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December 31, 2015

A Meditation for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God--The Whole World Awaits Mary's Reply

The angel awaits an answer; 
it is time for him to return 
to God who sent him.


You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.

The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life.



Tearful Adam with his sorrowing
 family begs this of you,  

O loving Virgin,in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet.




It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.




Why do you delay,why are you afraid? 
Believe, give praise, 
and receive the eternal Word

Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.
 
Modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is necessary

Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous.Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. 



Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving.


  
Behold the handmaid of the Lord,  Be it done to me according to your word.

From a homily in Praise of the Virgin by      St. Bernard of Clairvaux. It  is in the Office of Readings for December 20, the fourth week of Advent.


November 13, 2015

At Fatima Heaven makes number 13 a number for Hope!

At Fatima Heaven Reclaims
number 13 from pagan
worship to sacred number!

The earliest reference I found to thirteen being unlucky or evil is from the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (circa 1780 B.C.E.), where the thirteenth law is omitted although some translations contain a thirteenth law. The number 13 was always associated with bad luck. With similar folkloric aspects of the number 13 noted in various cultures around the world. Most stemming from pagan worship. I tried to find out the reason why and discovered that numbers 13 and 21 were significant to witches and occult numerology for numerous reasons. This is not the purpose of this post to detail it here. One can also do a search and come up with a lot of pagan and occult material in reference to the number.

However it is interesting to note that the fear of the number 13 is so prevalent it has been given its own name: Triskaidekaphobia (from Greek tris meaning "3," kai meaning "and," and deka meaning "10") fear of the number 13; it is a superstition and related to a specific fear of Friday the 13th.


The history of the modern fear of the number 13 likely originated in France in the 1300’s and was spread all over the world by French immigrants, who heard of the events in Paris concerning the banishment, arresting and outlawing of all Knights Templar on Friday the 13th of October, in the year 1307.

A three fold curse was given by the last grand knight, who was finally executed on Friday the 13th of March, 1314. As he died he cursed Pope Clemence V, the King of France, Philip IV, and the Prime Minister to the 13th generation. The Parisians thought that this prediction was also valid for them and therefore the fear for number 13 and Friday the 13th started to expand out over the world.

Another interesting connection in the occult concerns the Tarot Card. The 13th Tarot card is the card of Death and is pictured as a skeleton (the symbol of death) with a scythe reaping down men. This image later became known as “The Grim Reaper” I also discovered that the lluminati has also adopted 13 as a sacred number. Other references have to do with numerology and would take up to much space to detail it here.


I wish to briefly mention that over time as Christianity spread the knowledge of the black arts was thankfully forgotten but the fear of the number 13 stayed in man’s consciousness without them realizing why. Friday the 13th was considered an unlucky day because Friday was the day of the Lords death and there were thirteen participants at the Last Supper. Tradition states that Judas Iscariot the disciple, who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table.

With the resurgence of pagan religions witchcraft and satanic rituals in our culture. Heaven is telling us that God will have the the final say. Our Lord promised Peter "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her" It doesn't mean that there will not be an attempt they will but they will not prevail. He will turn the tables on Satan and his deceptive minions through the Woman Clothed in the Sun with the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars.


I believe this is why that God choose to send his Mother on the 13th day of each month at Fatima. This event in Divine Providence of the Fatim a Message delivers a Message of hope. Our Lady will conquer the entire pagan Goddess Worship the devil spewed out when he realized God was going to use a Woman to defeat him. How about it the number 13 for 1 God in 3 divine persons? God  will purify and reclaim number 13 as a sacred number through Our Lady of Fatima.

Let us also remeber that the star on Our Lady of Fatima's dress was a symbol identifying Our Lady as Esther in the book of Esther. This also has a significant message for our time in reflecting on what God is speaking to us in Divine providence in light of this book in the bible. 

It was on the 13th day of the 12th month that the Jews were to be destroyed and Queen Esther was instrumental in having the King rescind the verdict saving the Jews from annihilation. I believe Our Lady will do this for us today if we join our prayers and fastings. She will intervene with God to prevent our destruction. The gates of Hell will not prevail. 

As if to seal this message the last Fatima visionary was called home on the 13th day of February.  It was not a coincidence the timing of the death of Lucia. This act of Divine providence is a Message from the finger of God writing on the wall  in the providential events. Are we listening? Can we comprhend the writing on the wall and act while there is still time? 

"Pray the Rosary everyday to obtain peace for the world" Our Lady at Fatima

Wear the brown Scapular as a sign of your consecration to her. 

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary. Never was it known that anyone imploring your help and sought your intercession was left unaided.

November 6, 2015

Preparing for Christ--Remember your last end--Death Judgement!

Preparing for the Coming of Christ!
 “Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.”


November is the Month dedicated to the Poor Souls and signifies the approach of Advent the Liturgical Season given to us by the church to remind us once more of our need for repentance and spiritual conversion. 
Advent was given to us by the church not only to prepare us for the anniversary of the birth of Jesus on Christmas but also, Advent is a time for reflection on the coming of the Lord at the end of our lives and his final coming  in glory at the end of time! Modern man is frantically running from the reality of his own death. Poor simple man is tempted to believe he is something that he is not before his peers and even before God! Advent is time to stop and take stock of who God is and who we are as we stand before him.
Modern Man is Frantically 
Running From The Ultimate 
Reality of His Own Death!

Hieronymus Bosch  “Death of a sinner”, angel and devil weigh a mans soul
      
Busy, modern man is so busy today. Man is so frantically busy, trying to control his own personal destiny and good fortune. In the process he unwittingly makes today's technological advances his God and, in extreme cases, the computer screen has become his tabernacle. The hours he spends looking at the world through the lens of the computer screen. Man is looking for a window to solve his thirst for knowledge. Often a knowledge without God in the picture. The knowledge acquired through the computer is  ultimately only  a knowledge of finite earthly things. Man is still thirsty afterwards. The computer cannot quench the thirst for the knowledge of infinite heavenly realities, but only leaves man thirsting more. Thirsting for answers only God can give.  Having this unlimited source of knowledge at his finger tips man is deceived into believing he is in control of all the images (visions) from the depths of the ocean to the outer reaches of the universe available to him. 

Today's Great Lie and
the serpents deception

 "The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.…Genesis 3:4-6



With this instant knowledge available to men of this age from the computer of good and evil.  Man is tempted once more as in the garden of Eden.  He believes he can finally solve and ultimately control all the mysteries of the universe without God.  Even the spiritual mysteries  of life and death!  This is the Great Lie once again proposed to man from the first original sin in the Garden when Adam ate the fruit from the tree of life!  



The technology depending on how man uses it can become the ultimate deception wrapped up  packaged by the devil and given to men of this age!  Poor simple man he  is once more tempted to believe he is something that he is not before his peers and even before God!
  Technology muffles the voice of conscience
Another victory of the devil that technology has brought us! Men no longer hear the voice of conscience! With all the noise, seductions  and distractions around us Technology muffles the voice of conscience. Without  a conscience man no longer can hear the truth about himself and the truth about God. I fear if we persist down this slippery slope God will allow us to have faith in whatever it is we put faith in.  If we don't turn back to  God in prayer, he may (if he has not already) send the strong delusion described in, Thessalonians 2:11. 


In other words a time may come that God will not permit the deluded to repent. Hence this little catechesis on the 4 last things: Death, Judgment, Heaven or Hell and reality of purgatory as mentioned by the events of Fatima. 

Michelangelo's- The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel

 
Fatima and the Four Last Things
DEATH, JUDGEMENT - HEAVEN OR HELL

One of the best meditations on Death is the Dies Irae a meditation on the Last Judgment, when Christ will come again in glory, no longer granting mercy, but as the Just Judge who will separate the just from the wicked, casting the latter into eternal fire, and welcoming the former to eternal bliss. The hymn closes with a supplication for mercy before the coming of that terrible day.

The video below is Mozart's Rendition of Dies Irea and it is a powerful piece making one tremble at the coming Judgment. the Day of Wrath.  The Gregorian Chant of Dies Irea   on the other hand, is more somber and reflective giving one hope in God's Mercy at that final hour of our own death or his second coming.  This is chanted during Funeral Masses in the Extraordinary form in the Tridentine Mass! Makes one hope to be buried with that Mass and those prayers to follow you into eternity.

Day of wrath, day that will dissolve the world into burning coals, as David bore witness with the Sibyl. How great a tremor is to be, when the judge is to come briskly shattering every grave. A trumpet sounding an astonishing sound through the tombs of the region drives all men before the throne. Death will be stunned and so will Nature, when arises  man the creature responding to the One judging. The written book will be brought forth, in which the record of evidence is contained whence the world is to be judged. Therefore when the Judge shall sit, whatever lay hidden will appear; nothing unavenged will remain.

 O Thou, God of Majesty, nourishing brilliance of the Trinity,  join us with the Blessed.  What am I the wretch then to say? what patron I to beseech? when scarcely the just man be secure. King of tremendous Majesty, who saves those-to-be-saved free, save me, Fount of piety.
Remember, faithful Jesus, because I am the cause of your journey: do not lose me on that day.


Thou has sat down as one wearied seeking me, Thou has redeemed me having suffered the Cross: so much labor let it not be lost. Just judge of the avenging-punishment, work the gift of the remission of sins before the Day of the Reckoning. I groan, as the accused: my face grows red from my fault: spare this supplicant, O God.O Thou, God of Majesty, nourishing brilliance of the Trinity, join us with the Blessed.Thou who forgave Mary the sinful woman, and favorably heard the good thief, hast also given me hope.  My prayers are not worthy, but do Thou, Good God, deal kindly lest I burn in perennial fire.

Among the sheep offer me a place and from the goats sequester me, placing me at Thy right hand. After the accursed have been silenced, given up to the bitter flames, call me with the blest. Kneeling and bowed down I pray, My heart contrite as ashes: Do Thou  care for my end

That sorrowful day, on which will arise from the burning coals Man accused to be judged therefore, O God, do Thou spare him. Faithful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. Amen. O Thou, God of Majesty, nourishing brilliance of the Trinity, join us with the Blessed. Amen

      At Fatima a Vision of Hell
The Ultimate Justice of God
For Unrepentant Sinners


Our Lady of Fatima did not ask the permission of the parents of Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia before showing them the vision of hell. Remember that Jacinta was barely six years old!  This reminds us that children do not belong to their parents they are only entrusted to them by God. God expects parents to instruct and form them in His ways; to know love and serve Him so that they will have the opportunity to be happy with Him forever in Heaven!  Thus the outrage of abortion. Destroying God's creation in your child that was given to you in order to reflect His image in the world.


The reality of Hell should be taught to children using the same methods our Lady used at Fatima the Model Catechist.  Appealing to their generous hearts by teaching them to help save others from going there. Having this knowledge they will be able tomake the right choices to save themselves from going there as well. Our Lady in showing young children a vision of Hell lead us to understand that children can also go there! Children can and do commit grave sins, even murder. They  have the natural law impressed on their souls so they know right from wrong.  However, we should never under estimate a childs capacity to do good and for self sacrifice. Our Lady at Fatima also showed us how great the heart of a child can become when properly formed! Even to heights of heroic sanctity.

The children saw countless numbers of people who were endlessly falling into the fiery flames.  Our Lady sadly looked upon them as she said "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” And then she told them the secrets of Fatima that are connected with this vision. Material for another post someday.
The Vision of Hell
In the third apparition of July the children were given a vision of hell the ultimate Justice of God for unrepentant sinners. Our Lady pointed to the earth and the light from her hands the light from her hands penetrated the earth and opened the ground so that the children could peer into the depths and could see hell. Lucia describes  it for us: "As our Lady spoke she opened Her hands once more, as She had done during the two previous months. The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were an ocean of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me.) The demons could be distinguished (from the souls of the damned) by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent.This vision lasted only a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother who,  at the first apparition, had promised to take us to Heaven. Without this promise, I think we would have died of fright.

The reality eternity was already impressed on this young mind and the possibility of some souls spending an eternity in hell! This thought impressed Jacinta the most. She often called Lucia and Francisco she would ask: "Are you praying with me? It is necessary to pray much to save souls from hell! How sorry I am for sinners who go there and burn forever like wood in a fire! If I could only show them hell so they would not go there!"  Even after she was taken sick, she would get out of bed to bow her head to the floor, and pray as the Angel had taught for the glory of God, and in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended in the tabernacles throughout the world and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Photo taken after the Vision of Hell note the anxious expressions

Many years later Lucia said she believed that most people go to Hell because of sins of the flesh. If souls can be condemned to hell because of one unrepentant mortal sin for all eternity is it not to be understood that other souls could be detained for long years in purgatory who have committed countless deliberate venial sins for which they have had little sorrow and had done little or no penance. The guilt that has been remitted by absolution, but the temporal punishment will have to be paid in purgatory.




 Scriptures say someday 
God Will Send 
A Strong Delusion
I feel it is here in our day!

I wonder if the scriptures of 2Thessalonians2:9-12 is in the beginnings if not already being actualized today! 9The coming of the lawless one with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

We are spending  more and more time involved in this technology to do what we think are great things! What was supposed to save time for human relationships has become a time consumer. Often we no longer have time for true prayer.  A prayer that enables an openness of soul to God a readiness and receptivity in order to be always praying, (Luke 18:1) and always listening to hear his voice when he whispers to our souls in the silence.  We have lost this form of prayer because there is no longer silence for modern man our ears are plugged into something all day! 



The Message of Fatima confirmed  
the Reality of Purgatory
God’s Mercy vs. God’s Perfect Justice

Why not say the 5 last things 
and include Purgatory?
Purgatory is only temporary end before the final end in Heaven so it is not considered to be one of the last things. However Purgatory is such an important dogma of the church. Incredibly so many Catholics are ignorant of Purgatory so do nothing to avoid it themselves and little or nothing to help the Poor Souls who are there, suffering intensely, as they wait for Masses and prayers to be offered for them. That is why Our Lady brought up the reality of Heaven and Purgatory in her first appearance to the children. Only after strengthening them with the graces given in both the May and June apparitions did the children experience another reality of a place called hell. 

The painting below of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, the 'Throne of Mercy' and 'Queen of the Angels', who takes great delight in sending her Angels to release those Souls mercifully pardoned by her Son Jesus through the prayers and supplications of the church!

This painting is similar of Our Lady in Lucia's Parish Church!
This was how Lucia recognized that it was Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
who also appeared during the Miracle of the Sun in October

During Our Lady's First Visit to Fatima in May Lucia–the oldest of the three, after being reassured by Our Lady that they would all one day go to Heaven. Jacinta and Francisco would go soon and she would go but not right away because it was the will of God that she help promote the devotion to her Immaculate Heart to save poor sinners. Lucia found the courage and asked Our Lady about two of her friends who recently died: "Is Maria das Neves is in Heaven?" "Yes" answered Our Lady, "she is in Heaven."  She also asked about another friend, Amelia. Our Lady answered: "She will be in Purgatory until the end of the world."






Amelia's Fate is a 
Warning for All of Us!

Amelia was eighteen years old when she died. She is in Purgatory and will, on the testimony of Our Blessed Mother, stay there until the end of time.  Let us take to heart and make certain that her fate will not be our own. What could she have done to merit such purgation in those days and what about us and the sins committed in our era?

Why such a lengthy expiation?

The malice of sin is great. What we think are small faults are in reality serious offenses against the infinite goodness of God. Look how the saints wept over their smallest faults. We are weak we say and it is true but God is always there for us offering us graces to strengthen us and giving us lights to see the gravity of our sins. We do not use the lights and graces he so generously offers us, and we do not receive the sacraments as we should.

The saints committed few and slight sins they sorrowed much over them and did severe penances. We commit many and grave sins and we sorrow little and do little or no penance. For the majority of us who do make the positive decision to serve God and are not yet properly prepared (humble enough) to enter Heaven, the only choice is to make the transition to goodness in Purgatory. Our Lord tells us that we shall have to render an account for each and every idle word we say (Matthew12:36 ) and that we may not leave our prison until we shall have paid the last farthing. (Matthew 5:26).


All Venial Sins
Must also be Atoned for!

All sins mortal and venial accumulated for 20, 40, or 60 years of life. Each one has to be atoned for after death. Is it a wonder that souls have to remain so long in purgatory? It cannot be calculated the immense number of venial sins we commit on a daily basis. Faults of self love, selfishness; in thoughts words and deeds.  Acts of sensuality, faults of charity; laziness, vanity, jealousy, tepidity.  Then the sins of omission that we give no credence too. Do we ever thank God as we should for all his blessings given to us?  He waits for our visits day and night in the tabernacle; do we go? He dies for us every morning at Mass and gives innumerable graces to those who participate longing to come into our hearts in Holy Communion. We are too lazy to attend this Calvary. We have luxurious homes, food, clothing while many in the world live in hunger and misery.  Life is given to serve God and save our souls but we are satisfied if we give God five minutes of prayer in the morning and evening and the rest of the 24 hour day is given to work, rest and pleasures.  

And Mortal Sins?

Unfortunately, Most of us have committed mortal sins in our lives and if we confess them we do not make satisfaction for them. Do we return what we have stolen or make charitable contributions to the poor if we cannot. Did we restore the good name of the other who we maligned with our slander or calumny? The tongue can murder another as well as a gun or knife and change the direction of the life of someone for good or ill! St. Gertrude in her revelations indicated that those who have committed many grave sins and have not done due penance, may not share in the ordinary suffrage's of the church for a very considerable time! The venerable Bede also indicated that the justice of God may demand that those who pass a great part of their lives in repeated and unrepentant mortal sins and confess them on their death bed, may be detained in purgatory until even the last day.

We would do well to remember that the best means of lessening our term in Purgatory -- or of avoiding it altogether -- is to have clear ideas of it, to think well and often on it and to adopt the means God offers for avoiding it.   Not to think of it is FATAL. It is nothing else than preparing for ourselves a long and rigorous Purgatory!



The servant of God Fr. John Anthony Hardon, S.J. said many times: “Only the very chaste and very humble shall enter Heaven; No one else! No one else! No one else!”

    Jesus Meek and Humble of Heart
    Make Our Hearts Like Unto Thine!

Fr. Hardon and the Catholic Dogma of Purgatory                     
                  
Further Meditations on the Four Last things

 Divine Providence brought a little booklet titled READ ME or RUE IT  by Fr. Paul O'Sullivn,O.P.  The cover promised that the pamphlet would be a Revelation for many who would read it and it was for me.  I paraphrased portions from this booklet within this post. I also want to mention the Classic Meditations on the Four Last things: DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL and HEAVEN by Fr. Martin Von Cochem O.S.F.C.  whose quote is one of the titles of this post and will be an valuable source for further meditations. Links for both booklets can be found at the end of this post.

READ ME or RUE IT  by Fr. Paul O'Sullivn,O.P.

Classic Meditations on the Four Last things:
DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL and HEAVEN by Fr. Martin Von Cochem O.S.F.C.

 
This Post was submitted to Catholic Bloggers 2014 Advent link up


June 4, 2015

"Mane Nobiscum Dominum!" Stay with us Lord! Let Us give Thanks on Corpus Christi for our Greatest Treasure!




St. John Paul II during a  Corpus Christi procession in Rome
St. John Paul II often spoke of the Eucharist calling it "the greatest treasure of the Catholic Church" Yet, sadly how few Catholics appreciate this great gift from God  becoming one with us our spiritual food and drink. Remaining in our midst until the end of time! 

Do you really understand  who is present in your tabernacle?




Let us take the time to Thank Our Lord for Remaining with us in the Eucharist. For all the graces and mercies he has bestowed on us in spite of our ingratitude. Thank him for the graces he has bestowed upon you.  Reflect on your life with Christ and see How he nourishes, teaches, strengthens, guides and protects us by uniting intimately with us in Holy Communion.  "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me" Philippians 4:13 



United to our Lord sacramentally in Holy Communion we can do all things. He is the the Bread of the strong. All things that are impossible become possible with God, who strengthens us! There is strength in such abundance, we are able to do everything God wants us to do.  If we TRUST! His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. With His grace "we can do all".  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

 "Mane Nobiscum Dominum!"

Let us like the disciples on the way to Emmaus plead with him to "Remain
with us Lord!"-- "Mane Nobiscum Dominum!" Lk 24:29

Eucharistic procession @ Fatima Shrine

"Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening". This was the insistent invitation that the two disciples journeying to Emmaus on the evening of the day of the resurrection addressed to the stranger who had accompanied them on their journey. Weighed down with sadness, they never imagined that this stranger was their  risen Lord . 
Yet they felt their hearts burning within them as he spoke to them and "explained" the Scriptures. The light of the Word unlocked the hardness of their hearts and "opened their eyes"  In the shadows of the passing day and the darkness that clouded their spirit, the Lord brought a ray of light which rekindled their hope and led their hearts to yearn for the fullness of light. "Stay with us", they pleaded. And he agreed. Soon afterwards, his face would disappear, yet he would "stay" with them,  as he does also for us hidden in the "breaking of the bread" which opened their hearts and ours to recognize him.
1. "Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening" (cf. Lk 24:29). This was the insistent invitation that the two disciples journeying to Emmaus on the evening of the day of the resurrection addressed to the Wayfarer who had accompanied them on their journey. Weighed down with sadness, they never imagined that this stranger was none other than their Master, risen from the dead. Yet they felt their hearts burning within them (cf. v. 32) as he spoke to them and "explained" the Scriptures. The light of the Word unlocked the hardness of their hearts and "opened their eyes" (cf. v. 31). Amid the shadows of the passing day and the darkness that clouded their spirit, the Wayfarer brought a ray of light which rekindled their hope and led their hearts to yearn for the fullness of light. "Stay with us", they pleaded. And he agreed. Soon afterwards, Jesus' face would disappear, yet the Master would "stay" with them, hidden in the "breaking of the bread" which had opened their eyes to recognize him. - See more at: http://www.adoremus.org/ManeNobiscumDomine.html#sthash.N66tELEg.dpuf



"Man carries within himself another hunger, a hunger that cannot be satisfied with ordinary food."

 From Pope Francis' Corpus Christi Homily 2014


It is hunger for life, hunger for love, and hunger for eternity. And the sign of the manna – as the whole experience of the Exodus – contained this dimension also in itself: it was the figure of a food that satisfies this profound hunger that man has. Jesus gives us this food, in fact, He himself is the living bread that gives life to the world (cf. John 6:51). 

If we look around us, we realize that there are so many offers of food that do not come from the Lord and which seem to satisfy more. Some nourish themselves with money, others with success and vanity, others with power and pride. However, the food that really nourishes us and satiates us is only that which the Lord gives us! Then we dream of other meals, as the Jews did in the desert, who mourned for the meat and the onions they ate in Egypt, but they forgot that they ate these meals at the table of slavery. In that moment of temptation, they remembered, but their memory was sick, it was a selective memory – a slave memory, not free.

Today, each one of us can ask himself: and I? Where do I want to eat? At what table do I want to nourish myself? At the Lord’s table? Or do I dream of eating tasty foods, but in slavery?  That of the Lord who saves me, or that of the garlic and onions of slavery?   Read more

St. John Paul II & Sr. Lucia

St  John Paul gives Communion to Sr. Lucia
The truth of our union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is tested by whether or not we really love our fellow men and women; it is tested by how we treat others, especially our families: husbands and wives, children and parents, brothers and sisters. It is tested by whether or not we try to be reconciled with our enemies, by whether or not we forgive those who hurt us or offend us. It is tested by whether we practice in life what our faith teaches us. We must always remember what Jesus said. "You are my friends if you do what I command you" Jn. 15:14. The Eucharist helps love to triumph in us--love over hatred, zeal over indifference!" St. John Paul II gave at Phoenix Park during his three-day visit to Ireland, from September 29 to October 1, 1979.

The Children of Fatima with

  The HIDDEN JESUS!

 
Angel gives Communion to shepherd children



The Children at Fatima often referred to Jesus in the Eucharist as the Hidden Jesus. Francisco knowing that he was going to die soon preferred to spend his school time praying to the “Hidden Jesus” in the Tabernacle.  His great concern was to console His sorrowing Lord and the Heart of His Mother.

Let us follow their example of loving prayer and sacrifice to console the Lord who has given us so many graces and helps on our journey to eternity. 





A Prayer of Adoration Love and 
Thanksgiving to the Hidden Jesus

The following prayer is a beautiful testimony of love and devotion to the Hidden Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The author is unknown to me at this time. I wanted to post this for Corpus Christi to share these beautiful thoughts of Our Humble  Hidden God in the Blessed Sacrament. If anyone recognizes the words and can identify the composer please do comment.

May these words prayed from loving hearts console our Hidden Lord and inflame our hearts to follow him wherever he goes! 


O JESUS, HIDDEN GOD,
I CRY TO THEE! O JESUS, HIDDEN LIGHT, I TURN TO THEE! O JESUS, HIDDEN LOVE, I RUN TO THEE! 

WITH ALL THE STRENGTH I HAVE I WORSHIP THEE! WITH ALL THE LOVE I HAVE I CLING TO THEE; 

WITH ALL MY SOUL, I LONG TO BE WITH THEE, AND FEAR NO MORE TO FAIL, OR FALL FROM THEE.



O JESUS DEATHLESS LOVE WHO SEEKEST ME,
THOU, WHO DIDST DIE FOR LONGING LOVE OF ME.
THOU, KING IN ALL THY BEAUTY COME TO ME,
AND GO NO MORE DEAR LORD AWAY FROM ME.

Eucharistic Adoration at Fatima



O GOD, MOST BEAUTIFUL,
MOST PRICELESS ONE; 
O GOD, MOST GLORIOUS,
UNCREATED ONE; O GOD, ETERNAL BEATIFIC ONE;
O GOD, O INFINITE 
AND HIDDEN ONE; 
O GOD IMMENSE, 
O GOD THE LIVING ONE.







THOU, WISDOM OF THE EVERLASTING ONE;
THOU, EVER LOVED, AND EVER LOVING ONE.
MAKE ME, O HOLY GOD THY TREASURED ONE;
MAKE ME, O GLORIOUS LOVE, THY PRECIOUS ONE;
MAKE ME, O HIGHEST GOOD, THY LONGING ONE;
MAKE ME, O BLESSED LIGHT, THY CHOSEN ONE;
MAKE ME, FOREVER MORE, THY LOVING ONE.



MY SOUL IS DARK, AWAY FROM THEE,MY OWN. MY EYES ARE DIM IN SEEKING THEE, MY OWN. 
MY FLESH DOTH PINE AWAY FROM THEE, MY OWN. 

MY HEART LEAPS UP WITH JOY TO THEE, MY OWN. MY SPIRIT FAINTS RECEIVING THEE MY OWN.




WHERE, IN THE HEIGHT OF HEAVEN, IS LIGHT LIKE THEE? WHERE, IN THE BREADTH OF HEAVEN, IS BLISS LIKE THEE? WHERE, IN THE DEPTH OF HEAVEN, IS PEACE LIKE THEE? WHERE, IN THE HOME OF LOVE, IS LOVE LIKE THEE?

Card. Ratzinger the next pope gives Holy Communion to St  John Paul II
WITH ALL MY HEART I GIVE MYSELF TO THEE;
AND WAITING WAIT, O KING AND SPOUSE FOR THEE;
TILL I AM ONE FOREVER MORE WITH THEE.

 O SWEETEST JESUS, BRING ME HOME TO THEE. FREE ME, O DEAREST GOD, FROM ALL BUT THEE, AND BREAK ALL CHAINS THAT KEEP ME BACK FROM THEE;




CALL ME O THRILLING LOVE, 
I FOLLOW THEE; THOU ART MY ALL, AND I HAVE NOUGHT FOR THEE.
 
O HIDDEN LOVE, WHO NOW ART LOVING ME.
O WOUNDED LOVE, WHO ONCE WAS DEAD FOR ME,
O SUN CROWNED LOVE, WHO ART ALIVE FOR ME.
O PATIENT LOVE, WHO WEARIEST NOT OF ME.
O BEAR WITH ME, TILL I AM LOST IN THEE.
O BEAR WITH ME, TILL I AM FOUND IN THEE.

 
Let us make reparation for those who no longer discern the Body and Blood of the Lord Our "Hidden Jesus" in the Most Blessed Sacrament!