Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious

Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit, wrought many marvels by his mere word. During his lifetime he feared no one, nor was any man able to intimidate his will. Nothing was beyond his power; beneath him flesh was brought back into life. In life he performed wonders, and after death, marvelous deeds.

The Holy Spirit can move mountains through us if we let Him. He can do marvelous and wondrous deeds if we let Him. He can convert sinners and save souls through us if we lend him our thoughts, words, and works. If our souls magnify God, then we shall be like prophets, bearing the Good News to others and proving God's Goodness through our actions. With faith, all things are possible. We might not know exactly what to do, but we know that God is with us and will provide us with exactly what we need to do His Will.

Do we call upon and pray to the Holy Spirit each and every day? Do we allow Him to think, speak, and work through us? How can we make ourselves into living vessels of the Holy Spirit?

O Lord, pour into us your Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Fourth Friday of Lent

“With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.” These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls' reward.

In the end, we are either counted among the innocent or the wicked. We either revile and torture God and others in thought, words, and deeds, or we love and serve Him and His children with all our beings. We either put God to the test and try His patience or trust in Him completely. We either put God to death through lives of sin and indifference or we become living tabernacles where He can dwell forever and ever. We either rely on ourselves or we depend upon God and have faith that He will take care of us. We either a blinded by selfishness or we are aware of our God-given role in this life and embrace it wholeheartedly.

What areas of our lives are leading us to wickedness? How can we turn our backs on these evils and follow the light? What can we do to increase in virtue and innocence?

O Lord, lead us away from wickedness and into holiness.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.  And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.

God is always with us and wants to build an everlasting house for us in His Heavenly Kingdom. He will give us all the love, mercy, and grace we need to overcome our enemies and fulfill His Divine Will. If we allow Him to think, speak, and work through us, we will magnify the Lord and become living instruments of His grace. He wants to fix a place for us in heaven and so He offers us all we need to become holy people, living saints, who place their faith, hope, and love in Him. If we place ourselves under His protection, then He will shield us from our foes and give us an inner peace that cannot be touched. Ultimately, when we are true and faithful to God, He will give us rest from all our enemies and a chance to be united forever to Him in Paradise.

Do we give thanks for God’s Presence in our lives? How can we keep ourselves aware of the fact that God is always with us? How can we become living vessels of His Way, Truth, and Life?

O Lord, plant your seeds of grace within the gardens of our souls.

Amen.

Christmas Weekday

Now the testimony of God is this, that he has testified on behalf of his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.

Jesus Christ needs to be in our thoughts, words, and works. We need to see the world through his eyes. We need to hear with his ears. We need to reach out with his hands. We need to contemplate with his mind. We need to love with his heart. The only way to possess him is to allow him to think, speak, and work through us. We are all called to be channels of his love, mercy, and grace. We are all asked to be fonts of his peace. Our lives should be founded upon Jesus and give testimony to him from the moment we arise in the morning to the moment we drift off to sleep at night. Just as the Word was made flesh through Christ, so we are asked to incarnate the Word through our own actions.

Do our lives give testimony to the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus? How can our lives become more deeply rooted in the life of Christ? Are we willing to let God possess our lives so we might possess eternal life?

O Lord, give us eternal life in you.

Amen.

Third Saturday of Advent

For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

These words have been used to describe John the Baptist and Jesus, but they also describe what the sacrament of reconciliation does for all of us. It offers us a chance to be refined and purified. It removes our impurities by burning them away. In a similar way, the sacrament of reconciliation can rid us of our imperfections and sins, granting us the grace to become worthy vessels of God’s Will on earth. By seeking forgiveness with contrite hearts and doing our penances, we are emptied of all our sins and transformed into pleasing and faithful followers.

Do we make ourselves available to the sacrament of reconciliation and the graces it offers us? Are we willing to allow God to burn away our imperfections and refine our souls? How can we becomes living vessels, bearing God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace to all the world?

O Lord, refine and purify us.

Amen.

Nineteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

“Once you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you, but I delivered them also into your power. And I sent the hornets ahead of you that drove them (the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites) out of your way; it was not your sword or your bow. I gave you a land that you had not tilled and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.”

God does so much for us every single day and all of it for our own good. He wants us to prosper and succeed, especially in our spiritual endeavors. He wants us to follow Him into the Promised Land and will do everything in His power to guide and protect us. However, we need to remember our accomplishments are not our own, they are God’s victories… triumphs He has won for us. Without Him we would be utter failures in all we think, say, and do. It is not our brains, tongues, or arms that lead to our good fruits, but rather the Wisdom, Word, and Strength of God made manifest through us.

How do we thank God for all He has, is, and will do for us? What can we do to keep ourselves humble when we do have success be it worldly or spiritual? In what ways can we prepare our bodies, minds, and hearts to be vessels for God’s Goodness?

O Lord, it is when we allow you to work in and through us that we are most successful.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own Blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

The Blood of Christ has been offered up to heaven for us and it is through Jesus’ sacrifice that we are made clean. However, in order to be washed of our sins and come before God with unblemished hearts, we must accept that Jesus has not only died for us, but also given us an example to follow. Just as he made himself into a living sacrifice to God for others, so must we be willing to do the same. If we are unwilling to imitate Christ in this way, then we turn our backs on the Blood of Christ and refuse to drink of the chalice of self-surrender we are all called to drink from. We have a choice to make, either we choose to partake in the Blood of Christ and the sufferings we are asked to endure or we choose to avoid the blood and sweat that are needed to live holy lives and perish.

Do we recognize God as the source, center, and summit of all the good things in our lives? Do we realize how important it is to accept the Blood of Christ and all the sacrifices its reception asks of us? How can we cleans our consciences so that we might accept God’s Will in regards to our sufferings?

O Lord, sanctify us and make us into living tabernacles of your Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Amen.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed.”

Mary is the mother of our salvation. She is our Blessed Mother and Most Holy Mediator between God and us. She shows us through her Most Immaculate Life how to know, love, and serve God with all our hearts and minds. It was through her humble acceptance of God's Will that God's Saving Power, namely Jesus, came into the world. Her mildness gave birth to the greatest authority of all… the Son of God! This doesn't mean her life wasn't hard. Far from it! She ran into difficulties from the very first moment she accepted the angel's annunciation. However, she did not let her fears, anxieties, and problems keep her from doing God's Will. She found a way to overcome all the obstacles in her way and became the Most Faithful Servant of All. In the same way, we are called to become living vessels of God's Will no matter what stands in our way.

What are we giving birth to in this world? Are we imitating Mary's trust, love, humility, and mildness in our own lives? Do we turn to Mary and her beloved Son, Jesus, when we are trying to be good vessels of God's Love, Mercy, and Grace?

O Lord, may your salvation and power come into the world through us as it did through Mary?

Amen.