"During the celebration of Holy Mass, I am hanging on the cross together with Jesus, and I suffer all that Jesus suffered on Calvary, as much as is possible for a human nature."

After the Consecration, with tears in his eyes and some sobbing, he slowly continued the Holy Mass.

The Memento for the Dead was also very long.

How many souls, deprived of the full possession of God, did he remember in the infinite mercy of God, offering his blood and his sufferings, united to the blood and suffer...

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

"Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness on the anniversary." –1 Maccabees 4:59

We remember anniversaries of both good and bad events. The Maccabees celebrated "the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled" the Temple (1 Mc 4:54). "On that very day it was reconsecrated with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals. All the people prostrated themsel...

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - On November 10 in the Roman Catholic Liturgical Calendar we commemorate St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor. This excerpt from one of his fifth century homilies entitled "Christ lives in His Church" captures his teaching - to belong to Jesus Christ is to belong to His Church:

"My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all...

In the year 1453, a fierce war was raging amongst the French, the Savoyards and the Piedmontese. At the sack of the little town of Exilles a robber entered the church, broke open the door of the tabernacle, and took out the ostensorium containing the Host. He hastened away with this and other objects, concealing them in a sack. He loaded the objects on a mule and hastened to Turin to effect the sacrilegious sale of them. But the hand of the Lord was present! Having reached the square of...

THE COST OF FAITHFULNESS

"Mattathias answered in a loud voice...'We will not obey the words of the king nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree.' " –1 Maccabees 2:19, 22

Mattathias would not be manipulated or intimidated into compromising his faith. He refused to be a hypocrite and a phony. He refused to be lukewarm and sickening to God (Rv 3:16). For Mattathias to be uncompromised and faithful, he had to flee "to the mountains with his sons, leaving behind in the city ...

After her Communion, as she recollected herself interiorly, our Lord appeared to her under the form of a pelican as it is usually represented, piercing its heart with its beak. Marvelling at this, she said: "My Lord, what wouldst Thou teach me by this vision?" "I wish," replied our Lord, "that you would consider the excess of love which obliges Me to present you with such a gift. After having thus given Myself, I would rather remain dead in the tomb, so to speak, than deprive a soul wh...

REAL FAITH

"Seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king." –2 Maccabees 7:1

The members of this family were maimed, scalped, amputated, fried, and murdered one by one while the remaining family members were forced to watch. This family's courage was supernatural. The basis of their courage was faith in God, our Creator and our Resurrection. At his death, the second brother said: "You are depriving us of this present life, but the Kin...

The manna by which the Chosen People were nourished in the wilderness was a figure of the Eucharist, the spiritual food by which we are sustained and illuminated in the desert of this world.

Jesus, in His discourse on the Bread of Life in the synagogue of Capharnaum (John 6) proclaimed that He was the true manna, the "food that endures for life everlasting," the "Bread of God which came down from heaven and which gives life to the world" (John 6: 27, 33).

... Jesus makes clear that t...

TREED?

"He first ran on in front, then climbed a sycamore tree which was along Jesus' route, in order to see Him." –Luke 19:4

The world is full of Zacchaeuses: people not so much small of stature (Lk 19:3) as small of heart. We are surrounded by petty, mean-spirited, little people. We are sometimes that way ourselves. We need to see Jesus to become big-hearted, great-souled men and women of God.

Like Zacchaeus, we need a tree to climb so we can see Jesus. We are too petty to see over...

PEOSTA, IA (Cistercians of the Strict Observance) - For more than nine centuries, Trappist monks and nuns have witnessed to the gospel of Jesus Christ through a cloistered, communal life wholly ordered to contemplation. Cistercians of the Strict Observance, also known as "Trappists" are an order of the Roman Catholic Church who founded their first monastery in the U.S. in 1848.

Cistercian presence in the U.S. has since expanded to include 17 monasteries across the nation. Yet recently, monasti...

Not only have angels functioned as ministers of the Holy Eucharist, but in at least one incident an angel was assisted by a saint. This occurred to St. Stanislaus Kostka (d. 1568) during the time he was preparing for his admission into the Society of Jesus.

A violent and dangerous sickness overtook Stanislaus while he was on a journey, and he was forced to stay for a time in the home of a Lutheran couple, who would not permit the Eucharist to be brought into their house. Since the phy...

"I WANT TO SEE"

"Jesus asked him, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' 'Lord,' he answered, 'I want to see.' " –Luke 18:40-41

Spiritual blindness may be more common in our Western culture than spiritual sight. So many have been blinded by secular humanism, "the god of the present age" (2 Cor 4:4). If we are not totally blinded to our condition, we will cry out: "Jesus, Son of David, have pity" on us (Lk 18:38). No matter if we are as blind as the self-righteous Pharisee (Lk 18:9ff), ...

The Order of the Day for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus begins at five o'clock in the morning. Mother's began an hour earlier. On the night before, she was accustomed to placing her alarm clock under her pillow, so as not to fail in her appointment with Jesus at four o'clock, the hour of her meditation. Frankly speaking, Mother was much too frail to interrupt her sleep so early, but the hour of meditation prescribed by the rule did not satisfy the yearning of her b...

USE OR LOSE

"His master said to him, 'Well done! You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master's joy!' " –Matthew 25:21

The Lord expects us to be good stewards not only of the money He has given us, but also of our time, talents, spiritual gifts, and graces. Our greatest responsibility as stewards is to be "servants of Christ and administrators of the mysteries of God" (1 C...

The secret lies in a total offering of self, withholding nothing. Jesus was a total oblation on the Cross. There wasn't a cell of his body or sentiment of his heart that he didn't offer to the Father. Anything we withhold for ourselves is lost, because we only possess what we give. St. Francis of Assisi who, because of the elevated fervor of his devotion to the Eucharist can be considered a special guide on the topic, ends his wonderful discourse on the Eucharist with this exhortation:...

THE WORD ON DELAY

"Will He delay long over them, do you suppose?" –Luke 18:7

Because the Lord is outside of time, His perspective on timing is far different than ours (see 2 Pt 3:8; Is 55:8-9). In our humanity, we might "consider it 'delay' " on God's part (2 Pt 3:9) when it seems He's doing nothing. However, if God seems to be moving slowly or not at all, it's because He is showing "generous patience" (2 Pt 3:9) either to us or for the sake of others. If He "delays, wait for" Him (H...

O dearest daughter, open wide your mind's eye and look into the abyss of my charity. There is not a person whose heart would not melt in love to see, among all the other blessings I have given you, the blessing you receive in this sacrament.

And how, dearest daughter, should you and others look upon this mystery and touch it? Not only with your bodily eyes and feeling, for here they would fail you. You know that all your eyes see is this white bit of bread; this is all your hand can t...

FOR NATURE LOVERS

"For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its Lord?" –Wisdom 13:9

Many people are nature-lovers. They are impressed by the "might and energy" (Wis 13:4), "the greatness and the beauty of created things" (Wis 13:5), such as "fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven" (Wis 13:2).

Nature-lovers will either become idol wors...

Mary Ann Cortes was healed through the Mass. She spent seventeen years in mental hospitals in the New Orleans, Louisiana area, on every drug treatment program available for manic depressive patients except shock therapy. She encountered the healing Jesus during Mass, and over the course of several months was totally healed. The Lord took away the illness, and took away the fear, so that she could truly say, "I'm not afraid of the morning anymore." The Lord accomplished what no psychiatrist ha...

BUILDING BLOCKS

"I laid a foundation as a wise master-builder might do." –1 Corinthians 3:10

The international outreach of the Pope and the Vatican has probably never been greater than the present. Pope John Paul II was a prolific missionary pope. We have more dioceses and parishes than at any time in the two-thousand-year history of the Church. Geographically, the Church has never been as "catholic" (universal) as today. Nevertheless, the Church is struggling, especially in Western Europ...

"ALWAYS PREPARED"

"Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the reign of God would come, [Jesus] replied..." –Luke 17:20

At the end of the world, there will be terrible suffering. Jesus said: "A time will come when you will long to see one day of the Son of Man but will not see it" (Lk 17:22). "Those times will be more distressful than any between God's work of creation and now" (Mk 13:19).

At the end of the world, many will be confused. "They will tell you He is to be found in this p...

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Oh, how high and honorable is the office of priests, to whom is given power to consecrate with sacred words the Lord of majesty, to bless Him with their lips, to hold Him in their hands, to receive Him in their mouths, and to communicate Him to others. How clean should be the hands, how pure the lips, how holy the body, how spotless the heart of a priest, into whom the Author of all purity so often enters. From the mouth of a priest, who so often receives the Sacrament of Christ, no...

"THE CULTURE OF DEATH"

"By the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it." –Wisdom 2:24

Pope John Paul II called© our Western, secularized culture "the culture of death." Married couples refuse to conceive children; we abort babies; we withdraw food from terminally ill patients so that they will die; masses commit suicide through alcohol and other drugs; we entertain ourselves by watching people kill each other on TV. We are a cul...

In the time of St. Bernard, a monk of Clairvaux appeared after his death to his brethren in religion to thank them for having delivered him from Purgatory. On being asked what had contributed most to free him from his torments, he led the inquirer to the church, where a priest was saying Mass. "Look," said he, "this is the means by which my deliverance has been effected; this is the power of God's mercy; this is the salutary sacrifice which takes away the sins of the world." Indeed, ...

THE EUCHARIST, FOOD OF WISDOM

"He manifests Himself to those who do not disbelieve Him." –Wisdom 1:2

As I read the above passage, I felt goose bumps form on my body. Today Almighty God manifested Himself to me in His eucharistic presence (see Wis 1:2). I rejoiced to receive Him in Holy Communion at Mass. Jesus, Wisdom Incarnate (1 Cor 1:30), bounded out of heaven (Wis 18:15; Jn 6:33) to fill me with the Food of Wisdom.

People spend years obtaining knowledge through education and tr...

I find myself so weak that were it not for Holy Communion I would fall continually. One thing alone sustains me, and that is Holy Communion. From it I draw my strength; in it is all my comfort. I fear life on days when I do not receive Holy Communion. I fear my own self. Jesus concealed in the Host is everything to me. From the tabernacle I draw strength, power, courage and light. Here, I seek consolation in time of anguish. I would not know how to give glory to God if I did not hav...

LIFE AFTER DEATH

"We would have you be clear about those who sleep in death, brothers." –1 Thessalonians 4:13

We can become clear on life after death by listening to the Church. It has listened to the Spirit, prayed over the Bible, and will give us a clear understanding of life after death.

When we die, we are judged and our spirits immediately go to heaven, hell, or purgatory. Heaven is God's home where we perpetually worship the Holy Trinity, see Jesus face to face, and share pe...

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Everywhere you look you see the word "Freedom" being used these days. Sadly, it has provided cover for some who offer lifestyle choices as the path to liberation when thay lead to bondage and misery. The question we must ask is what does freedom really mean? Do our choices really matter? Are there some choices which will not lead us to freedom - or to human flourishing and happiness - but actually take away both?

I offer some insights from the writing...

In the words of the Holy Father at the Eucharistic Congress, referring to Don Manuel Gonzalez, "the bishop of the abandoned tabernacles; he (Don Manuel) strove to remind everyone of Jesus' presence in the tabernacle, to which we sometimes respond so poorly. By his word and example, he never ceased to repeat that in the tabernacle of each church we possess a shining beacon, through contact with which our lives may be illuminated and transformed... It is important for us to live and t...

BIG THINGS AND LITTLE THINGS

"If you can trust a man in little things, you can also trust him in greater; while anyone unjust in a slight matter is also unjust in greater." –Luke 16:10

Priscilla and Aquila literally "risked their necks" for the sake of St. Paul and the Gospel (see Rm 16:3-4, RSV-CE). This is no exaggeration; Paul was martyred when Roman soldiers severed his neck. Risking thousands of dollars is a little thing in comparison to risking your life for the Gospel. Paul...

Whilst at Lourdes her piety did not seem at all out of the common, so it was said. If we understand by piety exalted reflections on the mysteries of the life of Our Lord or the great truths of the Faith, doubtless it was not. The child herself often said: "I never can make a meditation"; but, on the other hand, she loved prayer and it had a strong attraction for her. She was often to be found in the chapel saying her rosary, and who shall say what ardent love her angelic soul put in...

THE MISSION TO THE UNBELIEVERS

"It has been a point of honor with me never to preach in places where Christ's name was already known." –Romans 15:20

Paul focused on proclaiming Christ to people who had never heard of Jesus. We may not have the same call, but we should maximize opportunities to share our faith with unbelievers. For example, we should discern if God is calling us to join groups in which unbelievers participate. This would give us a forum in which to share our faith.

W...

Father Mateo [Crawley-Boevey] had a great appreciation for the value of the Holy Mass. At a talk given in Arizona he said, "Do you know what I am preaching everywhere? I am preaching: Pay the ransom of souls with the Chalice, with the Chalice. The greatest means of converting souls is one more Mass, one more Mass during the week, and, with sacrifice, two or three more Masses; if possible, daily Mass, to pay for the eternal salvation of souls so dear to you. That is the great thing–...

KNOW JESUS; NO FEAR

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life's Refuge; of whom should I be afraid?" –Psalm 27:1

In the Bible, the Lord says 365 times: "Do not fear." Pope John Paul II repeatedly prophesied: "Do not fear." Satan is trying to make us his slaves forever through our fear of death (Heb 2:15). However, we need not be afraid, for:

• "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation" (Ps 27:1; see also Is 12:2).
• "The Lord is my life's Refuge" (Ps 2...

THE BIBLE ON PRAYING FOR THE DEAD

"Those who trust in Him shall understand truth." –Wisdom 3:9

It is a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead (2 Mc 12:44-45). Because those in heaven or in hell don't benefit from our prayers, this implies that not everyone immediately goes to heaven or hell after they die. Therefore, when we pray for the dead, we must be praying for people in some other place, usually called purgatory (Catechism, 1031). It is a place of purging and purification...

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - I have followed the courageous leadership of Bishop William C. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut for years. He is not only a faithful and inspiring shepherd of the Church; he is a heroic defender of religious freedom, marriage and life at a critical time in our Nation's history. We must face the facts, the first freedom is under assault and the Catholic Church is increasingly threatened in her mission. We were thrilled when the Bishops selected this Bis...

During Mass we offer bread and wine which, through the power of God's word, become the Body and Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. We bring a little bread and wine and God transforms them into the Body and Blood of His Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The transformation that takes place is a divine act similar to the first miraculous act of creation. One word was necessary to set off a complete change and transformation in nature. The transformation of the bread and wine takes place invis...

HOLINESS,THE HOLY SPIRIT,AND THE HOLY FATHER

"Who are these people all dressed in white? And where have they come from?" –Revelation 7:13

Some of the most important questions in life are: "Will I grow in holiness, go to heaven, and see Jesus face to face?" (see 1 Jn 3:2) "Will I be at the everlasting family reunion in heaven?" "How do I become holy and go to heaven with all the holy ones?"

The Church teaches that we become holy by living the Beatitudes. This comes as quite a shock ...