Thought for the Day

What if every time we went to receive Holy Communion, instead of a half-hearted abstract love for Jesus, we actually felt an intense burning love for Him and a great desire to be united to Him, so much so that we actually felt our heart burning inside our chest? Can you imagine the graces and love we would receive in return?

This was my thought on Sunday immediately after I received Holy Communion; after I had gone up to receive with nothing more to offer than a tepid love.


"When you are to communicate, desire to have all the love which any soul has ever had for Me, and I will accept your love in proportion to the ardor with which you wish for it."- Jesus to Saint Mechtilde

Is the Sky Really Falling?

There have been so many earthquakes this past year. Is it more than normal, or are we seeing an increase? I can't help but think of the warnings in the Bible:

Mark 13:8
For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and famines. These things are the beginning of sorrows.

Thought for the Day

Just two quick thoughts for the day - these come from the priests at my parish: (they give the best sermons I have ever heard).

There is a demon attached to every sin.


Stop pursuing the perfect body, the perfect house, the perfect car and the perfect vacation, and start pursuing what really matters - perfection of the soul.

Poisoned by a purple dinosaur

Today it occurred to me that the new dogma of "everybody goes to heaven" is based on the religion of Barney. You know the song. "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family...it's reminiscent of what passes for a homily these days, isn't it?

So until we meet in heaven, let's all kiss and hug and sing along.

I've often wondered

At the end of our lives, when we die, we are judged by Jesus in the particluar judgment. I see many people who aren't very cognitive at the end of their lives. The may have dementia, be suffering from brain cancer, or they may be topped out on narcotics to relieve the pain from cancer. Either way their mental abilities are in these cases impaired.

Do you think, at that last moment, when they are about to face the judgment seat of God and the devil is trying to tempt them into hell, that God restores their cognitive functions so that they can better protect themselves and prepare their souls for their eternal destination?

Sanctifying your Sunday - how do you do it?

How much do you work on Sunday? We are commanded to make Sunday a day of rest to honour the Lord, to make it holy and set apart for the praise of God, His work of creation, and His saving actions on behalf of Israel. That means no slave labour, like cleaning toilets, shoveling ditches and getting down on your hands and knees to scrub the kitchen floor until it shines, doesn't it?

Seriously, what do you take it to mean? Do you throw a load of laundry in the washer and dryer on Sunday? Or do you set the day aside for spiritual reading and reserve your servile work for the dinner duties? The Baltimore Catechism tells us that family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse us from the obligation of Sunday rest, but it also says that we have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy to defend our traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society. (I guess that means I can't wash and wax my car on Sunday after all!)

So if Sunday is your only day off and after Mass you get home, look around and think how much housework you can get done between now and dinner time, do you do it? Or are you content to relax with a good book by one of the saints while the laundry crawls its way to the corner and hides there until tomorrow?

I used to think it was fine to spend my Sundays doing one of my favourite hobbies - landscaping and gardening - until a friend pointed out that I was setting a bad example for others who may not understand that I loved pushing a wheelbarrow full of rich topsoil and spending the afternoon arranging rocks and pulling weeds. Of course, I responded to my friend that I loved landscaping and considered it a form of relaxation. But to the casual observer, she pointed out, especially to one who knows I am Catholic, they might think I have no consideration for the Lord's Day by working like that outside in my yard for all to see. Ever since then, I have been careful not to set a bad example for others (of course, sometimes I fail miserably), and I have tried not to do excessive housework on Sunday.

Of course, as I sit and type this, I know that tomorrow I will have a lot of housework to catch up on...

Food for thought

Have you ever wondered if a banal, indifferently said Mass gives less grace and merit than a Mass said with reverence and devotion? I'm not talking about how Jesus is present in every Mass as the Victim of Sacrifice, but rather about whether the devotion with which the priest says the Mass can make it more acceptable to God. Would such a Mass bring more abundant graces to the priest who celebrates it and to the one for whom he offers it as well as to the laity who are present for that Mass?

St Bonaventure said, " All Masses are equally good, but as far as Christ is concerned one may be better than another. Therefore it is more profitable to hear the Mass of a good priest than of an indifferent one."

It makes sense then, that the more holy and pleasing to God a priest is, the higher regard God will have for his prayers and oblation. Greater devotion on behalf of the priest would translate into greater graces and benefits derived from the Mass he celebrates. Pray very much for our priests then, that they will always be able to say the Mass with reverence and devotion, so that it may be conducive to theirs and our own salvation.

Drawing on God's Mercy

I saw a drawing similar to the one above a few years ago. It was on a funeral card, and the young man whose funeral it was had drawn the image a few weeks before he died. Every time I come across one of these images of Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Jesus with her tears, and drying them with her hair, I think about how his drawing seemed almost prophetic, and these words come to mind: "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Luke 7 [44] Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
[45] You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
[46] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
[47] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."
[48] And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
[49] Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?"
[50] And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Ecumenisn in the Park

Today, being Palm Sunday, our town's churches did the usual ecumenical blessing of the palms in the park nearest to all the churches. All the Protestant denominations met there along with the Catholics and held a prayer gathering before going to their respective churches for their Sunday services, or in our case, Sunday Mass. What bothers me is that it was the Anglican priest who blessed the palms. Yes, he used holy water from the Catholic Church in his blessing, but can he actually confer the blessing of God on these palms to make them sacramentals of the Catholic Church?

Sacramentals are holy things or actions that the Church makes use of to obtain for us God's blessings in spiritual and temporal matters. Priests are authorized to give the blessing for sacramentals, with the exception of those especially reserved to the bishop. I doubt if an Anglican priest can authoritatively bless palms in the name of the Catholic Church, thus making them sacramentals of the Church. Wouldn't it be the same as if a member of the laity blessed these palms? I am aware that the more piety a person possesses, the greater are the effects of a private blessing, but I'm really left wondering if these palms have any true sacramental value as a blessed object of devotion.

Anyone?

Amazing How These Hymns Are So Uninspiring

Amazing, the grace it takes to sit through protestant songs at a Catholic Church every Sunday...

Here I go again, writing about the protestant hymns our choir sings on Sundays. Well, there is one protestant hymn I actually like, and they sang it today. Amazing Grace. It's a beautiful song, inspiring and uplifting. It's usually only sung once a year, though.

If I have to sit through protestant songs of praise, like Marty Haugen's horrible repertoire of lyrical silliness, and other songs that don't really qualify as hymns, like "Lord of the Dance", and "Morning Has Broken", then I would much rather listen to Amazing Grace.

I remember the first time I ever heard it sung in a church was at my NO parish here, several years ago. I asked the then choir director why they don't sing it more often, and he said it was because it wasn't an (ahem) Catholic hymn that they only sang it once, maybe twice a year at the most.

Yup. That really leaves me wondering. Are all those other songs they sing supposed to be Catholic?

Wise Words

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, People may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, They may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

But For The Grace Of God

There but for the grace of God, go any one of us...

Visit From Vatican

Hmm. I see my blog has had a few visits from Vatican City. Now, who there would be interested in reading Salve Regina? You don't suppose they saw my Motu Proprio posts, do you?

Stop Pornography!

Ever since I posted the picture of the Sacred Heart in the Angelic Doctor post, I haven't been able to log in to my blog at work, or even to access my own comments page. Seems the pornograpy blocker the employer has installed on our provincial network of computers considers that picture pornography. I just keep getting this message every time I try to post a comment on my own blog, or when I try to log in:

You cannot access the following Web address:
https://www2.blogger.com:443

The site you have tried to access contains inappropriate content and was
blocked. Please read the Internet usage policy:
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/fmb/manuals/CPM/CPMtoc.htm

The site you requested is blocked under the following categories: Pornography

But here I am at work, in between calls, and you can see I found a way to access my blog. It's the log in at the navabar that allowed me access. Now, if I could only access my comments, I could respond to the fun in the Angelic Doctor comments!

I really think it's time to buy a laptop...

Prayers for my Patients

It's December. And that means an increased number of ambulance calls for me.

The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind of emergency calls, with very little down time in between. Now that I have time to reflect on it all, I think about the patients and their circumstances. I think about the man who jacknifed his semi truck into a guard rail, and could have been seriously injured, judging by the damage to his vehicle. His first words to me were words of praise to God for escaping serious injury.

I think about the young girl we resuscitated with Narcan after she overdosed and went into cardiac arrest. I thanked God that she has been given another chance at life.

I remember the mutual concern that two patients had for each other after they collided their vehicles on icy roads. Their genuine concern and lack of blame towards each other was heartwarming.

I remember the love letter a wife tucked under the pillow of her husband, who we transferred out to another hospital as he was dying of end stage COPD.

I remember the compassion we showed to a five hundred pound man as six of us tried, as gently as possible, to lift him from one bed to the other.

And I remember the obvious anguish and frustration of a wife who couldn't help her elderly husband cope with his pain. And I recall how the man suffered silently so he would not upset his wife any further.

Tonight, they are all in my prayers.