The Holy Rosary is one of three Sacramentals that the Blessed Virgin Mary has given to the Holy Catholic Church. In the thirteenth century, Mary gave the Rosary as a powerful weapon to mankind to combat the evils that were in this world as a result of the spiritual battle that is taking place between Satan and God. Since then, the blessings received through this Sacramental are beyond man’s count.
STEP 1: Make the sign of the Cross:
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son
and of …
This probably isn’t the sort of Psalm we expected to hear: “It is I who deal death and give life.” It is not often that our readings cause us to reflect on the vengeance of God, but it’s an important part of our Faith, and one that deserves reflection.
We might be afraid to think about this topic, and for good reason: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). God has given us all that we are and have, and He can take it away if He sees fit.
Of course, we have no reason to believe that God will exercise His wrath on us at each and every moment. But why does He allow His people to endure such hardship, often for decades on end? Why does He often give them peace by destroying other nations? Is God capricious? Does He enjoy suffering and destruction?
We can begin to understand God better by remembering some simple principles. First of all, He is the Master of life and death, as He confers existence, given as a free gift, on all creation. As the metaphysical source of all life, God has total control over the lives of His creatures. He does not exercise this control in a despotic way, taking over our wills. He lets us make our own decisions, knowing the consequences of every action of every creature throughout all time, before it occurs. He has legitimate authority to exercise His power over life and death if and when He wills, and He freely chooses to let us experience the consequences of our sins, many of which lead to pain, abuse, death, and destruction.
Secondly, we must remember that we deserve eternal death. By our sins, most clearly by Original Sin, we have deserved Hell and its torments, preferring the creature to the Creator, preferring to rule creation alone rather than to submit to and share in God’s benevolent rule. We constantly choose things we know to be contrary to God’s will, forfeiting our heavenly birthright. As God is infinite, our offenses against Him take on all the more weight.
Thirdly, we know that God offers salvation to all who can accept it. He made this clear by His Incarnation and His sacrifice on Calvary, re-presented and available to us in the Mass. Those willing to follow Him can reach heaven by sharing in His own merits. Because of this, our realization that we deserve death is not a reason for self-hatred, but an occasion for wonder at God’s mercy.
We can see that God allows His creation to act in ways which lead to either glory or damnation. He knows full well which actions lead to which, and He allows us to receive what we ultimately choose for ourselves. Along the way, He may intervene directly, as we see in our readings. Perhaps the nations He smites are deep in mortal sin, and will never repent, even if given the opportunity. Perhaps they would choose Hell if left a little longer on earth, but are not yet beyond hope. Perhaps His suffering people need purification and chastisement, or perhaps they are being rewarded for their devotion by greater spiritual trials and triumphs.
Although we might not be able to understand each isolated instance, we can be assured that God is in control and does everything for our good. The Cross showed us that God has a plan for all suffering and destruction, to redeem and sanctify it; every apparent tragedy is meant for good. It is for us to trust in and glorify the Lord, even when He exercises wrath.
Puede ser que el Salmo de hoy no sea lo que esperábamos escuchar: “Yo soy el que traigo la muerte y doy la vida”. No es frecuente que nuestras lecturas nos hagan reflexionar sobre la venganza de Dios, pero es una parte importante de nuestra Fe, y merece reflexión.
Podríamos tener miedo pensar en este tema, y por buena razón: “Horrenda cosa es caer en manos del Dios vivo” (Heb. 10:31). Dios nos ha dado todo lo que somos y tenemos, y puede quitárnoslo si lo considera conveniente.
Por supuesto, no tenemos razón para creer que Dios ejercerá Su ira sobre nosotros en cada momento. Pero, ¿por qué permite que Su pueblo soporte tales dificultades, a veces durante décadas? ¿Por qué con frecuencia les da paz a ellos destruyendo a otras naciones? ¿Dios es caprichoso? ¿Disfruta del sufrimiento y la destrucción?
Podemos comenzar a comprender mejor a Dios si recordamos algunos principios simples. En primer lugar, Él es el Señor de la vida y de la muerte, ya que confiere la existencia, dada gratuitamente, a toda la creación. Como fuente metafísica de toda vida, Dios tiene control total sobre la vida de Sus criaturas. No ejerce este control despóticamente, apoderándose de nuestras voluntades. Él nos permite tomar nuestras propias decisiones, y conoce las consecuencias de cada acción de cada criatura a lo largo de todo el tiempo, antes de que ocurra. Él tiene autoridad legítima para ejercer Su poder sobre la vida y la muerte si Él lo desea y cuando Él lo desea, y elige libremente dejarnos experimentar las consecuencias de nuestros pecados, muchos de los cuales conducen al dolor, el abuso, la muerte y la destrucción.
En segundo lugar, debemos recordar que a causa de nuestros pecados, más claramente por el Pecado Original, merecemos la muerte eterna, el Infierno y sus tormentos, porque prefirimos la criatura al Creador, prefirimos gobernar sola la creación antes que someternos y compartir el gobierno benevolente de Dios. Constantemente elegimos cosas que sabemos que son contrarias a la voluntad de Dios, perdiendo nuestro derecho celestial de nacimiento. Como Dios es infinito, nuestras ofensas contra Él cobran aún más peso.
En tercer lugar, sabemos que Dios ofrece la salvación a todos los que pueden aceptarla. Lo dejó claro con Su Encarnación y Su sacrificio en el Calvario, representado y disponible para nosotros en la Misa. Quienes estén dispuestos a seguirlo pueden llegar al cielo compartiendo Sus propios méritos. Por eso, el hecho de que nos demos cuenta de que merecemos la muerte no es un motivo para odiarnos a nosotros mismos, sino una ocasión para maravillarnos ante la misericordia de Dios.
Podemos ver que Dios permite que Su creación actúe de maneras que conducen a la gloria o a la condenación. Él sabe muy bien cuáles acciones conducen a que cosa y nos permite recibir lo que finalmente elegimos para nosotros. En el camino, Él puede intervenir directamente, como vemos en nuestras lecturas. Quizás las naciones a las que Él hiere están profundamente en pecado mortal, y nunca se arrepentirán, incluso si se les da la oportunidad. Tal vez elegirían el Infierno si se les dejara un poco más en la tierra, pero aún no están más allá de la esperanza. Tal vez Su pueblo sufriente necesite purificación y castigo, o tal vez estén siendo recompensados por su devoción con mayores pruebas y triunfos espirituales.
Aunque es posible que no podamos entender cada caso aislado, podemos estar seguros de que Dios tiene el control y hace todo para nuestro bien. La Cruz nos mostró que Dios tiene un plan para todo sufrimiento y destrucción, para redimirlo y santificarlo; toda tragedia aparente es para bien. Nos corresponde a nosotros confiar en el Señor y glorificarlo, incluso cuando ejerce su ira.
David Dashiell is a freelance author and editor in Nashville, Tennessee. He has a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University, and is the editor of the anthology Ever Ancient, Ever New: Why Younger Generations Are Embracing Traditional Catholicism.
Feature Image Credit: Titi Maciel Pérez, www.cathopic.com/photo/26633-prerando-cenizas
A disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to the court of King Abgar the Black, the second century Osroene ruler. Legendary accounts claim Abgar wrote to Christ asking Jesus to cure him of an intolerable and incurable illness. Abgar’s court was in Edessa in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Addal cured Abgar and converted the king and his people to the faith. One of these was Addai, who became Addal’s successor. Addal is also supposed to have sent another disciple, Man, to various sites along the …
O almighty and most merciful God, I give You thanks with all the powers of my soul for this and all other mercies, graces, and blessings bestowed on me, and prostrating myself at Your sacred feet, I offer myself to be henceforth forever Yours. Let nothing in life or death ever separate me from You! I renounce with my whole soul all my treasons against You, and all the abominations and sins of my past life. I renew my promises made in Baptism, and from this moment I dedicate myself eternally to …
The readings and Psalm for today are a really great fit on this memorial day of St. John Vianney. Heart is what keeps catching my attention.
In the First Reading from the prophet Jeremiah we are told that the Lord will write His law upon our hearts. This is quite evident from the life of St. John Vianney. The patron saint of priests, St. Vianney is known for his prayer, fasting, and the conversion of hearts through the Sacrament of Confession.
Whenever I read or sing the Psalm, ‘Create a clean heart in me, O God’, I am reminded of the love of God that is so readily available to me, especially if I would just turn to Him in Confession or when I receive the Eucharist.
I, however, am a woman with a short attention span, foot in mouth disease (open mouth, change foot) and many faults. For example, I have been trying to get the song You Gotta Have Heart out of my mind as I write this. The Holy Spirit will place a nugget like a song, image, or situation before me, and in the midst of it, I find Him trying to make a connection or point, hence the song.
Did I lose you? In the Gospel Peter is made the rock due to his answer to Jesus that He is the Christ, the living Son of God. Then in the very next sentences Jesus is telling Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” because Peter is thinking like a human, not as God does.
Peter has heart; God has clearly written on it or he wouldn’t have known that Jesus was the Son of the living God, the Christ. Jesus, being the Son of the Father, has unconditional love and patience with Peter. Jesus clearly forgives Peter as soon as Peter makes a mistake. Peter wouldn’t be known to us as the rock if he wasn’t a forgiven, beloved child of God as are each and every one of us in the human family.
I don’t want to lose heart, faith, grace or the forgiveness of God. I need prayer to help me keep my focus on my heart, on the love for my Lord to fill all parts of my body and my life.
St. John Vianney wrote a beautiful prayer to help him with this tremendous task. Please pray it with me:
I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally… My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath. Amen.
Las lecturas y el Salmo de hoy encajan muy bien en este día conmemorativo de San Juan Vianney. El corazón es lo que me sigue llamando la atención.
En la Primera Lectura del profeta Jeremías se nos dice que el Señor escribirá Su ley en nuestros corazones. Esto es bastante evidente en la vida de San Juan Vianney. El santo patrón de los sacerdotes, San Vianney es conocido por su oración, ayuno y la conversión de corazones a través del Sacramento de la Confesión.
Cada vez que leo o canto el Salmo, “Crea en mí, Señor, un corazón puro”, me acuerdo del amor de Dios que está tan fácilmente disponible para mí, especialmente si vuelvo a Él en la Confesión o cuando recibo la Eucaristía
Yo, sin embargo, soy una mujer con poca capacidad de atención, meto la pata (primero una, luego la otra) y muchas fallas. Por ejemplo, he estado tratando de quitarme de la mente la canción You Gotta Have Heart (Tienes que Tener Corazón) mientras escribo esto. El Espíritu Santo coloca una semilla como una canción, imagen o situación delante mío, y en medio de eso, lo encuentro tratando de hacer una conexión o un punto, y por eso me pone en mente la canción.
¿Te he perdido? En el Evangelio, Pedro se convierte en roca debido a su respuesta a Jesús de que Él es el Cristo, el Hijo viviente de Dios. Luego, en las siguientes oraciones, Jesús le está diciendo a Pedro: “¡Aléjate de mí, Satanás!” porque Pedro está pensando como un ser humano, no como Dios.
Pedro tiene corazón; Dios ha escrito claramente en él o no hubiera sabido que Jesús era el Hijo del Dios viviente, el Cristo. Jesús, siendo el Hijo del Padre, tiene amor incondicional y paciencia con Pedro. Jesús claramente perdona a Pedro tan pronto como Pedro comete un error. Pedro no sería conocido por nosotros como la roca si no fuera un hijo amado y perdonado de Dios como lo somos todos y cada uno de nosotros en la familia humana.
No quiero perder el corazón, la fe, la gracia o el perdón de Dios. Necesito oración para ayudarme a mantener mi enfoque en mi corazón, en el amor de mi Señor para llenar todas las partes de mi cuerpo y mi vida.
San Juan Vianney escribió una hermosa oración para ayudarlo con esta tremenda tarea. Por favor rézalo conmigo.
Te amo, oh Dios mío, y mi único deseo es amarte hasta el último suspiro de mi vida. Te amo, oh mi Dios infinitamente amable, y preferiría morir amándote, que vivir sin amarte. Te amo, Señor, y la única gracia que pido es amarte eternamente… Dios mío, si mi lengua no puede decir en cada momento que te amo, quiero que mi corazón te lo repita cada vez que respiro. Amén.
Beth Price is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and a practicing spiritual director. Beth shares smiles, prayers, laughter, a listening ear and her heart with all of creation. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.
Feature Image Credit: Gera Juarez, www.cathopic.com/photo/15891-sagrado-corazon
Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, known as John in English, was born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly, France and was baptized the same day. He was the fourth of six children born to Matthieu and Marie Vianney.
John was raised in a Catholic home and the family often helped the poor and housed St. Benedict Joseph Labre when he made his pilgrimage to Rome.
In 1790, when the anticlerical Terror phase of the French Revolution forced priests to work in secrecy or face execution, young Vianney believed the …
O Christ, our Morning Star,
Splendour of Light Eternal,
shining with the glory of the rainbow,
come and waken us
from the greyness of our apathy,
and renew in us your gift of hope.
Amen.
Shepherds use a tool called a shepherd’s hook. It is used to beat off those who would hurt the flock, to support weak or hurt sheep and to draw back a sheep who is wandering off.
Today’s Gospel is somewhat like the shepherd’s staff, a seemingly simple tool with multiple purposes.
As the pagan woman approaches Jesus to beg for help for her daughter, Jesus brushes her off. It seems even the disciples are taken aback and appeal to Jesus to give the woman what she wants. (Although we can’t be sure that the disciples didn’t just want her to get what she wanted so she would leave them alone.) We expect Jesus to lift this woman up and draw her close, but it feels more like he is pushing her away.
We have to take a closer look at the context of this story. Matthew tells us that the woman is a Cannanite. In the Old Testament, the Cannanites are characterized as evil and sinful idolaters. There is a history between the pagan Cannanites and the Isrealites and it is a history of division. There is a huge cultural gulf between this woman and Jesus’s followers. It is at this point that Jesus seemingly treats the woman harshly. Jesus wants the disciples to become aware that they themselves hold this woman to be “less than” because she is not one of God’s chosen people.
“It is not right to take the little children’s food and give it to the dogs.” This statement doesn’t reflect how Jesus viewed the woman, it reflects the attitude of the disciples. The words hold up a mirror for the disciples to examine their own cultural biases and their own openness to really reaching out to the people around them.
The woman had started by calling Jesus, “the Son of David”. She knew enough to call Jesus by this name. Was that a spark of faith? By responding to Jesus that even the dogs can eat the scraps left by the children, she went beyond a simple faith born from hope that her daughter could be healed, to a recognition that Jesus could help more than just the Chosen People. Her faith brings about an invitation to salvation.
We too can feel the shepherd’s crook in our lives. When we are weak and in danger, we can be lifted and drawn back to God’s heart. But we can also feel the sting of Jesus’ words. How open are we to all of our brothers and sisters? Do we care more for our own plans and worldview or are we willing to open our hearts and minds to love as Jesus loves? Do we share the invitation to salvation we have received with all those in our little corner of the world?
Los pastores utilizan una herramienta llamada el bastón del pastor. Se usa para ahuyentar a los que harían daño al rebaño, para apoyar a las ovejas débiles o lastimadas y para hacer regresar a una oveja que se está alejando.
El Evangelio de hoy es algo así como el bastón del pastor, una herramienta aparentemente simple con múltiples propósitos.
Cuando la mujer pagana se acerca a Jesús para pedir ayuda para su hija, Jesús la ignora. Parece que incluso los discípulos se sorprenden y apelan a Jesús para que le dé a la mujer lo que quiere. (Aunque no podemos estar seguros de que los discípulos no solo querían que ella obtuviera lo que quería para que los dejara en paz). Esperamos que Jesús levante a esta mujer y la acerque, pero más parece como si la estuviera empujándo para afuera.
Tenemos que echar un vistazo más de cerca al contexto de esta historia. Mateo nos dice que la mujer es cannanita. En el Antiguo Testamento, los cannanitas se caracterizan como idólatras malvados y pecadores. Hay una historia entre los cannanitas paganos y los israelitas y es una historia de división. Hay un enorme abismo cultural entre esta mujer y los seguidores de Jesús. Es en este punto que Jesús aparentemente trata a la mujer con dureza. Jesús quiere que los discípulos tomen conciencia de que ellos mismos consideran a esta mujer como “menos que” porque no es una de las elegidas de Dios.
“No está bien quitarles el pan a los hijos para echárselo a los perritos”. Esta declaración no refleja cómo Jesús vio a la mujer, refleja la actitud de los discípulos. Las palabras sostienen un espejo para que los discípulos examinen sus propios prejuicios culturales y su propia apertura para llegar realmente a las personas que los rodean.
La mujer había comenzado llamando a Jesús, “el Hijo de David”. Ella sabía lo suficiente como para llamar a Jesús por este nombre. ¿Fue eso una chispa de fe? Al responder a Jesús que incluso los perros pueden comerse las sobras que dejan los niños, ella fue más allá de una simple fe nacida de la esperanza de que su hija pudiera ser sanada, al reconocer de que Jesús podía ayudar más que al Pueblo Elegido. Su fe suscita una invitación a la salvación.
Nosotros también podemos sentir el bastón del pastor en nuestras vidas. Cuando somos débiles y estamos en peligro, podemos ser levantados y acercados de nuevo al corazón de Dios. Pero también podemos sentir el aguijón de las palabras de Jesús. ¿Qué tan abiertos estamos a todos nuestros hermanos y hermanas? ¿Nos preocupamos más por nuestros propios planes y visión del mundo o estamos dispuestos a abrir nuestros corazones y mentes para amar como Jesús ama? ¿Compartimos la invitación a la salvación que hemos recibido con todos aquellos en nuestro pequeño rincón del mundo?
Sheryl is happy to be the number 1 cheerleader and supporter for her husband, Tom who is a candidate for the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. They are so grateful for the opportunity to grow together in this process. Sheryl’s day job is serving her community as the principal for St. Therese Catholic School in Wayland, Michigan. Since every time she thinks she gets life all figured out, she realizes just how far she has to go, St. Rita of Cascia is her go-to Saint for intercession and help. Home includes Carlyn, a very, very goofy Golden Retriever and Lucy, our not-so-little rescue puppy.
Feature Image Credit: Angie Menes, www.cathopic.com/photo/14748-buen-pastor
Lydia Purpuraria (1st century) was born at Thyatira (Ak-Hissar), a town in Asia Minor, famous for its dye works, (hence, her name which means purple seller). She became Paul’s first convert at Philippi. She was baptized with her household, and Paul stayed at her home there. Her feast date is August 3.
Father, I acknowledge that I’ve held resentment and bitterness against (name). I confess this as sin and ask You to forgive me. I forgive (name). Remind me, Lord, to not hold any more resentments, but rather to love this person. Father, I ask You to also forgive (name) . Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. In Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen.