Open Wide the Doors for Christ!: Salvation

Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts

A couple of weeks ago our formation conference for the week was on Lectio Divina and the priest who was giving the talk at one point spoke about how sometimes even the distractions we find ourselves occupied with when we're trying to pray can be a trigger for prayer, or can be brought into prayer - and thus we not only return our mind/heart to God, but also bring to Him those things which are bugging/concerning us. Usually I haven't been particularly successful in turning my distractions over to God in this way - it's hard to go from thinking about the pancakes that are on the menu and somehow turn that into prayer, for instance... - but today was different. Today I spent like 6 hours studying for my Christology final which is tomorrow, and my brain was pretty well past the bursting point when I got into the chapel for my Holy Hour. So, of course, my mind was filled with the medley of different facts that I had been trying to memorize/organize all day, and I wasn't getting very far in the whole considering God, Who was present before me, and conversion of heart and growing in love and everything...

Previously though, the teacher of the Christology recap class (in English!) had mentioned a couple of times that it was important to take the material we were learning to prayer. We wouldn't learn about Christ unless we were speaking with Him! Now, I had sat in the chapel a couple of times and reviewed notes - you know, highlighting about half of the stuff on all 40 pages, and writing comments in the margins, and then dozing off (not very productive in other words) - but today I actually took all the stuff to prayer, and boom, it was amazing. I was meditating on the sorrowful mysteries while saying the rosary and all of them absolutely came alive with the information and insights that I had been working on today, it was great! (And that is what this post is about!):

For the Agony in the Garden, my mind was brought to the focus this passage puts on the humanity of Christ - on His intense suffering, on His emotions, on the crushing weight of our sins, on the sweating of blood - but it is in precisely this moment, when the soldiers come to arrest Him, that Christ responds to their demand with "I AM" Wham! They hit the ground! Why? Because Jesus just spoke the name of God - the Tetragrammaton (we learned about that in Hebrew class!) - and not only that (which was blasphemous in itself) but used it to refer to Himself. This moment in which we see Christ's intense suffering and weakness is also one that reveals His divinity. This is where the Church will later be able to come to deeper and deeper knowledge about this very mystery - the hypostatic union, the humanity and divinity of Christ. The council of Nicea (rejecting Arianism) will be able to say that Christ was fully human and fully divine - not just almost divine (homoiousia, similar in being with the Father), but actually fully divine (homoousia, one in being with the Father). Why? Because if Christ isn't fully human and fully divine He can't redeem us (more on that later). But that's not all! The council of Constantinople III was also able to affirm that Christ had both a human and divine will. Why? Because the hypostatic union - gradually discerned at previous councils - meant that the hypostases (Person) of the Logos, originally solely having a divine nature (as it is with the Father and Spirit) assumed - in time - a human physis (nature) as well, which meant that He had both human body and soul, with all our powers/abilities (otherwise He couldn't redeem body and soul), all the while retaining the Divine will as well. This is obvious from this text in the double movement of Christ begging the Father to "let this cup pass from me" (His human will), but then immediately follows with "but not my will but thine be done" (His human and divine will are always in harmony with each other).

For the Scourging at the Pillar I was considering the incredible humiliation and pain Our Lord underwent for our sake. He accepts the greatest sufferings to be united to our own suffering which we caused by our own sins! He accepts the greatest humiliations to further unite us to the shame caused by our selfishness and disobedience! But "by His stripes we are healed"; He chooses to suffer in our place, He takes upon Himself not only our nature but also the punishment we deserve.

For the crowning of thorns I was considering the titles that Christ had been given throughout His ministry but only accepts them in this moment. Here (during His passion), unlike many other places in the Gospel, Jesus allows Himself to be called Christ, King, and Son of God. Why? Because this is the moment when they finally receive their full meaning. Messiah or Christ, as well as King, are titles that the people expected to give to a victorious political savior - somebody who will kick the Romans out and bring on God's kingdom. Of course, here is Christ, under Roman power, beaten, spit upon, silent. Here, Christ gives the true image of the messiah and king - one who will be the suffering servant foretold by Isaiah, one who will bring God's true kingdom, which is not of this world. Here, we see that the Son of God spoken of by Daniel and Ezekiel isn't just an angel, or prince, or something, but the God-man, who doesn't come down from the cross, but stays there for us. Only in the light of the passion do these titles receive their true meaning, only here, bloody, condemned to die, does Our Lord accept them, knowing that there is no risk that they will be misinterpreted to think He is a political, temporal messiah.

The carrying of the cross: Our Lord falls, uniting Himself to our own falls. Our Lord lifts the heavy cross, uniting Himself to us, who too must carry crosses. Here the king of the universe, the Lord of lords, Him through whom all was created, needs help to carry His own cross up to Golgotha. One can see the church - Christ's mystical body - battered and assaulted as all its members (us) struggle on towards Christ - falling sometimes under sin, battered by the powers and hate of the world, humiliated by the weakness of us who make it up... Of course, this is an imperfect analogy, but it is one that deeply shows us the union we have - through the church - not only of Christ's victory over death (a point that Paul emphasizes) but also with His cross.

And then we reach the crucifixion. Here everything comes together. The scandal of Christianity - the paradox of God-made-man, who suffers for us, which every heretic has tried to explain away, but we must accept in faith (Paul again!) - is made obvious with the placard nailed above Our Lord: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" Jesus can't be the messiah, can't be our king, can't be our Lord, can't be God - not only is He nailed to the cross ("crushed by our offences"), but He came from Nazareth. Yet in His weakness, in His seeming-abandonment by everyone and even God ("My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?"). In this lowest, most crushing, most overwhelming, most painful moment He is called King of the Jews. Who is the King of the Jews? God Himself. He cries out "I thirst" - isn't this another moment of weakness? No. He begs that we respond to Him in trust and faith. He cannot force us, He is nailed to the cross, yet those nails don't hold Him, His infinite love does. He beseeches us to come to Him, to come to His cross, to embrace Him, bloodied and broken for us. Aquinas explains how Christ can save us in several ways. Through merit - He is the head of the church, through which the merits and glory He gains by His obedience to the Father is passed to us (opposite the death and concupiscence passed onto us by the first Adam). Through satisfaction - He makes up for our sinfulness through His super-abundant love, His charity makes up for our lack of charity, even our actions which nailed Him to the cross. Through sacrifice - He is the perfect priest, offering the perfect victim (Himself) to God the Father, for us (we can't offer a satisfactory victim to make up for the injustice we have made through our sins, but Jesus can). Through redemption - He pays the price to God for our freedom, that instead of being slaves to sin and the devil (a punishment we chose for ourselves through sinning), we might be bound to God through love. But the main reason, and the most profound one, is that Jesus Himself is the agent (efficient cause) of our salvation. Again, this isn't only in His divinity (though it is principally God who saves us), but also in His humanity (instrumentally - it's only a man that can fully redeem men). He goes to the full extent of human suffering to save us from eternal suffering separated from Him!

Jesus cries out "it is finished". What is finished? The soteriological [salvific] mystery that He began the night before - when He made Himself our slave, washing the apostles feet and showed Himself God, by instituting the new covenant in His blood with the gift of Himself in the Eucharist (again, we see Jesus showing Himself divine in the moment when He is most humble). But that mystery had already began years before in His first kenosis [self-emptying] that took place in His incarnation, when He took upon Himself our nature. It's incredible, the Logos, the Son from all eternity, of the same substance as the Father and Spirit, became man. His divinity didn't consume or overwhelm the flesh that He took, not being fully man (Docetism), He actually assumed a human nature (as Cyril affirms)! As Jesus dies and the world goes dark, it seems as if death and sin have triumphed. Yet, Christ is the "light [that] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it".

My rosary was finishing: "Oh my Jesus ... save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven". As Christ died - as the second person of the Trinity died (the natures cannot be split) - He went as far as He could go out of love for us, to take upon Himself the penalty of sin. And yet, in this moment - the worst moment of the entire passion - Christ's divinity again is made manifest. For He triumphantly rises, the tomb is found empty, the Apostles come to faith, and then go to take that faith out to the world! Death is overcome, sin is conquered, love destroys hate.

And there you have it! Distractions aren't always bad, Christology isn't quite as impossible as I thought (and I can remember a bit of it!), and knowing about Christ can lead to greater love for Him. Gosh, there are so many other details I could have thought about, so many other teachings by councils that could be traced back to these moments, so many different meanings that could be brought to light in meditating on the passion! Now, if only I could remember all of that for tomorrow! Off to study, hope this wasn't completely confusing! Please send a prayer or two my way!

Christ, Christology, Cross, Distractions, Humility, King, Logos, Love, Messiah, Paschal Mystery, Resurrection, Sacrifice, Salvation, Studying, Suffering, 0 Comments

This afternoon, after Evening prayer I had the privileged of giving a reflection to all the guys on one of the 7 last words (or sayings) of Jesus. This is something that we started doing for the first time this Lent, but both of talks that were before mine (last week and the first week of Lent) were phenomenal, so I guess it will be something that Brute continues to do in future Lents. Of course, their doing such a great job on the first two - "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" and "Today you will be with me in paradise" - set the bar pretty high for the reflection that I was signed up to give, "Woman, behold your son... Behold your mother". So, over the last few weeks I had been thinking about what I was going to say for the 5 minutes that was my allotment, and I finally started making some notes yesterday. I'm glad that I didn't have too much to do between now and then because it took me several hours to get everything I wanted to together (and run through it a few times). Anyway, this is - more or less - what I said. Here's hoping that it makes your Lent a bit more holy.

"When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." - John 19:26-27

Last week I went out with several you and we saw the movie, Mary of Nazareth, and one of the things that struck me about the film was the intense, beautiful, tender, loving relationship that was between Jesus and His mother, Mary. Thinking about this fact, it struck me that their relationship was unprecedented. Spiritually, it is between the Mary, called "full of grace" by Gabriel, and Jesus Christ, truly God and man. Mary's relationship with God was the closest of any human before the incarnation, and after Our Lord became man within her, it certainly stayed that way. However, humanly, the relationship between these two was also incredible, again, Mary is sinless - she must have been the best, most caring, most dedicated, most loving mother ever - and Jesus, was God-incarnate, there can't have ever been a better child. Basically, their relationship was one of the most incredible love and devotion.

However, on the cross, Jesus simply calls her "woman". To us this seems rude, disrespectful, demeaning, at the very least, unloving... But, if we look back at the Old Testament, we find that this is exactly opposite of the truth. After the fall God tells the serpent "I will put empty between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." - Genesis 3:15 Upon a cursory glance, the term "the woman" could be applied to Eve. Actually, it is used throughout Genesis to refer to her and, as we know, eventually - after many generations - her seed will crush the head of Satan. However, this interpretation is surpassed when we realize that Jesus' using the term "woman" on the cross indicates us that it is through her that God's plan of salvation is realized. Through Mary's "yes" - her fiat, her obedience - she reverses Eve's "no", her disobedience, that had brought sin into the world so many millennia before. Thus, by using "woman" to refer to His mother, Jesus is doing anything but deprecate her, rather He is showing her to be the new Eve, through whom salvation enters the world.

The second half of Jesus' saying to Mary is "Behold, your son". On first glance, this seems unnecessary. If we put ourselves there at Calvary, wouldn't we find Mary gazing upon her son? So, when Jesus says "woman, behold, your son", she could have answered that she already was, she already was beholding her son - in all his bloodiness, and agony. Yet instead Jesus looks over at the "disciple whom He loved", and then Mary knows that she is being designated by Jesus to become this disciples mother, to take care of him as she ad taken care of Jesus. But upon further reflection we find that that beloved disciple is us. Throughout the gospel of John, the "disciple whom Jesus loved" is never named. Of course, tradition tells us that he is John the Apostle/Evangelist, but the very fact that he has no name allows us to understand that he is taking our place, he is a stand-in for humanity. This is further strengthened if we recall that Jesus says "whosoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother" - Matthew 12:50. Thus, through obedience to the Father - the very definition of discipleship - Jesus says that we will become His brothers and sisters, and so, it is no surprise, when He gives His mother to us to be our mother too.

This though, is no small gift. Mary is the perfect mother - as mentioned before - and now she is in Heaven, body and soul, interceding for us, being that most-wonderful spiritual mother. In the Old Testament it was the mother of the king who was the queen (Bathsheba is the queen of Solomon), not his wife. This idea continues on with Jesus and Mary. Jesus, of course, is the King - now glorious in heaven - but it is Mary who is the queen. This is something that we remember every time we pray the rosary and meditate on the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Is she somehow usurping Christ as our mediator, no, of course not, but it is He who chose her to be His mother and He who gives her to us as our mother. The big deal: Mary, at this moment at the foot of the cross, is chosen to be the mediatrix of grace, through whom salvation continues to flow into the world. Often writers talk about the grace acheived by Christ on the cross as flowing through Mary out into the world, and it is a beautiful image. Mary, of course, was literally at the foot of the cross, and it becomes an even more beautiful image when we realize that it was at the foot of the cross that Jesus chose Mary to be out mother, the one who cares for us just like she cared for Our Lord, with the same tenderness, concern, and love as she had for Him.

And all of that leads up to what Jesus now tells the beloved disciple, us. "Behold, your mother". This again, seems a bit repetitive, if Mary was told that she was now our mother why tell us that she is our mother? - To remind us that we need to have a relationship with her as our mother. We must, like John, take her into our homes and our hearts. We must try, to the best of our ability, to love her as Jesus did - protecting, following, learning from, and caring for her. Being brothers and sisters of Our Lord means doing His will, which, pretty obviously here is to "behold" our "mother". We shouldn't be afraid to love her, Jesus did. Is this ignoring Christ? - no, it's following His will, and regardless, Mary will always take us to Jesus, to the foot of the cross, to the stream of grace that will cleanse, heal, and transform us.

In conclusion, rather than just listing off my points, I'd like to reconnect these points to Scripture, this time the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana:

"On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour as not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."" - John 2:1-5

First point: Mary is the New Eve, the whose obedience to God allowed His salvation to enter the world and reverse the sin that the original Eve's (and Adam, let's not leave him out) disobedience brought into it. Mary is the new "mother of all the living", now in a super-naturalized position of motherhood in heaven. It is through her that salvation entered the world - in Jesus - and it is through her that salvation continues to enter the world - through the graces achieved by Jesus.

Second point: Mary intercedes for us, just as she did for the couple at the wedding feast. She continues to go up to Jesus and say "the have no wine". When we are broken, sinful, empty, tired, etc. - she continues to beg her son to fill us, renew us, and transform us. She doesn't replace Jesus - as she didn't at the wedding feast - but she brings us to Him and prays that He would transform us.

Third point: As we look at Jesus on the cross, His hour has come, this is the moment of salvation, the pinnacle of everything that the Incarnation was meant to accomplish. And what does Jesus tell us: "Behold, your mother". Obedience, again, is the mark of discipleship, and the action that makes us brothers and sisters of Christ, and what does Mary tell us "Do whatever He tells you". In Mary we not only have an intercessor with Christ and a loving mother, but we also have the perfect example of what it means to be a disciple. Her obedience literally made her the mother of Jesus, let us emulate her, and love her tenderly like Jesus did, and take her into our hearts this Lent!

Wow, that only took a bit over 5 minutes when I said it... So much longer when you write it out.

Adam and Eve, Behold Your Mother, Behold Your Son, Crucifixion, Do Whatever He Tells You, Jesus, Love, Mary, Mediatrix of Grace, New Eve, Our Lady, Our Mother Mary, Paschal Mystery, Salvation, Wedding at Cana, 1 Comments

At Mass this morning, Fr. Joe connected the topic of holiness - found in both the 1st reading and the Gospel - with the focus we should have during Lent. Even though Lent begins pretty late this year (actually, almost as late as possible), it has still managed to sneak up on me and it wasn't until a few days ago that I actually started thinking about what I'll be doing during this penitential season. This post won't be so much about what I'm doing for Lent (that is still being determined), but just some comments/ideas about this season in general and things that I'll be keeping in mind over the next several weeks.

Fr. Joe made the simple point this morning that our sacrifice shouldn't be the focus of Lent. Of course, the Church calls us especially during Lent to do prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but this can't become the focus of Lent - they can't be the goal in themselves. I know that for myself I often think that the bigger the penance I do, or the more prayers I say, or something, the holier I will be, but the thing is that we can't become so distracted by our external sacrifices, as good as they may be, that we forget that the point of Lent is to grow in holiness, to become more like Christ. As, Scott Hahn explains, the point of our sacrifices must "indicate a deep, interior conversion." In other words, the goal isn't to do some awesome sacrifice, or spend hours in prayer each day, the point is to become less attached to things that are distracting us from God, and by doing that become closer united with Him and His plan for us. A new blog that I found the other day called "The Catholic Gentleman" (which seems pretty good after a quick skimming) says about penance that "When we talk about penance, we usually think of doing things, and that is indeed part of it. But our actions will be dead, and in fact harmful, if they are not preceded by an interior conversion of heart. Penance, then, is nothing more than an interior contrition of heart displayed through outward actions. True penance flows from love for God and a recognition of the seriousness of sin"

Father gave some tips on how specifically to do this. If you, for instance, gives up snacking, or smoking, or watching tv, instead of just glaring at the clock and thinking about how hungry, or bored, you are, go spend those 5 minutes in the chapel, reading Scripture, helping a neighbor, or cleaning the house - something that actively brings you closer to Christ. Basically, don't just give something up for the sake of punishing yourself; fill that opening you have made in your life with something that you want there. Conversion involves both removing those things in us that take us away from God (certainly sins, but also other types of distractions or desires) as well as replacing those things with activities that do.

Pope Francis talks about in his Lenten address in a beautiful way as us becoming poor. Pope Francis has put a huge emphasis during his papacy on caring for and loving the poor, but here he takes the analogy and says that we all must become poor. Not, of course, in the sense that one must go live on the street or beg for food or something, but becoming poor so that Christ can fill us. The Pope quotes from St. Paul who says that "though he [Christ] was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." [2 Corinthians 8:9] The fact is that when we are rich of the things of this life we don't have room for the things of the next life. When our hearts are consumed by earthly pleasures, possessions, activities, and other things we don't have room for Christ, and without Christ there is no way for us to experience conversion.

Conversion, as I have been explaining, has the dichotomy of having to give things up so that we can be filled with better things, but it also has the dichotomy of us giving up control and letting God work on us. We can't fix ourselves on our own. Scott Hahn goes this direction in the second half of his article; during Lent we need to learn to rely on God's mercy. I know for myself, I want to do things on my own, fix my own problems, conquer the world with my own abilities, but while this mentality works fine in man areas of life, it doesn't work in the spiritual life. There is no such thing as DIY salvation! Becoming holy means allowing God to transform you. This is one of the things that Pope Francis was trying to tell us: we have to become poor, we have to learn to rely on God, in order for Lent to truly transform us. We can fast as much as we want, but spiritual growth means more than having the will-power to skip that meal or not indulge in ice-cream.

There are many miracles in the New Testament that show Jesus healing or raising people who are sick, lame, blind, or even dead. The thing is that they couldn't fix themselves on their own. The story that comes to mind is the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, going to many doctors who could never heal her, but she is healed just by reaching out and touching Jesus. [Mark 5:26-29] I remember listening to a talk by Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen when he said we are like broken pots [found it!] and can only be fixed by the potter (God). Furthermore, we can only hold the life of Christ, grace, inside of ourselves when our pot doesn't leak, and we can't fix our own pot! (Bishop Sheen makes many other points from this analogy, but I'm content with just this one.)

Alright, so I know that I could keep finding other sources to quote from, but instead, I'll just recap: Sacrifice is essential during Lent - praying, fasting, and alms-giving - but these outward actions must stem from, indicate, and further increase our internal conversion of heart. The difficulty of penance or how much time we spend on it isn't the most important aspect of Lent, rather the opening of ourselves up to God (and then others, which is where the rest of Pope Francis's letter goes) and working with His transforming grace so that we are made more and more like Christ is. Good luck! Don't be glum like the pharisees, that misses the whole point.

In other news: Posts have been pretty sporadic lately because I have been really busy - partly because we are in the midst of midterms - here's hoping that I can get some more up eventually. Next week is spring break!

Conversion, Fasting, Grace, Lent, Penance, Pope Francis, Sacrifice, Salvation, Scott Hahn, Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen, 0 Comments

Hey guys! Here are a few videos that I have run across over the last week or so. Some of them are long, but all are really fantastic! I have several posts in the incubation stage, but haven't been able to finish them up yet. Exciting news: I sent off my application to the NAC this week! Have a wonderful Friday, remember to offer your sacrifice today up for something - it makes it so much more meaningful. Enjoy!

Awesome, Chris Stefanick, Discernment, Evangelization, Fr. Barron, Fr. Michael Schmitz, God is Love, Mark Hart, Mercy, New Evangelization, Priesthood, Salvation, The Cross, Video, 0 Comments

Today I had the opportunity to catch up with the Junior Legion of Mary group that I had attended (and later acted as president of) for several years. I didn't want them to think that I had completely forgotten them, and today was their semi-annual pizza party, so I headed over there after work, and hung out for a little while. The pizza was (very) tasty, the desserts were (as always) excellent, the group was doing well (and growing), a quick game of tag afterwards was hot (and some kids are faster than I remember them). All-in-all it was a great evening, and it gave me the catalyst to make this post, which I have been meaning to make for a while.

As I said, I was a member of the Legion of Mary for several years while growing up. As a legion member, you meet once a week (the meeting involves praying the rosary, saying the tessera prayers, and reading out of the legion handbook). The Rosary is, well, the rosary (gets better the more you pray it, by the way), the tessera is a short pamphlet that has the prayers that legionaries say each day, and the hand-book is a (rather in-depth) book on many, many different Catholic devotions, practices, and more hands-on, out-in-the-world, work for Christ, His Church, and His Mother. The hand-book is not only a fantastic book about how to be a good member of the legion of Mary, but also a great book on how to be a great Catholic and disciple of Our Lord.

The Tessera, those prayers that legionaries say each day along with the Rosary, are also a fantastic set or prayers that any Catholic could pray (and get holier). Here I just include what is called the closing prayer, because that is what has been really jumping out at me lately, but the whole thing (found at above link) is absolutely gorgeous.

The Closing Prayer of the Legion of Mary Tessera (pray slowly, letting each word really sink in):

We fly to your patronage, O Holy Mother of God; despise not our prayers in our necessities, but ever deliver us from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin.

V. Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of all Graces

R. Pray for us.

V. Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel

R. Pray for us.

V. All you heavenly Powers, Mary’s Legions of Angels

R. Pray for us.

V. Saint John the Baptist

R. Pray for us.

V. Saints Peter and Paul

R. Pray for us.

Confer, O Lord, on us, who serve beneath the Standard of Mary, that fullness of faith in you, and trust in her, to which it is given to conquer the world. Grant us a lively faith, animated by charity, which will enable us to perform all our actions from the motive of pure love of you, and ever to see you and serve you in our neighbor; a faith, firm and immovable as a rock, through which we shall rest tranquil and steadfast amid the crosses, toils and disappointments of life; a courageous faith which will inspire us to undertake and carry out without hesitation great things for your glory and for the salvation of souls; a faith which will be our Legion’s Pillar of Fire - to lead us forth united - to kindle everywhere the fires of divine love - to enlighten those who are in darkness and the shadow of death - to inflame those who are lukewarm - to bring life to those who are dead in sin; and which will guide our own feet in the way of peace; so that - the battle of life over - our Legion may reassemble, without the loss of anyone, in the kingdom of your love and glory. Amen.

V. May the souls of our departed Legionaries and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. R. Amen

Awesome right! It hits like every big point of living the Christian life in such a short prayer. Fullness of faith, conquer the world, charity, service of neighbor, courage, glory, salvation. This is the battle of salvation folks! This is the fight that Christ is asking us to fight. This is the love that must absolutely light us on fire. This is the love that must urge us onward. Wow!

And with that, back to español...

Come Follow Me, Faith, God, Good vs. Evil, Hope, Love, Mary, Salvation, St. Michael, St. Paul, St. Peter, 1 Comments

Yesterday, while praying morning prayer, I began to really think about and pray the intercessions contained within that hour of the divine office. The intercessions come after the hymn, psalmody, reading, and canticle, and they only have the Our Father and closing prayer after them. Usually this means that I am rushing through them, because I'm in a hurry, or have lost my concentration at this point, or something. Basically, for one reason or another, I never have really concentrated on them. Well, yesterday I did, and I was happily surprised (go figure) that they are quite beautiful when you really pray them.

Intercessions - Morning Prayer - Wednesday, fourth week of Lent (3/13/13):

Let us give thanks to God, our Father: through the power of the Spirit he purifies our hearts and strengthens us in love. Let us humbly ask him: