Time Machine

Christ's sacrifice of Himself was presented in time on Calvary 2000 years ago. God makes that sacrifice of Christ present on every altar in every Catholic Church through time and space. We are made to be really and truly present at the foot of the cross as real and true as Christ is present in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Christ's death is not recreated at the Mass, it is re-presented (Made Present). We do not re-sacrifice Jesus, we enter into that sacrifice. We killed Him with our sins, so we must be sanctified and redeemed by His sacrifice of Himself for us. Nowhere in the world is this truly present but in the Catholic Mass! Period! You want a time machine? Go to Mass. It will take you back 2000 years to be present at your redemption. Christ calls you, but will you come?

Deliver Us From Evil!

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when 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.
“And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.”

Matthew 6: 5-13

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil? God leading us into temptation? Bad translation? I used to say “Yes” but not so fast. We look back in St. Matthew’s Gospel and the events directly following Christ’s baptism in the Jordan.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Matthew 4:1

Who led Christ into the desert? The Holy Spirit led Him there. Led Him into Temptation. Jesus was put to the test to strengthen Him for His divine office that would require the sacrifice of His flesh. This was the salvation of sinners. To save the sheep who would hear their shepherd’s voice in the wilderness. As we walk the path of holiness on this earth we must prepare to walk in the footsteps of Christ. They may lead us to the sick, the needy, to death, and if God wills it, into temptation. God’s will may certainly lead us to the test of our fidelity and faith. This is done out of love. Our finite, fallen minds have a hard time understanding this. As Fr. Mitch Pacwa once noted, ‘God leads us to temptation like a General leading his troops into battle. Not to get them killed but to bring about victory.’ We are at war and are called to take up arms against the evil one. Christ knew this when He taught us how to pray. We may be allowed to undergo the test and it will be hard. We are weak and we must rely on the Grace of God the Father to overcome the tempter. This is the reason he also taught us to ask the Father to “deliver us from evil”. Embrace all the gifts of God’s love in whatever form they may take on. Be humble and call on the Lord to help us in our time of need. As we draw closer to God more will be asked of us, and more will be given to us in return. Pray that you may avoid temptation. Pray harder that at the hour the Father asks you to be like His only Son, that He will deliver you from the evil one and into His loving arms.

Georgetown Removes Jesus for Obama!

Take a look at the picture above. This is our President speaking at Georgetown University this week. Let's just forget about the fact that Georgetown claims to be a Catholic University and give them a pass on why they are allowing Obama to speak there for a second. When the White House staff was setting up the details of the speech with Georgetown a request was made to remove the initials of Our Lord Jesus Christ from above the stage where Obama would be speaking. Now the great "Catholic" Georgetown University was outraged and rescinded the President's invitation to speak, right? WRONG! Take another look at the picture. The blacked-out area above Obama's head is where Jesus' initials "IHS" were located. I can expect letters of thanks to be sent from Notre Dame to Georgetown for taking the heat off of them for a short time.

Let's lay out the facts here. In a very short period of time President Obama has waged nothing short of war against the unborn in this country and abroad. He is threatening to make Medical professionals and Hospitals opposed to abortion perform murder against their beliefs. For some reason "Catholic" Universities like Georgetown and Notre Dame seem to be worshipping at the altar of Obama. Think I'm being over-the-top? Maybe, but why is Notre Dame honoring him. Why is Georgetown removing God for him? I'll take answers to these questions if anyone has them. Leave a comment. Please explain it to me.

To Read an Article about this abomination click Here.

We are at a crossroads here. Catholics need to be Catholic! Catholic Universities need to be CATHOLIC! Pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. Please join me this weekend on Divine Mercy Sunday in praying for this nation, the Church, and the World. We need God's mercy now, more than ever! AMDG

(Photo Courtesy Getty Images)

Good Friday

As we enter into the celebration of Our Lord's Passion and Death please take a moment or two in prayer to contemplate the profound sacrifice that He made for all of our sins. In Humility God entered the world in the form of His creation, man. He lived among us with the intent, from the moment of His incarnation, to die for our sins. As the great Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, "Christ's death on the cross cast a shadow backward through time on His whole life." He came to die for us all, not because He had to, because He wanted to. To redeem those who believe in Him. He died the death of a criminal. A death of humiliation and condemnation. He died the death that we earned from our sins.

Christ paid a debt He did NOT owe, because we owed and debt we could NOT pay!

God's blessings on all of you! AMDG

Our True Savior!

(Photo Courtesy of Orthodoxphotos.com)

How Some People View the President!?

I came across this photo today. It struck me immediately for its almost "halo-like" appearance around the head of Obama. It hit me that this is how many people in this country, and indeed around the world, view our Commander-In-Chief. He is seen as a savior to far too many people. In reality one person seeing any one man as their "savior" is scary, unless that Man is Jesus Christ. I can't say if the person who snapped this photo had that in mind but the imagery that it conveys to the world is stark in its contrast to where we should really be putting our trust. Here!

(Photo Courtesy of AP)

Immaculate Heart of Mary

And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you can let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about Him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother,

“Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own (Mary’s) soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2: 22-35

Mary, the Mother of God, suffered with her only Son, Jesus Christ. She was bound to her beloved Son from the moment of her Immaculate Conception. The Holy Spirit moved Simeon to prophecy to Mary about the horrible death her Son would face and how this death would “pierce through her own soul.” Christ suffered for the sins and transgressions of all mankind and His Mother Mary would suffer these pains as well. The sword which pierced the soul of Mary was forged by the sins of mankind, from the fall of our first parents until the end of days. Her Immaculate heart is often portrayed pierced with this very sword or strangled by a crown of thorns. Our Mother bleeds and suffers with every sin or blasphemy against the Holy name of God. All who reject her reject her Son, Jesus Christ.

St. John Damascene explained that the Immaculate Heart of Mary "lives solely on the contemplation and the love of God." Her whole being is consumed with loving and serving the will of God. Being immaculately conceived, her will is in complete conformity with the will of God. We must remember that Mary is the Mother of God. Her love and relationship with God is like no other. She is in complete union with the Holy Trinity. Beloved daughter of God the Father, loving mother of God the Son, and faithful spouse of God the Holy Spirit. This is an inseparable union that binds Mary to Christ in a way that could not have affected her in a more profound way. She suffered with Him during His Passion and Crucifixion. St. Bernard wrote in the middle ages that at Calvary, “as Jesus died in Body, so Mary died in Heart.” This statement is profound in its utter simplicity while at the same time in its shear weighty truth. She suffered the pain and sorrowful wounds of a mother whose only son was being murdered. Her soul, bound eternally with that of her Divine Son, suffered the wounds of all our sins. These are the very same sins that Christ took upon Himself as He willingly gave Himself to the executioners.

She also suffered with her Son in another profound way. She suffered the realization that her Son came to die for us all but that many of us would selfishly reject His salvation by rejecting it through our sinful ways. All those who accepted the gift of mercy and sanctification offered by Christ on the cross would be saved from the death and damnation of sin. Freeing us from the bonds that shackled humanity to the original sin of Eden; Christ, the new Adam, in complete union with Mary, the new Eve, would offer mankind salvation from the death that betrayal of God rendered at creation. This salvation would come from God alone but we see Mary's complete cooperation in God's plan through her pure humility and total acceptance of His plan. Mary's suffering would come in the form of all who would hear the Gospel of her Son and reject its message of mercy and love. How she must weep for the poor souls who turn their backs on the Christ. His mercy is for all and for all time and yet so many will reject it because of pride. They are unwilling to listen to God and to conform their will to that of God. Truth is God’s only spoken Word, and His name is Jesus Christ.