United in Conversion

"Call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children..."(Joel 2)

During the holy season of Lent we unite as brothers and sisters in Christ from every time and place, generation with generation, in acts of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Together we turn from sin to grace. Together we enter into Christ's suffering and death that we may also rise with Him. Lent is a particular time of penance, a particular time of conversion, and a particular time of grace. It reveals to us the beauty of being one united Church, united in suffering and united in our need for conversion. There is need for conversion in every time and every place, and in every generation. We are united in our longing for heaven, and we help one another to get there. We are sharers not only in Christ's, but in one another's sufferings. We "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). Lent calls us to reject selfishness in our relationship with God and in our relationship with others. It is a time to deny ourselves and return to the Lord, bringing our brothers and sisters with us. Let us bring the aged, the youth and the children before the Lord, and "rend our hearts, and not our clothing."

Lent is one of the "intense moments of the Church's penitential practice" (CCC 1438). It calls us to become more sensitive to the role of sin in our lives and its effects within our personal surroundings and our larger society and culture (Lent and Easter Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen (Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 2004) ix). A major part of conversion, of turning away from sin and back to God includes some form of penance. Without penance we are unlikely to advance in holiness. Time and time again we hear Jesus say in the Gospel, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matthew 4:17). Through the holy season of Lent, we immerse ourselves into the death of Christ so that we may also rise with Him. By the grace of our Baptism we are moved everyday to immerse ourselves into this death and resurrection. "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him." (cf. Col 2:12) Through the grace of our Baptism, we realize "the great mystery in which man dies to sin, is made a sharer in the new life of the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rom. 8:11). This free gift must always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path" (Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2011 [ML], 1).

We Are Dust

In 2005, at 6:30 on a frigid Saturday morning, Fr. Augustine "Gus" Donegan, T.O.R. was saying Mass for a chapel crammed with college students preparing to go pray at an abortion clinic. When he reached the pulpit, he paused, surveyed the students and said as sincerely and seriously as anyone could have ever said, "A love without sacrifice is a love that is going to die."


Think about it. Love, true love, without any form of sacrifice, is doomed to die.


What a blessing this Lenten season will be for all the Christian faithful! A time to grow in and intensify our love for God and purify our hearts and minds from all that holds us back from full union with Him whom our souls love!

Let us remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return.


Written by Alycia, Special Events Coordinator for the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm

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Filial Abandonment

"Enter the church in silence and with great respect, considering yourself unworthy to appear before the Lord's majesty [present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist]. Among other pious considerations, remember that our soul is the temple of God and, as such, we must keep it pure and spotless before God and His angels. Let us blush for having given access to the devil and his snares many times -- with his enticements to the world, his pomp, his calling to the flesh -- by not being able to keep our hearts pure and our bodies chaste. Let us blush for having allowed our enemies to insinuate themselves into our hearts, thus desecrating the temple of God which we became through holy baptism.                                                              Then take holy water and make the sign of the cross carefully and slowly. As soon as you are before God in the Blessed Sacrament, devoutly genuflect. Once you have found your place, kneel down and render the tribute of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to Him along with those of others. Speak to Him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart, and give Him complete freedom to work in you as He thinks best.                                              ...In short, behave in such a way that all present are edified by it and, through you, are urged to glorify and love the heavenly Father.                          Never forget Jesus, this divine Model. Try to see a certain lovable majesty in His Presence [in the Blessed Sacrament]. Try to hear a certain pleasant authority in His manner of speaking [to your heart].... Imagine His extremely composed and sweet expression with which He drew the crowds, making them leave cities and castles, leading them to the mountains, to the forests, and to the solitude of the deserted beaches of the sea. Imagine the crowds totally forgetting food, drink, and their domestic duties in order to follow Him.                                                                 Let us do our utmost to be, as far as possible, similar to Him on this earth, in order that we might be more perfect and more    similar to Him for the whole of eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem.                                             ...On leaving the church, you should be recollected and calm. First, take your leave of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by asking His forgiveness for the shortcomings committed in His divine Presence. Last, do not leave Him without asking for and receiving His paternal blessing."

From: Praying In the Presence of Our Lord with Padre Pio by Eileen Dunn Bertanzetti, Meditation 14

Padre Pio, Pray for us!

Follow One Master Only

"What a sad life does he lead who wants both to please the world and to serve God! It is a great mistake to make, my friends. Apart from the fact that you are going to be unhappy all the time, you can never attain the stage at which you will be able to please the world and please God. It is as impossible a feat as trying to put an end to eternity. Take the advice that I am going to give you now and you will be less unhappy: give yourself wholly to God or else wholly to the world. Do not look for and do not serve more than one master, and once you have chosen the one you are going to follow, do not leave him. You surely remember what Jesus Christ said to you in the Gospel: you cannot serve God and Mammon; that is to say, you cannot follow the world and the pleasures of the world and Jesus Christ with His Cross. Of course you would be quite willing to follow God just so far and the world just so far! Let me put it even more clearly: you would like it if your conscience, if your heart, would allow you to go to the altar in the morning and the dance in the evening; to spend part of the day in church and the remainder in the cabarets or other places of amusement; to talk of God at one moment and the next to tell obscene stories or utter calumnies about your neighbor; to do a good turn for your next-door neighbor on one occasion and on some other to do him harm; in other words, to do good and speak well when you are with good people and to do wrong when you are in bad company."  -St. John Vianney

From "The Sermons of the Cure of Ars", Translated by Una Morrissy, pg. 25

Mary: Mother Transcending All Generations

"The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience. What Eve bound through her unbelief, Mary loosed by her faith." - St. Irenaeus of Lyons 

From the beginning of time God chose Mary as the Mother of Christ, the Mother of every Generation.  At the moment of her Immaculate Conception she is preserved from all stain of sin and her heart is made ready to bear our Salvation. At the moment of the Annunciation, her motherhood begins. At her proclamation of the Magnificat, Mary consents to the covenant, (Ex. 19:5ff, 2 Samuel 2:1-10) and addresses her children in love, "From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done greater things for me, and holy is his Name." (Lk 1:48,49)
     From the first moment we encounter Mary in the Gospel and throughout, she is the Mother of all Generations. The Angel Gabriel reveals to Mary at the Annunciation that her "kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month of her who was called barren." (Lk 1:36) Mary immediately "arose and went with haste to the hill country." (Lk 1:39) The Generation of Elizabeth and that of Mary met when the "child leapt in her womb!" (Lk 1:41) The Generations of social class are untied through Mary at the birth of Christ, spanning across the deserts of Persia, Babylonia, Arabia, and Bethlehem. For in the manger we see together the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12) and the Shepherds (Lk 2:8ff). The heart of the Sorrowful Mother is pierced for the first time by the prophecy of Simeon (Lk 2:22-38); it is here she joins the suffering Generations of the dying, and prays with them "Lord, now let your servant go in peace your word has been fulfilled." (Lk 2:29)
     "Mary's finest motherly care was revealed at the moment when she noticed the wine would not suffice for the duration of the wedding feast. Wine was the heart of the banquet. Lack of wine would have meant humiliation beyond measure for the two young spouses and the ruin of the feast, which would end in great bitterness. The vigilant eyes of the Mother of Jesus did not fail to assess that situation, whereas the spouses, quite unaware of what is about to transpire, together with their guests, continue to enjoy the festive" banquet (Manelli, Stefano. All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed. (New Bedford: Academy of the Immaculate, 2005). 330). At the Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary through her loving intercession (Jn 2:1-11) meets the Generation of the Youth. Mary's faithfulness as a Mother to all Generations continues as we meet her in the Gospel of John at the foot of the Cross. (John 19:25-27) It is at the foot of the Cross that Mary bears the pangs of childbirth for the whole of humanity in and through her spiritual, universal motherhood (Manelli, Stefano. All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed. (New Bedford: Academy of the Immaculate, 2005). 330). The disciples after the Ascension and until the first Pentecost "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and his brethren" (Acts 1:14). Here in prayer Mary meets the Generations of the Priesthood.
     Mary, Co-Redemptrix and New Eve, in the universality of her love, reaches out to all of her children through every Generation spanning time, continent and age. She has left us affections of her love through our brothers and sisters in Christ from the early Church, the writings of the Fathers, the Holy Saints, to today.

Mary as Model for a Christocentric Life

Everyone shares the universal call to holiness. With a call such as this, our lives need to be Christocentric (Christ-centered) and therefore, should be modeled after holiness Himself, God. To help us achieve this, God has given us a model that some often forget.


She is a woman of gentleness and grace.


With motives always pure, she loves all without reservation, completely docile to God's will.


...And her name is Mary.


Dr. Mark Miravalle, a renowned Mariologist, in his book, Introduction to Mary says that "love of Mary is an essential aspect of the imitation of Christ." (pg. 51)


Mary's example is an incredible witness to us of a Christocentric life, fully willing to serve God unreservedly and without hesitation. Mary is the perfect example of what it means to be Christocentric. We can see this clearly when we look at the Four Marian Dogmas: The Mother of God (Theotokos), The Perpetual Virginity, The Immaculate Conception, and The Assumption of Mary. A dogma, as defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is a point of faith which the Church has formally defined as true. (CCC 88)