Daily Writing
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September 11, 2008
September 11th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 4 Period II.The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for September 11th are Sorrowful.
Rita will be in China
September 10-13
The Retreat in August
was really powerful in China.
Please come!
We need money for the
Our Father Newsletter
Please help us.
Given September 10, 2008
The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6: 9-13
...Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven those
who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the Evil One.
We need to grow
Mary is the perfect handmaid of the Lord
Mary is humble
Mary recognizes God as over her
Obedience to the Father's will was
paramount for Mary
Calling God — Father —
should mean we humbly
recognize God the Father over us
As long as we see ourselves, rather
priests, or religious as in need
of renewal we can grow,
But the ones who think they
know it all
they will not make room to grow —
We are always in the state of becoming —
We are all learning to be more like Jesus
Those who see themselves as perfect
can be poor instruments
do more harm than good — if
being leaders mean we do it
for our own vain glory
We all need to grow and change
Say "I'm not perfect"
People who have reached a certain
level may not admit they
are never wrong — or say
"I was wrong"
In matters of faith and morals — the
teaching of the Catholic faith
tell us the way
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life —
The commandments are not to be changed —
The Church, the individual and the world
is in the state of becoming,
but we as Christians are
always growing in that image
of Jesus.
Some people never admit they have
blind spots or admit they
need to grow —
They may say "I am more into being
right than anything I do"
This is a god for many —
We cannot renew anything without
humility —
Psalm 25: 9 JUDICIOUSLY he guides the humble,
instructing the poor in his way.
Matthew
11: 29 Shoulder my yoke and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls.
In pride many fail to put Mary in her
rightful role as Queen and Mother and
Virgin.
The trend can be men should be
in charge and then we can act like
Mary is not important.
God the Father picked Mary and
Jesus came into the world the fruit
of Mary's womb.
In being prideful and not
recognizing Mary we miss that
spiritual growth as a poor
banished child of Adam and Eve —
that can take place as we go to
her Immaculate Heart.
Mary is the Ark of the Covenant —
We see the importance of the
Ark at the time of Noah.
Mary is pure gift.
Mary is the Mediatrix of all
grace.
Mary loves us so much.
Mary had to be sinless to carry
Jesus.
She is the Holy Dwelling Place
of God.
If we want to be filled with the light of
the Holy Spirit —
We must recognize our wounded human nature
so we are willing to be
changed.
Look at the Hail Mary
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. * Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
We say
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
We answer
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
WE ARE SINNERS
We were marked with original sin
at the moment of conception —
God punished us because of
Adam and Eve's sin —
Romans 6: 6
realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin.
Psalm 50: 7
‘Listen, my people, I am speaking,
Israel, I am giving evidence against you,
I, God, your God.
Genesis 6: 12
God looked at the earth: it was corrupt, for corrupt were the ways of all living things on earth.
I read a story in one of Fr. Carter's magazines
about a priest who was called out at
2:00 am on a sick call — it was 2
blocks away so he walked — as he
passed an alley a gun-man came out and told
him to give him his money —
The priest told him to go in his
coat pocket because his hands
were up by order of the gunman —
The gunman saw he was a priest
and then said —
Sorry Father keep your money —
The priest offered the man a cigar —
the man said
Sorry Father I gave up smoking for
Lent —
That hold-up man was acting like
the Pharisees — who were extremely
particular about regulations of the
Jewish law, while they neglected the
important commands. That is why
Christ often criticized them —
Are there Pharisees today —
"yes"
Catholics mixed up about what
is really important.
Some smile at Church to everyone
they meet and ignore a
word to the Lord at Mass.
Jesus has shown us how to live
His life in our lives.
Know how to rejoice in the
Lord's work
Philippians 4: 13
There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me.
God can work through you if
you respond.
Christ loved us until there
was no more to give.
Jesus' death leads to resurrection
and to new life.
All our pain leads us on to new
joy and splendor
Christ's death tells us we
must suffer.
God's love can help promote our
personal growth —
Our Creator leads us to Himself,
our life's goal.
Excerpt from Response to God's Love,
by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. Chapter 5The Christian Virtues
Humility
Humility is both the realization of what we are as creatures of God and the concrete implementation of this realization in our Christian lives. Humility, therefore, is not an exercise in self-depreciation; it is not telling yourself that you are no good, that you really have nothing of any significance to contribute to the service of God. Humility is truth. It is compatible with the recognition that God has given a person certain gifts, even great gifts, of nature and grace. If we do not recognize our God-given gifts, we do not thank God for them as we should, nor properly develop these gifts according to his will. God wants us not only to recognize the good that is in us, but also to realize the source of this goodness. Although we have a responsibility to cooperate with his graces, God is the one who is chiefly responsible for what we are. If one person has advanced to a level in the Christian life that is beyond the level of another, it is ultimately because God has given that person greater graces. It is evident, then, why Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother, is an excellent example of true humility. She realized both her greatness and the source of that greatness. In Mary's song of thanksgiving—the Magnificat—we read:
My being proclaims the greatness of
the Lord,
my spirit finds joy in God my
savior,
For he has looked upon his servant in
her lowliness;
all ages to come shall call me
blessed.
God who is mighty has done great
things for me,
holy is his name
—Lk 1:46-49
If humility is truth and, consequently, allows us to properly recognize our gifts, it also necessitates that we admit to the evil within us, which is also part of the truth and must be acted upon. Humility not only bids us to admit that there is evil in us, but also tells us that, as creatures of God, we should conform to his will and work against this evil side of our persons. In summary, humility allows us to properly evaluate both the good and evil within ourselves.
Because humility is the realization of the implications of our creaturehood, it helps us to accept the human condition with all its ramifications. One aspect of the human condition is that we occasionally suffer because of the limitations and sinfulness of others. To rebel in these situations is a failure to realize what it means to be part of the human condition, a failure to relate to reality, a failure in humility. Christ, the sinless one, the perfect one, suffered tremendously because of the human condition, but he did not rebel. He realized what it meant to be a human being—namely, that one must accept the fact that at times one is going to suffer because of the evil in others. Christ did not flinch; as human being, he fully accepted his creaturehood with all its ramifications. He was truly humble.
Another sign of humility is one's willingness to live out the various implications of being a social person. A proud person is a falsely independent person who, in various ways, refuses to admit his or her social dimension, namely, that he or she needs others. A proud person also tends to refuse to admit his or her obligation to help others. To be available to others in their manifold needs demands a price, and a proud person, who is closed in upon his or her own self-interest is often not willing to pay this price. Whether it is a question of receiving from others or giving to them, humility helps to remind us of the truth of John Donne's classic observation that "no man is an island."
Humility also bids a person to accept himself or herself as coming forth from the creative hand of God. God has given each of us certain fundamental talents that can be great, but can also be ordinary. God has also given each of us a certain basic temperament and personality, and we must realize that he leads us on in Christian holiness according to this fundamental structure. This is not to say that we are not to improve upon our essential structure; it is rather to say that we are not to strive to become what God does not intend us to be.
Humility likewise leads a person to seek and fulfill the task in life that God has appointed for him or her. To act in this way is to exercise humility because it manifests a realization of what it means to be God's creature. We cannot always be as sure of our role in life as we would like. If we utilize prayer and the other means that are available, however, we can be as certain as God wants us to be, and this is what matters. Within this God-given role, we should strive to give our reasonable best each day despite the possible monotony, frustration, or hiddenness of our work. We must give our attention primarily to the task of the present. At times, a lack of humility can tempt us to live too much in the past or too much in the future (other causes are admittedly possible). To fail to properly live in the present can mean that we are dissatisfied with the tasks and circumstances that God's providence, here and now, puts before us. If this is the truth of the matter, it means that we are failing to some extent to act as creatures before our Creator; it is to fail in humility. It is appropriate that we conclude these remarks concerning humility by listening to St. Paul speak of Jesus:
Your attitude must be that of Christ.
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.
Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.
He was known to be of human estate,
and it was thus that he humbled
himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!
—Phil 2:5-8end of excerpt from Chapter 5 Response to God's Love
We may say
What did God call them for?
JESUS DIED FOR ALL OF US ——>
How can we judge
LOOK AT YOUR OWN SPECK IN YOUR EYE
LIVE IN LOVE
God called all these people to
the Catholic faith and Mary
is crying out because they
leave and some do bad deeds
and some are going to hell
for their terrible sins —
We must pray to Mary
Mother of the Church
We need to be a family of love —
live as one to help strengthen the Church
with holy lives —
praying as intercessors for the
priests, the Church and the world —
We are all in need of growth —
renewal —
serving God
We can't ever live our lives again. Moms and
dads — caught in learning to live with each other —
the demands of children — we were taught about living
together and working together from our parents —
Some people lived in homes where one
parent dominated and made everybody dance to
their rules, but the rules some had to do
were dances learned that would never work
with others in future life — They were rules
so one could dominate over others — Some
dads — bossying over rules like a 2 year old —
"better not spill any milk" —
2 year olds spill milk — they are learning —
accidents happen —
life is to learn love
NOT DAD'S PERFECTION
Mom could have a grip on the children —
bossy for bossy sake
My dad would say people were sometimes
"street angels and house devils" —
In dysfunctional homes there can be strongly
2 sets of rules —
On the outside the family looked good —
on the inside a different set of rules —
co-dependence
The idea of men being in office in politics
is being seen — there are lots more
men then women —
If a man has this attitude: men - rule
women - serve
They can work and work to enforce it
Now the Church is full of men priests,
but Mary's role is so important
to the Church and
Mary told Jacinta - Jesus wants His Heart
venerated next to Mary —
Mary is the Ark
Jesus is the fruit of Mary's womb
Mary is Mother of the Church
We must see the Plan of the Father regarding
Mary
Some silly rules of parents —
(1) whip all extra dribbles of
water from the sink
(2) wear a green hat on
Thursday
(3) cut off the end of the
ham and throw it away
(4) turn all the lights off
(5) turn all the lights on
and leave all on
Some parents could be so
strong making rules —
They were taught stronger than
the commandments
Even though parents meant well they
worked for them and we had to
obey
What about dysfunctional home rules —
parents with tainted vision —
wanted secrecy to their ways —
So we may have learned to be
really closed - with a heart
of secrets to hide abuse,
alcohol, compulsions etc.
Survival rules — learned in
secrecy —
rigidity —
lack of spontaneity
needs not met
Is the child of the past still
raging
Did the child learn passive-
aggressive ways to
retaliate and get some
control?
Do they have all these
dysfunctions — working in their
lives —
survival tactics —
they try to enforce the rules on
others in marriages,
communities, church
and when people who know it doesn't
work and they have a problem and
say "WOE" —
the person uses force to keep it
in place
Holding back when someone
needs something for any reason
is a form of control and force —
Acting like they don't understand —
giving everything, but what
they were asked to deliver —
Making promises and then holding out and
never delivering
This is setting the bait to control and
frustrate the other
Jesus says —
let your yes be yes
let you no be no
Jesus is truth
The Church, the world, the individual
Christian is in the state of
becoming
Our life is here to grow out of
these imperfect, dysfunctional
ways and
BE MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS
We were marked from the moment of
conception by original sin —
Mary was without
original sin from
the moment
of conception
Mary's Immaculate Heart is
the Ark —
the Birthing Chamber to be
more as we should be —
as Christ wants
The Incarnation goes on in
us
Mary is Model
Mary is full of grace —
Look at the Hail Mary —
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. * Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Mary full of grace
We are sinners
Jesus is the fruit of Mary's womb
the Holy Spirit is the Spouse of
Mary
Lady of Clearwater
She looks like Our Lady of Guadalupe —
Our Lady of Guadalupe is supposed
to look pregnant —
The CHURCH was born through
His pierced Heart
MARY IS MOTHER
John 19: 25-27
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
JESUS IS HEAD
