On a Age Coming Soon

I will be using the first part of tomorrow’s Gospel reading on this: 

Gospel Mt 13:24-43

 

“Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:
“The kingdom of heaven may be likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him,
‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”

 

My dear friends in Christ,

 

This passage has a lot to do with the Rule of St. Benedict; because he tells us to prepare for death and always keep judgment before our eyes; because we do not know when Jesus will come and when He does, we will be judged and sent to where our hearts desire most; for now Purgatory is still there; but at the end; only two places will remain: Heaven and hell. 

 

We know the one who sows the field is the Son of Man and the seeds is the Word of God and the field is the world; but then there are those in the world who are the weeds; the children of the evil one.  A type of person who has made up his or her heart to desire hell and to take people with them.  These are the people who plant the bad seed which turns into weeds.

 

When you plant and weeds grow right with the good crop; you never pull out the weeds; because you may pull out the crop.  Those who harvest the field and seperate the good crop from the weeds or dead crop because of the weeds; they are the Angels and they will seperate us out like this: goat from the sheep.  Instead of a normal fire to get rid of the dead crop and weeds; they will put those who are dead and weeds into the eternal flames of hell for all eternity and those who are good crop and who heard the Word of God and made their house on solid Rock; Jesus; they will be put with the good crop to be taken to Heaven for all eternity.

 

We learn that this life is a temptation; by reading the works by Thomas A Kempis; how do we not fold from the tempting that is given by the children of the evil one?  Using the Sacrament of Confession, receiving Our Lord’s Body and Blood free from all sin and receiving it devoutly.  Praying the Rosary daily; giving your entire heart and self to Jesus is how. 

 

We do these good and holy things and we are giving our entire self over to Christ to be transformed into His image; only by His grace and help; we can resist the temptations and vanities of this world.  Our hearts truly must be transformed into His Sacred Heart; because our heart is restless until it rests in Thee as St. Augustine put in the beginning of his Confession. 

 

We must stay away from bad places, people who lead us into sin, bad movies, bad books, bad magazines, bad tv shows, anything that will lead us into sin; we must stay away from it and run from it as if it has a plague; which it does; eternal death. 

 

We must stay True to the Church and be faithful to Her and Her bride; Jesus and His vicar on earth; the Pope and the bishops and priests who are in full communion with him.  We must always be watchful for the coming attacks of the devil and the other demons.

 

Give all your work; your entire life to God as a spiritual sacrifice; including your pains, illnesses, good days, bad days, whatever and never stop begging for His help and mercy.  Carry the Cross of Christ wherever you go and while you are doing whatever you are doing.  Accept the pains and torements he bore while He carried it.

 

We all must learn true humility like a lamb, learn not lose our temper; unless it is justified as it was for Jesus in the Temple; learn patiences also; we must learn all the virtues and practice them as much as we can.  Read holy books by the saints, pray, pray, pray; read what the Pope writes or says. 

 

Stay near Jesus in the Eucharist and make frequent Confessions.  When you are hit by temptations are all directions and you may stumble and fall; do not be afraid to get up real quick and clean yourself up in Confession; use God’s mercy while He is still giving it; because when this Age comes to a close; God’s mercy will be no more; then it will be time for Justice in God’s way.  I am sure we all can cheer for that; but we ourselves need to make sure we are prepared to go at death; whenever that may be or if make it to the end and see the Age come to a close; then we better be ready for something horrible; the gates of hell will open up on earth and we will see the damned come forth unwilling and the screams and howls will make us beg for mercy but it will be too late St. John Vianney says in his sermon on the Last Judgment and those who are damned will be blamming everyone around him or her; except themselves for sending their ownself to hell; yes it will be the parents fault; as well as the person who sinned; because the parents didn’t stop them from sinning under their roof and the one who sinned chose to do that.

 

Yes, we must be ready either for our personal judgment; when we die or the final judgment at the end of the world; no one know which will come. 

 

God bless

 

 

The Passion: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

On Calvary the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass takes place.

At Mass today, when the priest holds up the Eucharist and Blood of Christ to say, “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; happy are those who are called to His supper.”

My eyes caught our life size Crucifix right behind the priest at the words and I felt something when I looked at the Eucharist and Blood of Christ; as if the life size became the form of bread and wine; and I was about to receive Him. Which He did become in the form of bread and wine for us to receive Him.

I said the old confessor; as it is said by the priest who celebrates the Latin Mass; before I went up and when I got back to the pew.

When we look at Calvary at the Crucifixion of Christ; when Jesus through the priest says: “This is my body” then the Eucharist is lifted up in adoration; When Jesus is lifted up on the cross; this is the part of the Mass.

We are to adore Him; not many parishes have life size crucifixes behind the priest; but I think they should; it puts the actual meaning of the Sacrifice of the Mass right in front of your eyes.

When Jesus through the priest says: “This is the cup of my blood.” When the priest raises it up; we are to adore it; as the roman soldier did after he pulled out the lance; he fell to his knees in adoration.

Both times; I bow with the priest but when the blood and body of Christ is lifted up; I pound my chest and then make the Sign of the Cross. When Jesus through the priest lays his hands on the gifts; bread and wine; calls down the Holy Spirit; I hide my eyes until the part is over.

The Passion of Christ; is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; where Jesus Himself gives Himself freely to die for us on the Cross. As it showed in the movie; when Jesus was being raised up on the cross; John has flashbacks to the Last Supper to the time of adoration of Jesus’ body in the form of bread and then of His blood in the form of wine.

John understood what Jesus was talking about at the Last Supper where the first Mass was celebrated. We too must understand to the best of our ability about the Passion and death of Christ; right there under the form of bread and wine; is how it’s not a bloody sacrifice.

When we enter into the church; Heaven and Earth meet; we enter into Heaven and time stops. Every Mass; if celebrated correctly; is the Passion, death and rising of Jesus Christ on our altar.

God bless

On The Passion: To Depict The Priesthood

The Priesthood is not something normal but supernatural. The priest acts in the Persona Christi; in the person of Christ. Yes to get to be a priest; the man must receive the call from God and test it.

Most test it with the Seminary to see if the Call is real and came from God. In the life of a seminarian to the life of the priest; the Passion of Christ becomes a reality.

You take on a supernatural role in your life; where you give up all to follow Him; who in their right mind would do this for a normal person? Maybe a few but not thousands or millions over two thousand years.

Yes, the layity enter into the Passion and go through the Passion in all their struggles; but the certain men who have been called by God may not go through the same Passion as Christ did or some will; but to a higher quality.

Each person is called to go through the Passion of Christ; because we are to be His followers. But to be His followers and friends; we are to live the Gospel, follow the Commandments; which isn’t hard but easy; because it is easy to Love God. To be His friends and followers; we are to live and breath the virtues, Commandments, the Gospel, everything Christ taught us.

Cardinal Cooke of New York said when he became Archbishop of New York he said: “They have put me on the Cross.” One of the hardest places to be a bishop of a major diocese; is New York; because it seems like the world meets in New York City and if you make a mistake or something happens; people around the world know about it in a snap of the fingers.

To be a priest means to suffer for his people; suffer to save their souls from eternal damnation. Priests are to fast in a rigourious manner and stay up late praying for their flock; working themselves to the bone to save souls. With this; they are united to the Passion of Christ; because Christ wore himself out literally and gave every ounce of blood to redeem us.

When the priest is ordained; he enters the spiritual realm where the war between good and evil; war for souls is happening day and night without sleep or without taking time for eating.

The priest almost enters the second stage of praying in the garden; where Jesus’ sweat became blood and the sorrow which overcame Him was so intense. The priest must be like St. John and cling to the Mother; to get through the suffering of Christ on the cross.

Amen.

Why Do I Love The Passion of Christ?

Why do I love the Passion of Christ?

It is so awe and inspiring to understand that God went through it all in the garden; regarding to sorrow and felt the worse of it; for us and be a example for us that He went through it and knows what it means to enter into great sorrow and to feel that great weight upon our shoulders.

With the devotion to the Passion of Christ; you are strengthened in all your worries, troubles, pains, bruises, whatever; because He went through it all first. It gives great comfort to know you are not alone in times of struggles, sorrow or fear; because Jesus went through it all.

To love the Passion of Christ; is to unite my sufferings to Him in His Passion and death. To do this is to turn the sufferings into graces for those who need the graces for strength or courage or anything in God’s Will.

To unite ourself to the Passion; is what Mary did on the way of the cross and at the foot of the cross; she united her sorrow with her Son’s; because all the graces come through Mary but come from God. Mary helps us to receive the graces; so they are safe to handle.

In times of temptations; I either call on my guardian angel to beat it back and away from me or I make the temptations suffer; I give it to Jesus in the Passion and boom; no more temptation and Jesus comforts you but also gives you the strength you need to fight off the temptations; with His help.

Through the Passion of Christ; we truly see what is taking place at Mass on the altar of sacrifice. The blood and water gushing forth from His side; He being raised up on the Cross for us; is when Jesus through the priest raises up the host which becomes Jesus’ body and the same happens when the chalice is raised. You see what is literally happening at the Mass every day.

That is why I love the Passion of Christ. Because through the Passion you see the Mass; but you also get a Spiritual Retreat like none other; just meditating on the Passion or even watching the movie; as Fr. Corapi said is “not flim but a retreat.”

God Bless

A Prayer

O my beloved Jesus, in Your Passion; You gave us the great example on how to go through the Passion in our own life. But there are some who are still stubborn and filled with Pride thinking they can handle all the sorrows and troubles of this life and to be able to fight off the temptations of the evil one. I ask You to help those who are open to Your example and also to help those who are stubborn. Refresh us with Your blood that was shed for us and which is given to us to drink at Mass; so our souls are refreshed and given a boost by You; so we can reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

Amen

Prayer For Comfort

Jesus, in the Passion; you took away our worries and fears and sorrows; but with our weak human nature; we do worry or fear and have sorrows. Our sorrows could be about anything; comfort us Jesus and take away our worries, fears and sorrows and be our True Friend and never abandon us and always be there with us. I love you Jesus and I am sorry for my sins which caused you to feel that great sorrow in the garden. Help us not to feel sorrow or fears or worries like the early Christians; give us that courage and faith again. O my Crucified Lord; let our hearts be nailed to the cross with You; so we love You for ever.

Amen

The Passion

Today and this evening; grocery shopping; I was so worn out and getting grumpy. Now, I think we should take another study of the Passion when Jesus was worn out getting to Calvary. Jesus was worn out in the garden from feeling that great load of sorrow onto his shoulders.

Today and this evening I should of thought of Christ when He was slowly wearing out for us and giving His all. In the garden; Jesus shook in sorrow but also felt the weight of the sorrow and sins of the world.

Let us look at the time He was in the garden to the top of Calvary:

When we are tired and worn out; we should try and think of Christ when He was suffering and literally tired to the bone; also weak from the loss of blood dragging that heavy cross through the narrow streets of Jerusalem up a steep hill to die for us.

What if we can’t focus from the lack of energy and think or meditate on the Passion of Christ when He was tired and could hardly keep focus from the pain and loss of blood and energy? Well; we should make a good try; even if we lose our temper; but once we start to think on the Passion; it should help us calm down and build up strength with the help of Jesus.

I remember playing basketball in the Physical Education class in high school and we played on the side court; which almost took the same amount of energy as playing the full size court. We would play maybe three games of basketball in a class period. I started at home doing sprints building up spare energy at the time when you are dead tired but still can reach for a little extra energy; well playing three games of basketball; you need a lot of energy; everyone took a water break but I didn’t; just stretched to keep everything from tighting up; when in life we are tired and think we can’t do anymore; we must find a way to dig down deep for extra energy and if we meditate and pray to Jesus in His Passion to help us and give a few extra boosts of energy to finish our task we are doing.

With the Passion; we can meditate on the Passion and when we see Jesus in the garden; we should ask Him to give us strength to get through today with our troubles and hard tasks we are asked to do by our parents or spouses or friends. As long as it is with accord to God’s Will.

When we hurt our back or cut ourself; and when we cry or want to; we can think of Jesus being whipped and cained or worse crowned with thorns or nailed to the cross. With thinking of Jesus in these painful moments; it should comfort us when we are in great pain. Because our pain can be given to Jesus on the Cross and help bring others to the Church or get sinners back into the confessional.

We are so blessed; because we know of the Passion and can look to the Passion of Christ for strength and comfort. Most Protestants worry; like Catholics do today; but we need to stop worrying and put our Trust in the Crucified Lord and grow closer to Him through His Passion.

I remember a old painting of a nun; who put her mouth on the wounded side of Christ to drink the Precious Blood and not to let it spill on the earth. We should kiss the wounds of Christ and adore them with such reverence; because of these wounds; He redeemed us and opened the gates of heaven.

Every day at Mass we should be in total ectasy from the Passion; because at the Last Supper; Jesus celebrated the first Mass but when He was being nailed to the cross; He was offering Himself to us; when He was being raised up; it was for us to adore Him; as we do when the priest lifts the Eucharist in adoration at Mass; then when the lance stabbed into His side and blood and water came out; we are to adore because when the priest raises the chalice; we adore the Precious Blood in the chalice.

At Lent; we should not hate it or disagree with the rules but accept them and bring yourself closer by going through the different liturgies of Lent: The Way of the Cross, the fasting, all of those; then Good Friday; Jesus dies on the Cross and is put in the tomb; the holy silence and kneeling and stay extra time to be with Jesus in the other tabernacle or the tomb. Then you leave without talking or making noise. Beautiful.

The Passion of Christ is for every day and Jesus will help you; if you or I keep putting our entire faith and trust into Him.

God bless

The Tears of Christ

The wonderful part of the Passion; is the tears Jesus shed for us.

When did Jesus’ cry for us? He cried for us in the garden; because of our sins, I’m sure He cried at the Pillar and we know He cried when those nails are being drove through His hands and feet.

With the tears of Christ; those were His greatest prayers for us; so we may go to confession and enter into the share of the divine life and share that with others and bring them closer to Christ.

St. Augustine’s mom; St. Monica; prayed her greatest prayers for twenty years; her tears converted her son; plus with the help of St. Ambrose and his sermon at Mass.

Our tears; are united to Christ; because when Christ wept; He was weeping for us; He wanted us to love Him and He gave His all and died for us; because He loved us so much.

He loved us more than we could ever understand; the greatest love a friend has for a friend; is to lay down his or her own life for them.

The tears of Christ; speaks a thousand words; every word describes His love for us. Why do we think tears are always when we are sad and not prayers for those we love dearly?

Because we are too complicated and God is so simple; that is why our minds can’t even wrap around God in His entire Self.

We have proofs of God; we have them where we are; we can see them, hear them, touch them; but as Jesus said, “Blessed are those who believe but do not see.”

We have faith in God; yet we can’t see to believe in God but our faith comes from God; so we trust God is there and won’t leave us; because He won’t; because we need Him to do everything.

He knows everything we do; even the sinful.

When we cry and shed tears; use them to forgive that person who made you cry. Jesus sure did and plus He said it; even though it was hard for Him to speak.

If you can’t speak right a way; but are crying; use those tears to speak to God and forgive those who hurt you.

God bless