February 15, 2020

                R. Confirmation is our Pentecost –

                    Confirmation helps us to be
                        soldiers of Jesus Christ.

                    Confirmation strengthens our
                faith from baptism.

                    From Baptism we are members
                of the Body of Christ. We are
                strengthened, even more, in
                Confirmation.

Ephesians 3: 14-19

This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every fatherhood, in heaven or on earth, takes its name. In the abundance of his glory may he, through his Spirit, enable you to grow firm in power with regard to your inner self, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, with all God’s holy people you will have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; so that, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, you may be filled with the utter fullness of God. 

                R. It is a new presence of the
                Holy Spirit on our souls.

                    We are to seek to deepen this
                maturity and love of God in
                our souls.

                    After Pentecost the Apostles were
                fearless – they went out to preach
                the message and truths of Jesus Christ.

                    We are called to defend and
                profess our faith – fearlessly –
                for Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom
                of our soul.

                    We are to help in the Reign of
                the Sacred Heart in the hearts of men.
                The Holy Spirit gives us Himself more
                abundantly in Confirmation.
                Confirmation empowers us
                to fight against spiritual
                enemies and profess our Faith,
                fearlessly.

                    We receive the virtues of
                fortitude and prudence ever
                more deeply.

                    Virtues strengthened –

                    Gifts give

                                ↓

                    Produce
                        fruits and beatitudes.

Ephesians 6: 10-17

Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with the strength of his power. Put on the full armour of God so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics. For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the principalities and the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world, the spirits of evil in the heavens. That is why you must take up all God's armour, or you will not be able to put up any resistance on the evil day, or stand your ground even though you exert yourselves to the full.

So stand your ground, with truth a belt round your waist, and uprightness a breastplate, wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace and always carrying the shield of faith so that you can use it to quench the burning arrows of the Evil One. And then you must take salvation as your helmet and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God.

                R. The Holy Spirit came upon the
                Apostles in tongues of fire
                and they were transformed
                to fearlessness in Action.

                    This is what the Holy Spirit wants
                for us – to be on fire for God,
                on fire like the Sacred Heart for God
                and souls –

                To be on fire in love!
                The gifts of the Holy Spirit move us ahead
                as a ship – full steam ahead.

                    The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier –

                R. Power from God the Holy Spirit
                inspiring us in our lives.

Isaiah 11: 2

Ecclesiastes 1: 6

Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; then back to its circling goes the wind.

                R. Fear of God –

                    Like little children we do
                not want to offend God with
                the slightest sin. (St. Therese
                the Little Flower)

                Fortitude

                    There is a virtue of fortitude
                this gift completes the virtue,
                giving us so much strength,
                to suffer for God willingly,
                and have courage and
                perseverance.

                Piety –

                    Justice calls us to give to
                others and God what is their
                due. We love God so much
                in Piety – we adore Him,
                we are loyal and respect
                our brothers as created by God.

                Counsel

                    We do the right thing according
                to God's will – We don't hold back –
                our duty to God –

                    We do what we are called to
                do when, in the place and
                circumstances God wants!!

                Sing: Veni Sanctus Spiritus

Pentecost Sequence

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
    Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
    Come, within our bosoms shine!

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
    Sweet refreshment here below;

In our Labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
    Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
    And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, man has naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
    Nothing free from taint of ill!

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
    Wash the stains of guilt away;

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
    Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
    In your sev'nfold gift descend;

Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
    Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.

                R. Knowledge

                    Perfects human knowledge
                and the virtue of faith.

                    Supernatural grasping
                of the truth!

                    We know our duty toward
                God and others.

                    We need to know ourselves.
                We need to know our faults
                to die to them and imperfections,
                vices, bad habits, darkness
                in our hearts.

                    We live in God's plan, today,
                tomorrow, we surrender to
                God's plan.

                Understanding –

                    It's one thing to know something –
                    It's another thing to understand
                        something –

                    It helps us to understand
                        ever deeper, insight
                        into the hidden
                        mysteries of God.

                Wisdom –

                    This is the highest and greatest
                of the gifts.

                    God is the first cause
                    and the last end.

                We relish the mysteries of God.
                We live virtuously.

                The Fruits of the Holy Spirit.
 

                From the Priestly Newsletter 2000 Issue #3

The Indwelling of the Trinity and the Life of Grace

The spiritual life, the life of holiness, begins at Baptism. Archbishop Luis Martinez says:

"When we are born we are endowed by God with all we need for our human life, a complete organism, and a soul with the full range of faculties. Of course they are not all developed from birth, but we have them then as the source of everything we are going to need in life. And thus it is also in the spiritual order. When someone is baptized, he receives in all its fullness that supernatural world which the Christian carries within his soul. He receives grace, which is a participation of the nature of God; the theological virtues, which put him in immediate contact with the divine; the moral virtues, which serve to regulate and order all his life; and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the divine, mysterious receivers for picking up the Spirit’s inspirations and movements."²

Another author states: "The Three Divine Persons inhabit the sanctuary of our soul, taking their delight in enriching it with supernatural gifts and in communicating to us a Godlike life, similar to theirs, called the life of grace.

"All life, however, implies a threefold element: a vital principle that is, so to speak, the source of life itself; faculties which give the power to elicit vital acts; and lastly, the acts themselves which are but its development and which minister to its growth. In the supernatural order, God living within us produces the same elements. He first communicates to us habitual grace (the life of sanctifying grace) which plays the part of a vital supernatural principle. This principle deifies, as it were, the very substance of the soul and makes it capable, though in a remote way, of enjoying the Beatific Vision and of performing the acts that lead to it.

"Out of this grace spring the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit which perfect our faculties and endow us with the immediate power of performing Godlike, supernatural, meritorious acts.

"In order to stir these faculties into action, He give us actual graces which enlighten our mind, strengthen our will, and aid us both to act supernaturally and to increase the measure of habitual grace that has been granted to us.

"Although this life of grace is entirely distinct from our natural life it is not merely superimposed on the latter. It penetrates it through and through, transforms it and makes it divine. It assimilates whatever is good in our nature, our education and our habits. It perfects and supernaturalizes all these various elements, directing them toward the last end, that is toward the possession of God through the Beatific Vision and its resultant life." ³

Our being in the state of sanctifying of grace and the special indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity within us always exist together. We cannot have the one without the other. Our life of grace, which is a sharing in Trinitarian life, allows us to know and love Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a most intimate fashion. Through grace we are in the image of the Trinity, and we enjoy special relationships with the Divine Persons.

Again, we listen to the words of Archbishop Martinez as he speaks about our relationships with the Divine Persons:

"Love, we have said, is the foundation of devotion to the Holy Spirit, as it is also the foundation of Christian perfection. But love as a reflection of God, as His own image, is something that encloses within its simplicity a boundless wealth and a variety of forms. Who can fathom the depths of love?

"Human love in all its manifestations is admirably in harmony with the love of charity; it is confident in filial love, trusting in friendship, sweet and fruitful in the love of husband and wife, disinterested and tender in the love of a mother. Our love of God must include all these forms of human love; every fiber of our heart must vibrate when the harmonious and full canticle of love bursts forth from it. But since God is one in essence and triune in Persons, our love for Him takes on a particular aspect accordingly as it is directed to each one of the divine Persons.

"Our love for the Father is tender and confident like that of children; eager to glorify Him as His only-begotten Son taught us to do by word and example. Love for the Father is the intense desire to have His will fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven. Our love for the Son, who willed to become flesh for us, is characterized by the tendency to union with Him and transformation into Him; by imitation of His example, participation in His life, and the sharing of His sufferings and His Cross. The Eucharist, mystery of love, of sorrow, and of union, reveals the characteristics of this love.

"Love for the Holy Spirit also has its special character, which we should study in order completely to understand devotion to Him. We have explained how the Holy Spirit loves us, how He moves us like a divine breath that draws us to the bosom of God, like a sacred fire that transforms us into fire, like a divine artist who forms Jesus in us. Surely, then, our love for the Holy Spirit should be marked by loving docility, by full surrender, and by a constant fidelity that permits us to be moved, directed, and transformed by His sanctifying action.

"Our love for the Father tends to glorify Him; our love for the Son, to transform ourselves into Him; our love for the Holy Spirit, to let ourselves be possessed and moved by Him."⁴

2. Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, Pauline Books and Media, pp. 124-125.
3. Adolphe Janquery, S.S., The Spiritual Life, Desclee & Co., p. 18
4. Archbishop Martinez, op. cit., pp. 67-68,
 
 

                R. We live more deeply the super-
                natural life from the virtues
                and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

                    Docility to the Holy Spirit and His touch.
 

                R. Charity – loving deeply

                Joy – God wants us joyful
                            joy in trials

                Peace – Calmness and stability

                Meekness – Patience –
                    not combatal

                Kindness, Goodness –
                    serving others

                Longsuffering – in trials

                Faith – Faithfulness to God
                            and our neighbor

                Sacraments
 

                Don Bosco Vision

Matthew 16: 18-19

So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’

Revelation 12: 1-2

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.

                R. Church is

                    ONE

                    HOLY

                    CATHOLIC

                    APOSTOLIC

                            Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God 
                        our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment

Faith                   Hope

LOVE

     From Tell My People by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

                R. Mary was conceived without sin.

                The New Eve.

                Christ is the New Adam.

                Mary told Bernadette

                    "I am the Immaculate Conception"