DO NOT STOP LOOKING FOR HIM

God has become man. He has become a child. Thus he fulfills the great and mysterious promise to be Emmanuel: God-with-us. Now he is no longer unreachable for anybody. God is Emmanuel. By becoming a child, he offers us the possibility of being on familiar terms with him.

I am reminded here of a rabbinical tale recorded by Elie Wiesel. He tells of Jehel, a little boy, who comes running into the room of his grandfather, the famous Rabbi Baruch. Big tears are rolling down his cheeks. And he cries, “My friend has totally given up on me. He is very unfair and very mean to me.” “Well, could you explain this a little more?” asks the Master. “Okay”, responds the little boy. “We were playing hide and seek. I was hiding so well that he could not find me. But then he simply gave up and went home. Isn’t that mean?” The most exciting hiding place has lost its excitement because the other stops playing. The Master caresses the boy’s face. He himself now has tears in his eyes. And he says, “Yes, this is not nice. But look, it is the same way with God. He is in hiding, and we do not seek him. Just imagine! God is hiding, and we people do not even look for him.” In this little story a Christian is able to find the key to the ancient mystery of Christmas. God is in hiding. He waits for his creation to set out toward him, he waits for a new and willing Yes to come about, for love to arise as a new reality out of his creation. He waits for man.

Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI: Unpublished homily, December 24,1980

On St. Stephen’s day

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people.

Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. … When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.  As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  (Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59)

I pray my words reach you.

"I pray my words reach you.

I pray they reach the multitudes that are looking at your story and believing the lie that suffering is a mistake, that dying isn’t to be braved, that choosing our death is the courageous story.

No – hastening death was never what God intended.

But in our dying, He does meet us with His beautiful grace."

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No stumbling blocks, please!

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (17, 1-6)

“Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

This is the word of the Lord.

The Best Prayer for Men

The Best Prayer for Men

By: Br. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P.|October 7, 2014|Posted in: Blessed Virgin Mary, Prayer

I read this article here

Devotion to Our Lady may not seem an intuitive thing for some Catholic men.  Growing up, I’d occasionally catch my father as he finished praying the Rosary early on Saturday mornings (begun in peace when the rest of us were asleep), or notice he’d left his handsome set of beads lying out on a coffee table.  I had the blessing of his example.  Other men know their fathers have placed a Rosary in their locker at work (try and find a Catholic firefighter who doesn’t have either a Rosary or a saint’s medal) or even just keep one in their pocket, where from time to time they’ll pause and touch the beads.  But for those men who haven’t “seen” or “heard,” how do we make sense of the Rosary as a manly devotion?

About John Paul I

I enjoyed reading this reflection by Card. J.Ratzinger when he was archbishop of Munich, and I want to share it.
Thanks



Ostensus non datus: he was shown to us, not given. We might well say that of Pope John Paul I, whose winning smile made the world look and listen. The Italians called him, with much love, “II Papa del sorriso” (the smiling Pope), and the whole world followed suit. 

Laggja Mirdita September 2014

This is how our project in Laggja Mirdita, Durrës, Albania, stands now, 26 September. This was done with the support of Maltese benefactors. We still need your help to finish it, first through prayer and then through your donations.
Thanks for your support.
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Rejoice, it’s Mary’s birth!

Feast of the nativity of Our Lady (September 8)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 1, 18-23)

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 

This is the word of the Lord.

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More on infallibility

I enjoyed reading this blog by Mark Shea and I recommend it.

More about infallibility

Of mustard seeds and yeast

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”

He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfil what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world. (Mt 13, 31-35)

Jesus often delivered his teaching through short stories he told that were normally inspired by real life events. He did not speak in parables so as to hide truths from the uninitiated, or those who were not his followers. He was teaching the crowds, and he wanted them to understand his message. However, a little earlier Jesus told his disciples: “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ The stories he told were quite simple but only those who were ready to listen could understand them. In some cases Jesus ended his stories saying: “Let anyone with ears listen!” Those who found it difficult to understand but really wanted to, asked Jesus to explain his parable and, as a good teacher, he did.

Aim high!

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 6, 1-6. 16-18)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. …

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

This is the word of the Lord.

On being born from above

A reading from the gospel according to John. (Jn 3, 7-15)

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

This is the Word of the Lord.

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It’s about bringing forth new lives

 A reading  from the holy gospel according to John  (Jn16, 20-23)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

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This generation asks for a sign

A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark (8, 11-13)

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

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The four gospels are full of signs Jesus performed openly. Some signs Jesus performed because people in need asked him. We see him cleansing the lepers, giving sight to blind men, healing the sick that were brought to him and raising Lazarus from the dead. Others he performed on his own initiative like when he raised from the dead the son of the widow at Nain and when he fed thousands of people in a deserted place with only some loaves of bread and a few small fish. Many saw Jesus doing these things and heard him preach the good news. These signs by themselves spoke clearly about who Jesus was.

PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU HEAR

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark (4, 21-25)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

This is the word of the Lord.

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At first sight, this gospel selection seems mysterious, at least. On further reflection, we see that these Jesus sayings are quite straightforward. This paragraph, in fact, is made up of two very short parables inserted in chapter four by the evangelist Mark, but which do not really form part of the sequence of the other parables about the Kingdom of God.