestowed upon us, our loved ones, and for the simple fact that He and only He is God.
“My Divine Heart so ardently loves men that, unable to contain within itself any longer the flames of its burning love, it needs must spread them with your assistance, and thus it will show itself that all men may be enriched with its most precious treasures...”
Our Response
Today, we rejoice in the perfections if the Heart of Jesus, we celebrate it's beauties, and grandeurs, we delight in the magnificence of it's benefits. And in union with St. Peter Julian Eymard, the Eucharistic saint of reparation, we unite ourselves with all the sufferings of Jesus as we draw closer to His Most Sacred Heart. Amen.
Oremus
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who to the blessed virgin Margeret Mary did in a wondorous manner reveal the unsearchable riches of Your Heart: by her merits grant, that loving You after her example in all things and above all things, we may obtain an abode in Your Heart for evermore. Amen. St. Margeret Mary, pray for us.
Related Link: The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Labels: Links, Prayer, Saints, Spirituality
Friday, October 12, 2007
Ordinary time is...
Labels: Advent, Christmas, Miscellaneous, Photos
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Great Commission
We are all called to take our Lord, His love and His message of salvation to others. In fact we're not called, we're commanded to do this. And as faithful soldiers (2 Timothy 4:1-2) of Christ, our Commander-in-Chief has given us our very clear instructions!
Many Protestants often refer to Matthew 28:19 as the Great Commission. Rightly so. It's not the great suggestion. It's not an option, but a clear command of our King of kings and our Commander-in-Chief.
And all of us, therefore, are called and commissioned to share the faith we have in Jesus Christ in a relational and natural way. We don't have to be polished speakers or winning debaters or a trained theologians in order to share the faith to others.
We have been freed from a fatal disease that is called sin through the healing power of a Divine Physician named Jesus.
By the power of His blood, which cleanses us from every sin, has changed our hearts. And because we have been transformed by the love and grace of God, we can and should tell others!
Labels: Evangelism, Thoughts
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
