Praying With The Church – Update

April 7, 2009 by Be Holy

If you have not checked out DivineOffice.org yet, Holy Week is the perfect time to begin praying with the Church with the help of this wonderful ministry. Divine Office is produced by Dane Falkner and some very dedicated and talented people. It’s purpose is to promote “the tradition of praying always through these ancient treasures of the Church, not only to Catholics but to all Christians universally.”

Here are the wonder workers, Dane, Chriss, Denise and Greg:

DivineOffice.org provides daily free podcast of the Divine Office, definitely 5 star! plus iPhone App made available through iTunes (extremely affordable.)

Having a virtual community is great when you know they are real people reaching out to no less than the world. The music, professional presentation of the daily inspirational scriptures, readings and prayers, has enriched my experience of listening to and praying the Divine Office. As I said, Check them out!

Lenten Reading Plan – Apr 8

April 7, 2009 by Be Holy

Day37 Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan 4/8/09

St. Leo the Great: Sermon XXVIII (called the Tome”): complete

Day 37Lite Version

St. Ambrose of Milan: Concerning the Mysteries:1-4

Compilation of Lenten readings

Printer-Friendly Version of Outline: Church Fathers Lenten Reading Plan PDF

My Desires Are Infinite – Carmel

April 7, 2009 by Be Holy

Here is a site with much to offer by secular Carmelites . Their calling: “to listen to hear the whisper of God in the silence of our hearts. We seek Him, who we know loves us, and contemplate His wonders…… The meditations (& podcasts) are taken directly from the writings of the Church Doctors of Prayer, Mysticism, Confidence and Missionaries (Saints Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Thérèse of Lisieux) as well as many other Carmelites you may not have known before!”

Meditations from Carmel:

Mother Isabel of the Sacred Heart

“My desires are infinite. . . I have often made them known: firstly, the salvation of souls, of all the souls now on earth and of those which will exist until the end of the world; then that divine love may reign in every soul; that those consecrated to God, especially priests, may reach the height of sanctity to which their vocation calls them; to obtain baptism for infants; that Purgatory may free its captives and may be closed for ever by souls being taught how to fly straight to heaven on leaving this world; that physical and bodily pain may be consoled, soothed, and to a great extent abolished. Yet these desires, like Saint Teresa’s become very grievous when I reflect that Jesus Himself could not obtain the salvation of all souls, nor make Himself loved by all, nor save them all from the tortures of Purgatory or from Limbo. I am troubled by the profound mystery of God s will being frustrated in His wishes by the contrary designs of His creatures, and I pray: “Father, since this is so, I entreat Thee to grant as far as possible the longings of the Heart of Jesus, for all His desires are mine,” and this brings me peace.

This was, for a long time, my only way of hearing Mass. When the sacred Host was up raised after the words of Consecration, I used to say: “Father, behold Thy beloved Son in “Whom Thou has set all Thy pleasure; hear Him!” This “Hear Him!” which expressed all my longings, meant: “Grant all He asks; realize all His desires!”

– Mother Isabel of the Sacred Heart

Hidden Grace of the Sacrament

April 7, 2009 by Be Holy

Thomas A’ Kempis’words in My Imitation of Christ are ever new speaking to the heart. Preparations of a soul are often given little regard in the world, so let’s draw apart from the world to consider the gift, the soul and the benefits of our Faith received:

Here in the Sacrament of the altar You are wholly present, my God, the man Christ Jesus, whence is obtained the full realization of eternal salvation, as often as You are worthily and devoutly received. To this, indeed, we are not drawn by levity, or curiosity, or sensuality, but by firm faith, devout hope, and sincere love. O God, hidden Creator of the world, how wonderfully You deal with us! How sweetly and graciously You dispose of things with Your elect to whom You offer Yourself to be received in this Sacrament! This, indeed, surpasses all understanding. This in a special manner attracts the hearts of the devout and inflames their love. Your truly faithful servants, who give their whole life to amendment, often receive in Holy Communion the great grace of devotion and love of virtue. Oh, the wonderful and hidden grace of this Sacrament which only the faithful of Christ understand, which unbelievers and slaves of sin cannot experience! In it spiritual grace is conferred, lost virtue restored, and the beauty, marred by sin, repaired. At times, indeed, its grace is so great that, from the fullness of the devotion, not only the mind but also the frail body feels filled with greater strength. Nevertheless, our neglect and coldness is much to be deplored and pitied, when we are not moved to receive with greater fervor Christ in Whom is the hope and merit of all who will be saved. He is our sanctification and redemption. He is our consolation in this life and the eternal joy of the blessed in heaven. This being true, it is lamentable that many pay so little heed to the salutary Mystery which fills the heavens with joy and maintains the whole universe in being. Oh, the blindness and the hardness of the heart of man that does not show more regard for so wonderful a gift, but rather falls into carelessness from its daily use! If this most holy Sacrament were celebrated in only one place and consecrated by only one priest in the whole world, with what great desire, do you think, would men be attracted to that place, to that priest of God, in order to witness the celebration of the divine Mysteries! But now there are many priests and Mass is offered in many places, that God’s grace and love for men may appear the more clearly as the Sacred Communion is spread more widely through the world. Thanks be to You, Jesus, everlasting Good Shepherd, Who have seen fit to feed us poor exiled people with Your precious Body and Blood, and to invite us with words from Your own lips to partake of these sacred Mysteries: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” Book 4: chapter 1

Teresa Tomeo’s Exchange With a Pro-Abortion Listener

April 6, 2009 by Be Holy

Teresa Tomeo of Ave Maria Radio took time to answer this pro-choice/pro-life Catholic educator. She’d really like it shared.

Here is the initial letter Kathy wrote to Teresa.

Dear Ms. Tomeo,
I was discouraged and even angered at your comments about President Obama. He is one of the most inspirational figures of recent times. As a Catholic educator for over 30 years, I am proud that we gave each student a book about Barack Obama on Inauguration Day. Most teachers have his picture in our Catholic classrooms and talk about his thoughtful, open, and integrity‐based life. He cares about LIFE ‐ education and health care are life issues, how we handle war and the economy are life issues. How we talk with people in dialogue is a life issue. Measuring all life issues through the lens of abortion is outrageous to say the least. Obama’s commitment to prevent abortion and to support healthy life for all is a critical moral issue. God created us to be able to choose. It is our job in churches to help form conscience so that we may choose life.
Working on his campaign in the fall, and the Catholics for Obama campaign, was one of the most important times I have experienced in my 55 years of life.
It is clearly deeply Christian to be PRO‐LIFE and PRO‐CHOICE both.
It is offensive to promote such negativity toward the president of the United States.
Peace and grace,
Kathy.
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Hi Kathy. Thanks for writing. I hope you will take the time to read this e mail and really pray and think about what I am laying out before you. I will be discussing this e mail exchange on my radio show this week so I hope you tune in and even call in if possible. I have attached an article that is coming out this week on a major Catholic web site regarding the Obama administration. As a woman I thought you would be interested in this and this will help you understand why I
feel so strongly about this issue. I was so disappointed to see that you call yourself a “Catholic educator” and a “proud member” of the Catholic Church and yet you express only emotion and no fact to back up your claims that it is okay for Christians to be both pro life and pro choice as well as your claims that the
president is “for life” as you put it. As the old Wendy’s commercial use to say “where’s the beef?” I normally don’t spend this much time on e mails but the Holy Spirit is prompting me to reach out to you in hopes that you will really re‐consider and really truly study what our Church and the Bible have to say about abortion. I am also very concerned because you are in a position to influence young people.

From your note I get the sense that you have very little awareness of the fallout from abortion on women, men, families, the economy, increased rates of drug abuse, the connection to abortion and breast cancer, increased suicide attempts with post abortive women etc. and most importantly the loss of life with 50 million babies lost in this country (17 million of whom are African Americans) yes Barack Obama’s own people have suffered the greatest causalities since the legalization of abortion in this country.

Regarding all the above issues here are some web sites for you‐www.afterabortion.org , www.abortionbreastcancer.com and one of the best of course www.priestsforlife.org Are you aware that most abortion centers are unregulated and that there have been many cases, several recently, of statutory rape that have gone unreported by these abortion centers? Are you also
aware that the majority of women having abortions say they feel they are being forced to do so and that there was little “choice” involved but threats and coercion? A great amount of research has been done in all of these areas although it rarely gets any attention. Have you ever heard of the Silent No More Awareness campaign? www.silentnomoreawareness.org where women and men tell their painful post abortive stories?

Go here for the rest of the article.