Mother Mary said at Fatima: "My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the sure way which will lead you to God." St. Thomas Aquinas said: "The things we love tell us who we are!" With that in mind, I will try to post each day something about Our Blessed Lady, items about the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and public domain Catholic books too! I pray you enjoy my ministry! Below are two albums of pictures that I created: 1. Our grand daughter Adrianna. 2. Tears of Mary!
Friday, November 30, 2012
THE POPE TO FRENCH BISHOPS: RELIGIOUS IGNORANCE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST PROBLEMS OF OUR TIMES
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[Video] What is an advent wreath?.
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Thursday, November 29, 2012
TRIB TIMES: YEAR OF FAITH
Tribulation Times
NOTEWORTHY: YEAR OF FAITH November 29, 2012 ZENIT: AFRICAN BISHOPS' STATEMENT ON CONGO VIOLENCE MEDITATIONS: Thoughts by St Theophan (1815-1894) [I Tim. 5:1-10; Luke 17:20-25] Having said that the Son of Man will appear in his day like lightning, instantly illuminating everything under heaven, the Lord added: But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. The word order here makes it apparent that this “must suffer” should precede Lord's appearance in glory. Thus, the whole time until that day is the time of the Lord's suffering. He suffered in His person at one known time; after that His sufferings continue in believers — suffering as they are born, their upbringing in the spirit and protection from actions of the enemy, both inner and outer — for the Lord's union with His own is not just mental or moral, but living. Everything that touches them is accepted by Him as well, as the head. Therefore, it is impossible not to see that the Lord indeed suffers much. The most painful sorrows are the falls of believers; even more painful for Him is when they fall away from the faith. But these are the final wounds; as continuously wounding arrows are the sorrows, temptations, and wavering faith of unbelief. Words and writings that exude unbelief are kindled arrows of the evil one. Nowadays, the evil one has led many blacksmiths to forge such arrows. The hearts of believers ache when they are struck by them and see others being struck. The Lord aches too. But the day of the Lord's glory will appear — then all the secret darkness will be revealed, and those who have suffered will rejoice with the Lord. Until that time we must endure and pray. EXCERPT MARK MALLET'S BLOG: THE STRIPPING OF THE CHURCHWe are living in a time of great contradictions! On a corporate level, the Church—whom Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against—seems utterly despoiled by scandal, weak leadership, lukewarmness, and fear. Externally, one can literally see the anger and intolerance rising against her all over the world. So too, in our personal lives, I hear everywhere I go how there is great suffering among the brethren. Financial disaster, sickness, unemployment, marital strife, family divisions… it would seem as if Christ has forgotten us! Far from it. Rather, Jesus is preparing his Bride for the Passion. But not only the Passion of the Church, but her Resurrection. The words from that prophecy given in Rome1 in Pope Paul VI’s presence are becoming more alive to me by the hour. Note especially the parts underlined below: Because I love you, I want to show you what I am doing in the world today. I want to prepare you for what is to come. Days of darkness are coming on the world, days of tribulation… Buildings that are now standing will not be standing. Supports that are there for my people now will not be there. I want you to be prepared, my people, to know only me and to cleave to me and to have me in a way deeper than ever before. I will lead you into the desert… I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on me. A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for my Church, a time of glory is coming for my people. I will pour out on you all the gifts of my Spirit. I will prepare you for spiritual combat; I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has never seen…. And when you have nothing but me, you will have everything: land, fields, homes, and brothers and sisters and love and joy and peace more than ever before. Be ready, my people, I want to prepare you… —St. Peter’s Square, May, 1975, Pentecost Monday (given by Ralph Martin) Jesus is stripping us of our worldly comforts and our deadly self-reliance that has become idolatry for many in the Church, especially in the wealthy Western nations. But this painful process often feels as though He is in fact abandoning us! The truth is, He does not remove these stones of contradiction because it will destroy the integrity of what He is building in your soul. You need this present suffering so as to become more reliant and abandoned to Him. The time is coming when we in the Church will have nothing but Him, in nearly every way imaginable. Yes, Satan will whisper to you, “You see, it’s as if God does not exist! Everything is random. Good and bad, they happen to everyone alike. Give up this silly religion because it does you no good. Wouldn’t you be better off following your instincts rather than your faith?!” Is it not providence that the Pope declared this current year, “The Year of Faith?” It’s because the faith of so many is being attacked at its very foundations…
Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of God
30. Take for your motto: Love has conquered me, it alone shall possess my heart.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
First for Brooklyn- Married Anglican Priest Ordained to Catholic Priesthood.
This is wonderful! May the Lord grant Fr. Perez and his family abundant graces . . .
When Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez laid hands upon the head of Belen Gonzalez y Perez Nov. 20 at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn, Father Gonzalez y Perez became the first former Anglican priest to be ordained a Catholic priest in Brooklyn.
Read the full story at thetablet.org
Mary TV Daily Reflection 11/29/2012
(c)Mary TV 2012
Confession in Medjugorje
+
J.M.J.
November 29, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! In this time of grace, I call all of you to renew prayer. Open yourselves to Holy Confession so that each of you may accept my call with the whole heart. I am with you and I protect you from the ruin of sin, but you must open yourselves to the way of conversion and holiness, that your heart may burn out of love for God. Give Him time and He will give Himself to you and thus, in the will of God you will discover the love and the joy of living. Thank you for having responded to my call." (November 25, 2012)
Many of you have responded to Olga's remarkable story of her journey to the Sacrament of Confession. Wow! Thank you, Olga!
I also want to share an email I received from Marie, in France, who sent me her experience of Confession in Medjugorje, and how it has changed her life. Marie writes:
Dear Cathy,
What a message, what a message!
It goes to my heart as a secret deep inside,
because I had the grace of being so ill in my heart that Confession was such a present, such a gift to me. A sacrament of healing of the heart.
I remember my Confession in Medjugorje in 2000.
I met an English priest because there was too long of a queue in the other lines.
I can't remember the words I said, but it all turned around me and my father.
I can't talk about it today without tears in my eyes.
Confession sets us free, Confession brings our hearts to open again to God's love.
Confession sets us free from our jails.
It's a grace. You may not have the will nor the desire to forgive, but it's God's desire.
It's God's will of love and mercy.
And it's His grace.
You cannot change by yourself,
but with Confession it's God's hand that takes it all
and makes the impossible become possible in your life.
From that Holy Confession I will never forget...
Something new started in my heart and I could greet again, drop by drop, love from first my Mother Mary, from Jesus, from God, then from the others.
My relation to my father started anew as a grace through prayer
I could bless him again, I could pray for him and offer him to Jesus so that all the evil I had caused would be offered and only God could give consolation to my father and to me.
Oh holy grace of Confession!
I am stuck to it!
Mother Mary said "There is no heart who doesn't need to go to Confession once a month."
That is something.
Most times I will go without knowing exactly what I will say.
I pray before, I ask Mother Mary to help me.
I ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten my heart.
I have seen many priests, and how many times I have been told after confession:
"You don't need Confession." And I know in my heart that is wrong.
I bless the priest and pray he may understand the gift of Confession to my heart.
Going to Confession is like starting anew.
Going to Confession is offering to Jesus all that impedes His Love, all that impedes our hearts from love, all that becomes cold.
It sets us anew in the good direction.
I go to Confession because I am created to love my God and my Saviour, to live in His love. Can I say I daily live out of His grace, that I am a reflection of His beauty, His love and mercy? Can I say I am fully full of his love and mercy?
Confession is not only for very big sins, it's for our daily lives.
I have never committed a murder or adultery,
but with my thoughts, with my own will, how many times have I, a poor sinner,
killed a relation, killed a hope, destroyed a good word or anything else...
Confession is for ordinary people, Confession is for poor people.
Confession is for me because I know how much God loves me and how much I am far from reflecting His love and from trusting Him.
I give thanks to Mother Mary for this beautiful message.
I give thanks to Jesus for His love and mercy Who can heal and save our poor hearts.
And I pray that shy hearts will find the courage to go to Confession, led by our so loving Mother.
Jesus I trust in you!
In French, thank you is said "MERCI" and in English there is the word "MERCY"...
those words MERCI AND MERCY are the most beautiful words in the heart!
Yes... MERCI OUR ABBA FATHER FOR YOUR MERCY!
Praying with you, dear Cathy and Denis,
Marie.
The sweetness of the grace of Confession flows from Marie's words. May we all fall in love with the God who has given us Confession. He is truly a loving God!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
WINGS -- EWTN e-newsletter - 'Christ Comes in History, Mystery & Majesty:' Reflections on Advent with His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan
'Christ Comes in History, Mystery & Majesty:' Reflections on Advent with His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan
By Michelle Laque JohnsonNew York Cardinal Timothy Dolan's Advent reflections have proved to be so popular with viewers that we asked him to provide us with some all-new reflections for Advent 2012. "Christ Comes in History, Mystery & Majesty" will debut on EWTN beginning 9 p.m. ET, Sunday, Dec. 2 with an encore at 5:30 p.m. ET, Friday, Dec. 7. (It is also available for purchase from EWTN Religious Catalogue at http://bit.ly/Tuwpfg.) There are four half-hour episodes in all to correspond with the four weeks of Advent. You'll want to ponder these reflections in your heart as you seek to deepen your prayer life during this "Year of Faith." Here's what you can expect:
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- Part I: Cardinal Dolan reflects on the COMING of the Messiah. We've been waiting for four centuries for Christ's return. Now, in four weeks, the Church helps us to become conscious of this longing which can't help but be in all of our hearts when we truly seek to understand the God for whom we are waiting.
Part 2: Cardinal Dolan reflects on the MYSTERY of Christ and how the Son of God comes to be reborn in you and me every day -- despite the world's failure to recognize Him. (Airs 9 p.m. ET, Sunday, Dec. 9 and 5:30 p.m. ET, Friday, Dec. 14.)
.... Read More
via ewtn.com
Prayer of Consecration to the Divine Will
Tribulation Times
NOTEWORTHY: November 28, 2012 LINK: Prayer of Consecration to the Divine Will FROM THE MAILBAG Please click on this link for communication for details. BOOK EXCERPT: Chastisements, Purges, Destruction - and a Remedy VIA Rev. Joseph Leo Iannuzzi: 
VIA Frank Rega: His Eminence Archbishop Pichierri, who is responsible for Luisa Piccarreta's cause, rejects the claim that there are doctrinal errors in her writings. Further, not only is it not prohibited to spread the knowledge of her life and of her writings, but it is desirable to do so. 
Hello friends, As many of you know, yesterday at the Vatican Pontifical University, and for the first time, a doctoral dissertation on the collected writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta was successfully defended and approved unanimously. This marks the beginning of a beautiful chapter in the annals of the Church. It is noteworthy that this work will be published and distributed far and wide.
To those who have supported this undertaking that took no less than 10 years of assiduous study and consultation with the very best Vatican professors of dogmatic and mystical theology, your prayers and sacrifices near and far have made this all possible. As for the doctoral defense of Rome, in all honesty, it could not have gone better. In attendance were several monks and the rector of the college in Rome where I live, university dottorandi, as well friends from Rome. After a 1 hour and 40 minute doctoral presentation that included questions from Vatican professors of various disciplines on the doctrines in Luisa's "original text" and the doctrines of Tradition and the Magisterium, the professors asked all to kindly exit the aula so that the professors might deliberation and come to an official verdict. After a few minutes, the president of the theological team of Vatican professors invited back into the aula those in attendance. The Vatican professors then pronounced their unanimously approval my dissertation on the collected writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, and conferred upon me the title, "Sacrae Theologiae Doctor", which reads in English, "Doctor of Sacred Theology" (S.T.D.).
To my unawares, the entire defense of my doctoral dissertation was recorded and photographed by one of the monks, who informed so after the defense. I am in the process of obtaining this recording. I wish to emphasize that this dissertation is not my effort only, but that of all those who through their prayers and support have assisted in this undertaking for the greater glory of God. Having said this, I wish to share with those of you who have indeed contributed to this dissertation the following, as it is an applause not to my, but to all of you. During the defense, one of the Vatican professors applauded what was referred to as, my "courageous effort in the daunting task of having translated in this dissertation into English Luisa's works even before the critical edition has come out", and for having "successfully demonstrated a link between Luisa's writings on the early ecumenical councils, and patristic and scholastic theology". May God bless you and may the Holy Spirit breathe forth upon this generation the gift of Living in the Divine Will, for the time of the reign of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat is upon us all.
In Domino, + Rev. Joseph Leo Iannuzzi
Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of God
29. Love Him with all your strength, think always of Him, let Him do with you, in you and for you, whatever He wills, and do not be anxious about anything else.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
[Video] Our Country
[Video] SPEAKING ABOUT GOD IN OUR TIMES
Vatican City, 28 November 2012 (VIS) - "How do we speak to God in our times? How can we communicate the Gospel to open the way to its salvific truth?" The Holy Father offered an answer to these questions in his catechesis during today's general audience, held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall.
"In Jesus of Nazareth", the Pope said, "we encounter the face of God, descended from Heaven to immerse Himself in the world of mankind and to teach 'the art of living', the road to happiness; to free us from sin and to make us true children of God".
He continued, "speaking about God means, first and foremost, being clear about what we must bring to the men and women of our time. God has spoken to us, … not an abstract or hypothetical God, but a real God, a God Who exists, Who entered history and remains present in history: the God of Jesus Christ ... as a response to the fundamental question of why and how to live. Therefore, speaking about God requires a continual growth in faith, familiarity with Jesus and His Gospel, a profound knowledge of God and strong passion for His plan for salvation, without giving in to the temptations of success. … We must not fear the humility of taking small steps, trusting in the leaven that makes the dough rise slowly and mysteriously. In speaking about God, in the work of evangelisation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must return to the simplicity and essential nature of proclamation: the concrete Good News of God Who cares about us, the love of God which Jesus Christ brought close to us, even unto the Cross, and which in the Resurrection opens us to life without end, to eternal life".
The Pope explained that for St. Paul, communicating the faith did not mean "showing himself, but rather saying openly and publicly what he had seen and heard in his encounter with Christ, and how much his life had been transformed by that encounter. … The Apostle was not satisfied with merely proclaiming the words, but committed his entire existence to the great work of faith. … To speak about God, we must make space for Him, confident that He acts upon our weakness. We must make space for Him without fear, with simplicity and joy, in the profound conviction that the more we place Him - and not ourselves - at the centre of our lives, the more fruitful our communication will be. ... This also holds true for Christian communities. They are called to communicate the transforming action of God's grace, overcoming individualism, closure, selfishness and indifference, bringing the love of God to daily relationships. We must must act to ensure ... we always announce Christ, not ourselves".
"At this point", the Holy Father continued, we must ask ourselves "how Jesus Christ Himself communicated. Jesus … spoke about His Father (Whom He called 'Abba') and about the Kingdom of God, looking with compassion on the discomforts and difficulties of human existence. … From the Gospel we see how Jesus was interested in every human situation He encountered, He immersed Himself in the lives of the men and women of His time, with complete trust in the help of the Father. … In Him, proclamation and life were entwined: Jesus acted and taught, always taking as a starting point His intimate relationship with God the Father. This approach gives fundamental indications to Christians: living in faith and charity is a way of speaking about God in our times, because it demonstrates the credibility of what we say in words through a life lived in Christ. We must take care to grasp the signs of our times, and thereby to identify the potential, the desires and the obstacles we encounter in contemporary culture, in particular the desire for authenticity, the yearning for transcendence, the sensibility for protecting creation. And we must communicate without fear the answer offered by faith in God".
"Speaking about God, therefore, means enabling others to understand through words and acts that God is not a competitor in our existence but rather its true guarantor, the guarantor of the greatness of the human person. Thus we return to the beginning: speaking about God means communicating, with power and simplicity, through words and the life we lead, that which is essential: the God of Jesus Christ, the God Who showed us a love so great that He took on human flesh, died and rose again for us; the God Who asks us to follow Him and to allow ourselves to be transformed by His immense love in order to renew our lives and our relationships; the God Who gave us the Church, to allow us to journey together and, through the Word and the Sacraments, to renew the entire City of Man so that it might become the City of God", concluded the Pope.
Mary TV daily Reflection 11/28/2012
(c)Mary TV 2012
Holy Confession!
+
J.M.J.
November 28, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! In this time of grace, I call all of you to renew prayer. Open yourselves to Holy Confession so that each of you may accept my call with the whole heart. I am with you and I protect you from the ruin of sin, but you must open yourselves to the way of conversion and holiness, that your heart may burn out of love for God. Give Him time and He will give Himself to you and thus, in the will of God you will discover the love and the joy of living. Thank you for having responded to my call." (November 25, 2012)
"Open yourselves to Holy Confession..." This seems to be the challenge for many of us, opening ourselves to Confession. It is the Sacrament that challenges us to holiness, that asks us to reveal our inner selves to the priest and be vulnerable to his scrutiny. Not an easy thing to approach. I received a very honest response to my reflection yesterday from our friend, Olga, from Moscow. She shares about the process she went through in opening herself to Confession, a process made difficult because she lives in post-communist Russia, where the Church is still recovering. She is a hero to me!!
Dear Cathy, thank you for your reflection today. And I thank Our Lady for talking about Holy Confession in Her message! I can relate to many things that you talked about in your reflection... But maybe I can understand those who struggle and have difficulty going to Confession, because I have been struggling myself for many years. I didn't know how to approach this sacrament... I would confess maybe once a year, at best. The Lord in His Mercy bore with me all this time, because He knew I was searching for Him in earnest, but in the desert, too... So I can understand those who wander and struggle. I had no Catechism, and that's one of the reasons I couldn't confess properly.
I simply didn't know the Ten Commandments! Of course I read them in the Bible... but I didn't know how to live them. No one told me I wasn't supposed to miss Liturgy on Sunday, no one told me about having regular Confession and Holy Communion. I was just baptized ... and I know a great many people in Russia are like that, strange though (to say the least) it may sound. Many people believe that to be baptized and to light a candle now and then in some church is enough, and they are quite unsuspecting there is something else to being an Orthodox. They simply don't know... no one told them, no one taught them...
Well after many years journeying in the desert Our Lord and Lady brought me Home... The Lord showed me this Home from the very beginning - His Heart, the Holy Eucharist, but it did take me many years to comprehend it! And even when I was receiving Holy Communion, I still was struggling with confession... I wanted to approach it as a sacrament, but I didn't know how, and no one seemed to be able to explain it to me, to answer my questions and clear my doubts. For several years I was struggling... I thank the Lord for sparing me and being so patient with me. In the end, I just went to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and said: "Lord, I know this is what You want, it is Your desire that I go to confession. You instituted this Sacrament, I want to obey You. Please teach me to obey you! I know of no priest that would need all my burdens... maybe there is one, I'm just blind and don't see. But can a human being Love with Your Heart? Forgive - with Your Heart? Is it not too much to ask of a mere human being? So I'm not asking for a confessor who would be Your image, I'm only asking: please teach me to obey you, please teach me to confess to a priest." ... And the Lord taught me! I can't explain it, but I felt Him say in my heart (these are not the exact words, but the meaning): "You just tell the priest everything you tell me, trust him the way you trust Me, whatever we discuss, you and I, whatever I show you in your soul - just go and tell the priest." And that completely solved my problem!
Since that time, I wouldn't even look what priest there was in the confessional, I'd just go... but first I prepare, I spend much time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. And it is often that after Adoration I need to go to Confession... because the Lord shows me, "slowly slowly", what I hadn't been aware of... We confess just what we see, but the Lord sees much more, although He does forgive ALL of it. I know I need to see His Heart to see the spots in my heart... because good confession is always a Grace. And I always ask Our Lady to intercede for me and help me, because Her Heart is so united with the Heart of Her Divine Son. And I pray for the priest who will receive my confession, always... because we are all very frail, but the priests have such a Cross to carry... and that is for my sins, too. And I also know that if I pray for the priest, the Holy Spirit will work in him and speak through him... and will open my ears, too!
I know that for many it is such a sore subject, going to Confession. And like me... maybe they are struggling in the desert, feeling the lack of fatherhood - the lack of fatherly love... Of course we NEVER lack the Love of our Heavenly Father, but we need our priests to EXPERIENCE this Love. This is the way the Lord Himself instituted it, this was His Desire. It was on the same day that He instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood, sharing this way His Heart with us... making Himself into a Sacrifice for us. So we are kind of invited to receive our priest into our hearts the same way we receive Jesus in the Eucharist... which, I know, is not easy... indeed, it's something we cannot humanly do... but with Jesus, united with His Sacred Heart, we can do everything... just like Our Lady promised on June 2, 2012. We can forgive the lack of fatherhood, whatever hurts we received even in the Church... and experience the Love of our Father, and His Mercy and Forgiveness in the sacrament of Confession!
Always with you, sailing the digital sea!
LOVE
Olga
in Moscow
Thank you, Olga, for sharing with us. Many of us can identify with your journey towards confession. Many of us still struggle with the Sacrament, trying to open to it. But Our Lady tells us: "this is a time of grace." The grace is there for us to open ourselves to Confession, if we ask for it, just as you asked for it when you were with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I think you have taught us a great deal. If we go to Jesus in the Tabernacle, and talk to Him about our confession, He will help us prepare and tell us what to say. He wants us to receive the graces He has prepared for us so much!! He will help us.
So, let's give it a try, renew our efforts! Jesus waits for us in the confessional! He waits to heal us!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Princes of the Church. But with a Crucified King
With cardinals old and new, Benedict XVI is very demanding. A statistical analysis of the sacred college. At a comparison, country by country, with the number of priests and faithful. A prediction about future appointments
by Sandro Magister
ROME, November 27, 2012 – With the six new non-Italian and non-European cardinals he created at the last consistory, Benedict XVI intended to give evidence of the universality of the Church. A Church – he has said – that "from its beginning is oriented 'kat'holon,' embracing the whole universe." Read this article here: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350373?eng=y
What Precious Graces [Video]
Mary TV Daily Reflection 11/27/2012
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(c)Mary TV 2012
Holy Confession!
+
J.M.J.
November 27, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! In this time of grace, I call all of you to renew prayer. Open yourselves to Holy Confession so that each of you may accept my call with the whole heart. I am with you and I protect you from the ruin of sin, but you must open yourselves to the way of conversion and holiness, that your heart may burn out of love for God. Give Him time and He will give Himself to you and thus, in the will of God you will discover the love and the joy of living. Thank you for having responded to my call." (November 25, 2012)
I must admit that Confession has been on my mind of late. I am aware of its central importance in the renewal and strengthening of the Church and for the evangelization of our societies today. And I don't mean that the un-evangelized need Confession. No it is we in the Church who need Confession. Confession will bring us back into the fullness of our faith, so that we will be good witnesses!
But Confession has been so neglected in the modern Church! It is the hidden, unmentioned Sacrament. What a pity it is that Confession has been diminished and set aside by so much of our Church. What a pity.
Caryll Houselander once recommended a book to a friend in a correspondence, a book on Confession, "Pardon and Peace" by Father Alfred Wilson C.P. She said it would help this person to go to Confession. So I hunted down the book and ordered it. It is out of print so I had to hunt! But what a book! I will begin quoting it today, as I feel it will help us all. It was published in 1947. But every word he writes applies to today! He argues that Confession is an incredible treasure that we Catholics should safeguard with great care, and he wonders why people shy away from Confession. He writes:
Jesus obliged us to confess our sins for our own sake rather than for His. He took the institution of Confession, which is a natural necessity, and safeguarded, facilitated and elevated it, raising it to the dignity of a Sacrament. He made the inevitably difficult task of confession as easy as it possibly could be made. We confess in secret, to any priest we choose; if we like, to one who does not know us and will probably never see us again. We confess in secret to a man who is bound to secrecy. We confess, moreover, to a man who is trained, not merely to listen with tenderness and sympathy, but to instruct, advise and heal.
In the Sacrament of Penance, Christ Himself is the real priest. There, in His capacity of Divine Physician, He forgives sin, pours grace into our souls, removes the traces of past sins, and gives us a title to actual graces in future difficulties.
Confession is simply a Hospital of Souls, where the Good Samaritan, through the instrumentality of priests, goes about binding up wounds and pouring in oil and wine: a hospital where the Divine Physician displays His healing art. Object to such a Sacrament as too fantastically good to be true, but please don't object to it as a bugbear.
I don't think the majority of Catholics realize how much they owe to the Sacrament of Penance. One of the greatest of Viennese psychologists, a man bitterly anti-Catholic, had the honesty to admit that, among his cases of serious psychological disorder, he had never had a genuinely practicing Catholic. (Father Alfred Wilson, C.P. "Pardon and Peace". Sheed and Ward, 1947. P. 20-21)
Our Lady tells us to go to Confession "so that each of you may accept my call with the whole heart." Her entire plan in Medjugorje requires whole hearts. We can't have divided, haunted, unresolved hearts and serve Our Lady at the same time. Divided hearts are open to the enemy. Haunted hearts have memories that have not been put to rest and distract us from doing the good in the present. Unresolved hearts need to walk to road of forgiveness and healing that Confession provides, so that they can be fully alive again. This is all the work of Confession. We need whole hearts, and Jesus wants to give them to us. He wants to heal our hearts.
What a joy it is to walk out of the Confessional, healed and whole! Who would not desire it?
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
[Video] His Empire
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