5th Sunday after Easter

Tomorrow is the 5th Sunday after Easter. We are looking forward to the Feast of the Ascension. Tomorrow's Gospel tells us to ask the Father in Jesus' Name for everything, and He will answer. A. S. K.
A. Ask
S. Seek
K. Knock

It's all right there! It doesn't get any easier than that. Of course, God sometimes says NO for the answer!

I'm putting this blog out today, as tomorrow is a reunion of my dad's family. We all get together at the cemetary and adorn grave sites, then proceed to a hall for a potluck dinner, along with a lot of reminiscing. Long day, but worth it.

I am going to end with an admonition from the Gothic Church of Spain, warning them of what follows after believing.

"Dearly beloved brethren: let there be caution in your devotion, watchfulness in your festivity, modesty in your gladness. We should rejoice in that we have risen: but we should fear lest we may fall. We have been rescued from the death of old, and it behooves us to know how evil it was; we have been gifted with the new life, and we must cling to it as worthy of our love. To commit the sin we have been admonished to shun is not an error but contempt. They that have been pardoned and relapsed, deserve the greater punishment; nor is there excuse for them that have been once ransomed if they again become slaves. The mercy of God implies power; and power, fear; and fear, chastisement.
He would not have been merciful to man, unless he had first been angry with the devil. He strengthens us with His gratuitous gifts, that we may not be corrupted by our evil inclinations. No one spares another but with a hope of correction. Forgiveness can do not harm, when the offence is not repeated. He that pardoned us our sins, thereby admonished us to sin no more. Mercy has not been lost on us, if our conduct is what it should be. Grace has, indeed, made man the adopted child of God; but the devil is not yet shut up in hell. Sin, not nature, has been defeated. What we have gained is the power of fighting not the privilege of inaction. Our enemy has been despoiled, not slain. His anger must be greatest against those who were once subject to his tyranny, but now are disenthralled.
Faith has given us bulwarks; the Cross, armor; the Flesh,(assumed by Christ) a standard; and His Blood, a banner; the battle, then is to be fought. The God who willed us to have the battle, willed us to have the hope of victory. We have already received the gift of adoption; our conduct is to decide what sentence is to be passed upon us in judgment. In this world we have the promise of reward; in the next, our lot will be decided according to our works.
Let us, therefore, be mindful of the tender mercy of our Lord, who, as the price of our ransom, gave not sums of silver or gold, nor granted princely favours, but subjected himself to the infamy of the cross, and suffered his Body to be humbled even to being buried in a tomb. He could give nothing greater or better. So that the more it cost him to redeem us, the more diligently should we serve him; and it is this he demands of us. Therefore, in order that the work of his Redemption be perfected in us, it behooves us to pray with constancy and perseverance."

Lord, teach us to do your will.

4th Sunday after Easter

It's been a very busy week here. First of all, we had a yard sale to set up and run. It's kinda difficult, since we don't have a garage. Hence the name. Afterward, the takedown. Also, I needed to mow my lawns AGAIN! this week, since next week looks like rain every day. I am soooo sore and tired today. But, none the less, we move on. Today is the 4th Sunday after Easter, and we hear again from St. John twice. We hear about being swift to learn and slow speak and to get angry. All very good and interesting. I'm going to let the good Abbott Gueranger explain a part which I like:

...We were showing, a few days back, how the Church, though a spiritual society, is also visible and exterior, because man, for whose sake the Church was formed, is a being composed of body and soul. When instituting the sacraments, our Lord assigned to each an essential rite; and this rite is outward and sensible. He made the Flesh, which he had united to his divine Person, become the instrument of our salvation by his Passion and Death on the Cross; he redeemed us by shedding his Blood for us; so is it in the sacraments; he follows the same mysterious plan, taking physical things as his auxiliaries in effecting the work of our justification. He raises them to a supernatural state, and makes them the faithful and all-powerful conductors of His grace, even to the most intimate depths of our soul. It is the continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation, the object of which is to raise us, by visible things, to the knowledge of things invisible. Thus is broken the pride of Satan; he despised man because he is not purely a spirit, but is spirit and matter unitedly; and he refused to pay adoration to the word made Flesh.

3rd Sunday after Easter

Today is the 3rd Sunday after Easter. However, it is also called the 'Solemnity of St. Joseph', the spouse of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. His feast day is March 19th, but today is a solemn expression of gratitude offered to him, the Protector of the Faithful, the refuge and support of all that invoke him with confidence. I know that I have lacked asking him for help, except to be a better father, or when I am working with wood. I will try harder to ask his intercession in all, alongside with Mary.

St. Teresa in the 16th century was instructed by heaven as to the efficacy of devotion to St. Joseph, and I will let her tell us in her own words:

"I took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him I saw clearly...that he rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted: the great favours which God hath given me through this blessed Saint, the dangers from which he hath delivered me, both of body and soul. To other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succor men in some special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, to help us in all: and our Lord would have us understand that, as He was Himself subject to him upon earth--for St. Joseph having the title of 'father', and being His guardian, could command Him--so now in heaven he performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to St. Joseph, and they too know this by experience; and there are many who are now of late devout to him, having had experience of this truth."

St. Joseph, pray for us in all our needs

Good Shepherd Sunday

Today is the 2nd Sunday after Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd. He says that He knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him. Therefore, whoever is NOT under the chief shepherd, who is Peter, is NOT within His fold. He said that there should be One Lord, One Faith, and one Baptism to bring them all together. How much simpler can it be than this?
The following is yet another preface that we don't get to hear anymore. This one is taken from the Mozarabic Missal.

It is meet and just, holy and available to salvation, that, with loudest acclamations of triumph, we should extol thee, O ever-glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! and, now that he has fulfilled all his promises of mercy towards us, should praise thee with all the fervour which the human mind is capable of feeling, aided by thine inspiration. He to whom more has been forgiven should love more; and he who bestowed his gifts upon us when we did not as yet believe, increased the obligations we have to serve him. Therefore, after that the Word had been made Flesh, and had dwelt amongst us, and had practiced all that he had taught, he, the perfect Man, perfect by his divine works, gave himself to the Passion, necessary, indeed, for us, but, on his part, voluntary. He enlightened the world by the brightness of his preaching, lest, being a prey to darkness, it might be tossed to and fro. So, to, he descended into the prison of Limbo, that he might set its captives free; for he would not defer his kingdom to the end of the world: therefore, the victims, dragged down by the crafty enemy, were raised up to heaven by the innocent Crucified. He would set free, by the right of justice, those whom he redeemed by the humility of his Passion. He had given up the ghost, and, as it is written, commended it into his Father's hands, a virgin-tomb received the divine guest that a virgin-womb had conceived and brought forth. Corruption came not nigh to him whilst lying in the grave, because he was conceived without contracting the corruption of Adam's sin. The Jews obtained of Pilate that he would place guards at the Sepulchre, whose testimony was afterwards to confirm the faith of believers, and confound the impiety of the wicked. For what obstacle could human vigilance be to him, who, whilst he lay in the tomb, had angels keeping watch over him; and who, when he rose, rose because he was God, the Word? Yea, the Word, which had been inseparably united to the Soul, was there in the Body also: it terrified, it subjected, it tamed, it tied fast down in deepest hell, all the powers of this air. Then did Death tremble, for its sting was blunted; and its own death was sharper than any it had ever made others feel. It had boasted of being lord of mankind; but, when Christ triumphed, it had to wail itself a slave of the Cross. Straightway was broken the power of the cruel executioners, and the violent rioting of the bloodthirsty was brought to an end. The pride of the spirits of darkness was brought down by the humility of Christ, and the malice of the devil was crushed by the simplicity of the Lamb. The most cruel enemy saw fall from his hands what he thought was his eternal possession; he saw mankind restored, by the Man-God, to the Paradise, whence it had been banished by Adam's sin.

1st Saturday of May

This is Our Lady, Help of Christians. It is also the 1st Saturday of May, which is dedicated to Our Blessed
Mother. The following sequence was used by the Churches in Germany celebrating her Seven Joys.

O Virgin! Temple of the Trinity! the God of all goodness and mercy, being pleased with the loveliness of thy humility, meekness, and purity, is announced as having to be born of thee. The message is brought thee by the angel who hails thee full of grace. Thou askest how? and thou art told. Thou consentest: and the King of glory instantly becomes incarnate in thy womb.
We beseech thee by this Joy, that we may deserve to receive mercy from this King, be protected by Him, and, thus protected, be admitted into the land of the living.
Thy second Joy is that tho, the Star, givest birth to the Sun, as the Moon emits its ray. This birth injures thee not; thou remainest a Virgin as before. As a flower loses not its beauty by sending forth its fragrance; so neither losest thy the bloom of thy Virginity by giving birth to thy Creator.
O Mary, kind Mother! be to us the way that leads to thy Son; and, by thy second Joy, graciously intercede for us, that we be converted from our sins.
A star tells thee of thy third Joy. Thou seest a star resting over thy Child, the Magi adoring Him, and offering their varied gifts. The star expresses Unity; three Kings, Trinity; the gold signifies purity of soul; the myrrh, chastity of body; the incense, adoration.
O Mary, Star of the Sea! pray for us, that we may be cleansed from our sins, enriched with virtue, and united with thee in the happiness and bliss of the heavenly Country.
The fourth Joy, O holy Virgin! was given thee, when Jesus rose from the tomb, on the third day. By this Mystery, faith is strengthened, hope restored, and death put to flight; and thou, O full of grace, hadst thy share in effecting these wonders. The enemy is conquered: he is imprisoned, and loses his power. Man, who had been made captive, is set free, and raised from earth to heaven above.
Do thou, therefore, O Mother of our Creator! pray hourly for us, that, by this Joy, we may be associated with the choirs of the heavenly citizens, after this life's labours are over.
Thou didst receive thy fifth Joy, O Mary! when thou wast present at thy Son's Ascension into heaven. Then didst thou clearly know that He whose Mother thou wast was thy Creator. His Ascension shows us the path whereby we are to ascend to heaven. Let us then, who dwell in this miserable world, arise, and follow this path.
We beseech thee, by this Joy, to pray that we may never be made subject to Satan's power; but that we ascend to heaven, where, with thee and thy Son, we may rejoice for all eternity.
The sixth Joy was when the Holy Ghost descended, in the form of fiery tongues, from heaven, strengthening, defending, filling, cleansing, and inflaming the Apostles. The fire was given in tongues, that man, who owed his perdition to a tongue, might be saved bu such fire; and that he who, at the beginning, had been defiled by sin, might by fire be purified.
We pray thee, O Virgin! by this holy Joy, intercede for us to thy Son, that He pardon us our sins, now in this our exile, lest there be found guilt upon us at the great judgement.
Jesus invited thee to the seventh Joy, when He called thee out of this world to heaven, placed thee on thy throne, and honoured thee with special favours. Thus is honour given to thee, such as none of the blessed in heaven enjoy; nor can any mortal attain to the perfection of virtue, unless by thine intercession he receive the safeguard of virtue.
O Virgin Mother of Mercy! give us to feel the proofs of thy loving intercession, which will preserve us from sin, and lead us to eternal joys, in the company of the Blessed.
O Virgin most pure! we beseech thee, by these thy Seven Joys, pray that we may be purified from our sins; and, being made fruitful in good works, lead us, O fruitful Mother, to the blissful joys of heaven. Amen.

Prophecy?

I am reading a book by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, entitled "Our Saviour and His Love for Us". This is just something I read today concerning the Jews and their obstinancy keeping them from accepting Christ as the One to come. It is sa comment from St. Pascal.

Pascal did not fail to note an objection that comes naturally to mind with respect to these prophecies (all throughout the Old Testament): "If all this was so clearly foretold to the Jews, why did they not believe it? And why were they not exterminated for resisting something so evident?"

"I answer," he says: "First of all, it was predicted that they would not believe something so clear and that they would not be exterminated. Secondly, nothing brings greater glory to the Messiah; for it was not enough that prophets should exist; it was necessary that their prophecies be preserved without suspicion." That is how everything came to pass. "The Jews, by killing Jesus in order not to accept Him as the Messiah, gave Him the crowning mark of the Messiah. And by continuing to misjudge Him they became the irreproachable witness [speaking against themselves though not wishing to be conscious of it]; and by killing Him and continuing to deny Him, they accomplished the prophecies."

I think it's like the fact that they owned the rope by which they hung themselves. They fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning the coming and the death of He Who was to come.