11/17/07 - DVD Video
11/24/07 - The Creator - CCC # 279-324
12/08/07 - The Fall - CCC # 385-421
12/22/07 - The Son of God Became Man - CCC # 456-483 ; Conceived by the Holy Spirit - CCC # 484-511
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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Week 8 - (11/03/07) - "The Creeds" ; "I Believe in God the Father"
“What Makes Us Catholic?”
Week 811/03/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“The Creeds” and “I Believe in God the Father”
I. Opening Prayer
a. Veni, Sancte Spiritus -- “Come, Holy Spirit”
II. Apologetics: Did the New Covenant Supercede the Old Covenant? Hebrews 8:6-13
III. Video: John Paul II: The Millennium Pope, “Faith” and “Legacy”
IV. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): The Creeds (Intro) - CCC # 185-197 ; I Believe In God the Father - CCC # 198-231
V. Closing Prayer
a. Serenity Prayer
b. Intercessions for:
i. Jose, Susie, and Family, Friends, Pope Benedict XVI, Frs. Elder Barille and all holy priests, Srs. Maura and Maureen, Bishop Barnes and Rutillo.
c. Pater, Ave, Gloria.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in eis ignem accende.
V. Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur.R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.
Oremus. Deus, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti: da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere; et de eius semper consolatione gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.Amen.
Week 811/03/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“The Creeds” and “I Believe in God the Father”
I. Opening Prayer
a. Veni, Sancte Spiritus -- “Come, Holy Spirit”
II. Apologetics: Did the New Covenant Supercede the Old Covenant? Hebrews 8:6-13
III. Video: John Paul II: The Millennium Pope, “Faith” and “Legacy”
IV. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): The Creeds (Intro) - CCC # 185-197 ; I Believe In God the Father - CCC # 198-231
V. Closing Prayer
a. Serenity Prayer
b. Intercessions for:
i. Jose, Susie, and Family, Friends, Pope Benedict XVI, Frs. Elder Barille and all holy priests, Srs. Maura and Maureen, Bishop Barnes and Rutillo.
c. Pater, Ave, Gloria.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in eis ignem accende.
V. Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur.R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.
Oremus. Deus, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti: da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere; et de eius semper consolatione gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.Amen.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Week 7 - (10/27/07) - “I Believe” and “We Believe”
“What Makes Us Catholic?”
Week 7 10/27/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“I Believe” and “We Believe”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Aquinas’ Prayer for Students
b. “Dirigere et sanctificare”
II. Apologetics: Did the New Covenant Supercede the Old Covenant? Hebrews 8:6-13
III. Review of Week 6: “Sacred Scripture”
IV. Video: John Paul II: The Millennium Pope, “Faith” and “Liberation Theology”
V. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): “I Believe” - CCC # 142-165 ; We Believe - CCC # 166-184
VI. Spiritual Reading: TREATISE ON TRUE DEVOTION to the BLESSED VIRGIN by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort - CHAPTER TWO: IN WHAT DEVOTION TO MARY CONSISTS - 1. Basic principles of devotion to Mary - THIRD PRINCIPLE: WE MUST RID OURSELVES OF WHAT IS EVIL IN US
VII. Closing Prayer
a. Angelus
b. Litany of St. Joseph (Latin Chant)
c. “Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens”
Dirigere et sanctificare
Direct and Sanctify This Day
This prayer appears in the office of Prime in the Roman Breviary. In the Liturgia Horarum it is found at Lauds for Monday of the third week of the Psalter. It comes from the early centuries of our faith.From the Liturgia Horarum. See also the Roman Breviary, the Raccolta #108, & Liturgical Prayer, Its History & Spirit, Fernand Cabrol, OSB, P.J. Kenedy & Sons. 1921, p145.
DIRIGERE et sanctificare, regere et gubernare dignare, Domine Deus, Rex caeli et terrae, hodie corda et corpora nostra, sensus, sermones et actus nostros in lege tua et in operibus mandatorum tuorum; ut hic et in aeternum, te auxiliante, salvi et liberi esse mereamur, Salvator mundi: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
O LORD GOD, King of heaven and earth, may it please Thee this day to order and to hallow, to rule and to govern our hearts and our bodies, our thoughts, our words and our works, according to Thy law and in the doing of Thy commandments, that we, being helped by Thee, may here and hereafter worthily be saved and delivered by Thee, O Savior of the world, who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
Spiritual Reading:
TREATISE ON TRUE DEVOTION to the BLESSED VIRGIN by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort -
CHAPTER TWO: IN WHAT DEVOTION TO MARY CONSISTS -
1. Basic principles of devotion to Mary -
THIRD PRINCIPLE: WE MUST RID OURSELVES OF WHAT IS EVIL IN US
Third principle: We must rid ourselves of what is evil in us
78. Our best actions are usually tainted and spoiled by the evil that is rooted in us. When pure, clear water is poured into a foul-smelling jug, or wine into an unwashed cask that previously contained another wine, the clear water and the good wine are tainted and readily acquire an unpleasant odour. In the same way when God pours into our soul, infected by original and actual sin, the heavenly waters of his grace or the delicious wines of his love, his gifts are usually spoiled and tainted by the evil sediment left in us by sin. Our actions, even those of the highest virtue, show the effects of it. It is therefore of the utmost importance that, in seeking the perfection that can be attained only by union with Jesus, we rid ourselves of all that is evil in us. Otherwise our infinitely pure Lord, who has an infinite hatred for the slightest stain in our soul, will refuse to unite us to himself and will drive us from his presence.
79. To rid ourselves of selfishness, we must first become thoroughly aware, by the light of the Holy Spirit, of our tainted nature. Of ourselves we are unable to do anything conducive to our salvation. Our human weakness is evident in everything we do and we are habitually unreliable. We do not deserve any grace from God. Our tendency to sin is always present. The sin of Adam has almost entirely spoiled and soured us, filling us with pride and corrupting every one of us, just as leaven sours, swells and corrupts the dough in which it is placed. The actual sins we have committed, whether mortal or venial, even though forgiven, have intensified our base desires, our weakness, our inconstancy and our evil tendencies, and have left a sediment of evil in our soul. Our bodies are so corrupt that they are referred to by the Holy Spirit as bodies of sin, as conceived and nourished in sin, and capable of any kind of sin. They are subject to a thousand ills, deteriorating from day to day and harbouring only disease, vermin and corruption. Our soul, being united to our body, has become so carnal that it has been called flesh. “All flesh had corrupted its way”. Pride and blindness of spirit, hardness of heart, weakness and inconstancy of soul, evil inclinations, rebellious passions, ailments of the body—these are all we can call our own. By nature we are prouder than peacocks, we cling to the earth more than toads, we are more base than goats, more envious than serpents, greedier than pigs, fiercer than tigers, lazier than tortoises, weaker than reeds, and more changeable than weather-cocks. We have in us nothing but sin, and deserve only the wrath of God and the eternity of hell.
80. Is it any wonder then that our Lord laid down that anyone who aspires to be his follower must deny himself and hate his very life? He makes it clear that anyone who loves his life shall lose it and anyone who hates his life shall save it. Now, our Lord, who is infinite Wisdom, and does not give commandments without a reason, bids us hate ourselves only because we richly deserve to be hated. Nothing is more worthy of love than God and nothing is more deserving of hatred than self.
81. Secondly, in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves. This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them. This is what St. Paul calls “dying daily”. Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain and does not bear any good fruit. If we do not die to self and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to this necessary and fruitful death, we shall not bear fruit of any worth and our devotions will cease to be profitable. All our good works will be tainted by self-love and self-will so that our greatest sacrifices and our best actions will be unacceptable to God. Consequently when we come to die we shall find ourselves devoid of virtue and merit and discover that we do not possess even one spark of that pure love which God shares only with those who have died to themselves and whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in him.
82. Thirdly, we must choose among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin the one which will lead us more surely to this dying to self. This devotion will be the best and the most sanctifying for us. For we must not believe that all that glitters is gold, all that is sweet is honey, or all that is easy to do and is done by the majority of people is the most sanctifying. Just as in nature there are secrets enabling us to do certain natural things quickly, easily and at little cost, so in the spiritual life there are secrets which enable us to perform works rapidly, smoothly and with facility. Such works are, for example, emptying ourselves of self-love, filling ourselves with God, and attaining perfection. The devotion that I propose to explain is one of these secrets of grace, for it is unknown to most Christians. Only a few devout people know of it and it is practised and appreciated by fewer still. To begin the explanation of this devotion here is a fourth truth which is a consequence of the third.
Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens
O Holy Lord, Father Almighty
The text of this prayer appears in the Stimulus Divini Amoris. In the past this work has been attributed to St. Bonaventure (1218-1274) and to Henri of Beaume (d. 1439), but it is actually the work of Jacobus Mediolanensis (13th/14th century).From the Raccolta #66; Pius IX, Rescript in his own hand, April 11, 1874; S. P. Ap., Dec 13, 1932.
DOMINE sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus, propter tuam largitatem et Filii tui, qui pro me sustinuit passionem et mortem, et Matris eius excellentissimam sanctitatem, atque omnium Sanctorum merita, concede mihi peccatori, et omni tuo beneficio indigno, ut te solum diligam, tuum amorem semper sitiam, beneficium passionis continuo in corde habeam, meam miseriam recognoscam, et ab omnibus conculcari et contemni cupiam; nihil me contristet nisi culpa. Amen.
O HOLY Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God, for the sake of Thy bounty and that of Thy Son, who for me endured suffering and death; for the sake of the most excellent holiness of His Mother and the merits of all the Saints, grant unto me a sinner, unworthy of all Thy blessings, that I may love Thee only, may ever thirst for Thy love, may have continually in my heart the benefits of Thy passion, may acknowledge my own wretchedness and may desire to be trampled upon and be despised by all men; let nothing grieve me save guilt. Amen.
Week 7 10/27/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“I Believe” and “We Believe”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Aquinas’ Prayer for Students
b. “Dirigere et sanctificare”
II. Apologetics: Did the New Covenant Supercede the Old Covenant? Hebrews 8:6-13
III. Review of Week 6: “Sacred Scripture”
IV. Video: John Paul II: The Millennium Pope, “Faith” and “Liberation Theology”
V. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): “I Believe” - CCC # 142-165 ; We Believe - CCC # 166-184
VI. Spiritual Reading: TREATISE ON TRUE DEVOTION to the BLESSED VIRGIN by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort - CHAPTER TWO: IN WHAT DEVOTION TO MARY CONSISTS - 1. Basic principles of devotion to Mary - THIRD PRINCIPLE: WE MUST RID OURSELVES OF WHAT IS EVIL IN US
VII. Closing Prayer
a. Angelus
b. Litany of St. Joseph (Latin Chant)
c. “Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens”
Dirigere et sanctificare
Direct and Sanctify This Day
This prayer appears in the office of Prime in the Roman Breviary. In the Liturgia Horarum it is found at Lauds for Monday of the third week of the Psalter. It comes from the early centuries of our faith.From the Liturgia Horarum. See also the Roman Breviary, the Raccolta #108, & Liturgical Prayer, Its History & Spirit, Fernand Cabrol, OSB, P.J. Kenedy & Sons. 1921, p145.
DIRIGERE et sanctificare, regere et gubernare dignare, Domine Deus, Rex caeli et terrae, hodie corda et corpora nostra, sensus, sermones et actus nostros in lege tua et in operibus mandatorum tuorum; ut hic et in aeternum, te auxiliante, salvi et liberi esse mereamur, Salvator mundi: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
O LORD GOD, King of heaven and earth, may it please Thee this day to order and to hallow, to rule and to govern our hearts and our bodies, our thoughts, our words and our works, according to Thy law and in the doing of Thy commandments, that we, being helped by Thee, may here and hereafter worthily be saved and delivered by Thee, O Savior of the world, who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
Spiritual Reading:
TREATISE ON TRUE DEVOTION to the BLESSED VIRGIN by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort -
CHAPTER TWO: IN WHAT DEVOTION TO MARY CONSISTS -
1. Basic principles of devotion to Mary -
THIRD PRINCIPLE: WE MUST RID OURSELVES OF WHAT IS EVIL IN US
Third principle: We must rid ourselves of what is evil in us
78. Our best actions are usually tainted and spoiled by the evil that is rooted in us. When pure, clear water is poured into a foul-smelling jug, or wine into an unwashed cask that previously contained another wine, the clear water and the good wine are tainted and readily acquire an unpleasant odour. In the same way when God pours into our soul, infected by original and actual sin, the heavenly waters of his grace or the delicious wines of his love, his gifts are usually spoiled and tainted by the evil sediment left in us by sin. Our actions, even those of the highest virtue, show the effects of it. It is therefore of the utmost importance that, in seeking the perfection that can be attained only by union with Jesus, we rid ourselves of all that is evil in us. Otherwise our infinitely pure Lord, who has an infinite hatred for the slightest stain in our soul, will refuse to unite us to himself and will drive us from his presence.
79. To rid ourselves of selfishness, we must first become thoroughly aware, by the light of the Holy Spirit, of our tainted nature. Of ourselves we are unable to do anything conducive to our salvation. Our human weakness is evident in everything we do and we are habitually unreliable. We do not deserve any grace from God. Our tendency to sin is always present. The sin of Adam has almost entirely spoiled and soured us, filling us with pride and corrupting every one of us, just as leaven sours, swells and corrupts the dough in which it is placed. The actual sins we have committed, whether mortal or venial, even though forgiven, have intensified our base desires, our weakness, our inconstancy and our evil tendencies, and have left a sediment of evil in our soul. Our bodies are so corrupt that they are referred to by the Holy Spirit as bodies of sin, as conceived and nourished in sin, and capable of any kind of sin. They are subject to a thousand ills, deteriorating from day to day and harbouring only disease, vermin and corruption. Our soul, being united to our body, has become so carnal that it has been called flesh. “All flesh had corrupted its way”. Pride and blindness of spirit, hardness of heart, weakness and inconstancy of soul, evil inclinations, rebellious passions, ailments of the body—these are all we can call our own. By nature we are prouder than peacocks, we cling to the earth more than toads, we are more base than goats, more envious than serpents, greedier than pigs, fiercer than tigers, lazier than tortoises, weaker than reeds, and more changeable than weather-cocks. We have in us nothing but sin, and deserve only the wrath of God and the eternity of hell.
80. Is it any wonder then that our Lord laid down that anyone who aspires to be his follower must deny himself and hate his very life? He makes it clear that anyone who loves his life shall lose it and anyone who hates his life shall save it. Now, our Lord, who is infinite Wisdom, and does not give commandments without a reason, bids us hate ourselves only because we richly deserve to be hated. Nothing is more worthy of love than God and nothing is more deserving of hatred than self.
81. Secondly, in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves. This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them. This is what St. Paul calls “dying daily”. Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain and does not bear any good fruit. If we do not die to self and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to this necessary and fruitful death, we shall not bear fruit of any worth and our devotions will cease to be profitable. All our good works will be tainted by self-love and self-will so that our greatest sacrifices and our best actions will be unacceptable to God. Consequently when we come to die we shall find ourselves devoid of virtue and merit and discover that we do not possess even one spark of that pure love which God shares only with those who have died to themselves and whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in him.
82. Thirdly, we must choose among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin the one which will lead us more surely to this dying to self. This devotion will be the best and the most sanctifying for us. For we must not believe that all that glitters is gold, all that is sweet is honey, or all that is easy to do and is done by the majority of people is the most sanctifying. Just as in nature there are secrets enabling us to do certain natural things quickly, easily and at little cost, so in the spiritual life there are secrets which enable us to perform works rapidly, smoothly and with facility. Such works are, for example, emptying ourselves of self-love, filling ourselves with God, and attaining perfection. The devotion that I propose to explain is one of these secrets of grace, for it is unknown to most Christians. Only a few devout people know of it and it is practised and appreciated by fewer still. To begin the explanation of this devotion here is a fourth truth which is a consequence of the third.
Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens
O Holy Lord, Father Almighty
The text of this prayer appears in the Stimulus Divini Amoris. In the past this work has been attributed to St. Bonaventure (1218-1274) and to Henri of Beaume (d. 1439), but it is actually the work of Jacobus Mediolanensis (13th/14th century).From the Raccolta #66; Pius IX, Rescript in his own hand, April 11, 1874; S. P. Ap., Dec 13, 1932.
DOMINE sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus, propter tuam largitatem et Filii tui, qui pro me sustinuit passionem et mortem, et Matris eius excellentissimam sanctitatem, atque omnium Sanctorum merita, concede mihi peccatori, et omni tuo beneficio indigno, ut te solum diligam, tuum amorem semper sitiam, beneficium passionis continuo in corde habeam, meam miseriam recognoscam, et ab omnibus conculcari et contemni cupiam; nihil me contristet nisi culpa. Amen.
O HOLY Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God, for the sake of Thy bounty and that of Thy Son, who for me endured suffering and death; for the sake of the most excellent holiness of His Mother and the merits of all the Saints, grant unto me a sinner, unworthy of all Thy blessings, that I may love Thee only, may ever thirst for Thy love, may have continually in my heart the benefits of Thy passion, may acknowledge my own wretchedness and may desire to be trampled upon and be despised by all men; let nothing grieve me save guilt. Amen.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Week 6 - (10/20/07) - “Sacred Scripture”
“What Makes Us Catholic?”
Week 6 - 10/20/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“Sacred Scripture”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Prayer for Students
b. Litany of St. Joseph (Latin Chant)
II. Review of Week 5
III. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
IV. “Sacred Scripture” - CCC # 101-141
V. Spiritual Reading: Time For God: A Guide to Prayer By Jacques Philippe, pp. 58-63
VI. Closing Prayer
a. Angelus
b. Intercessions
Time For God: A Guide to Prayer By Jacques Philippe, pp. 58-63
God may freely act in us. It is this, as so well illustrated by St. John of the Cross, which explains times of aridity, certain moments when the intelligence or the imagination do not function during prayer, and when we experience the impossibility of meditating or feeling anything at all. God allows this aridity, this "dark night," so that he alone may work on us in a profound way, just as a doctor anesthetizes a patient so that he may do his job tranquilly!
We will return to this theme, but let us keep in mind that if, despite our good will, we are unable to pray well and remain unmoved and incapable of beautiful thoughts, we should not become sad. Rather, let us offer up our poverty to God's action and our prayer will be more valuable than if we satisfied ourselves! St. Francis de Sales says, "Lord, I am no more than a dry log; set me afire!"
THE PRIMACY OF LOVE
The second fundamental principle is the primacy of love above everything else. St. Teresa of Avila says that in prayer what matters is not to think much but to love much. This is also a liberating consideration. If we cannot think, meditate, or feel anything, we can always love. If we are at the point of exhaustion, oppressed by distractions, and unable to pray, we can offer this to the Lord with serene confidence. In this way, we love and offer a magnificent prayer. Love is king, regardless of the circumstances, and everything always flows from it. Quoting St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux would say, "Love profits from everything, from good as well as bad." Love profits from feelings as well as dryness, from inspirations as well as aridity, from virtue as well as sin.
This principle is united with the primacy of God's action over ours. In prayer, our principal task is to love, but in relation to God to love is, in the first place, allowing ourselves to be loved. This is not as easy as it seems! We must believe in love even when we have the tendency to doubt it. We must also accept our misery.
It is often easier to love than to allow ourselves to be loved. It is gratifying to reach out to others, to give, and to believe ourselves useful! Instead, allowing ourselves to be loved presupposes that we accept to do nothing, to be nothing. This is the first task of prayer: not to think, offer, or do anything for God, but to allow God to love us as little children, to give God the joy of loving us. This is hard because it supposes that we have unshakable faith in God's love for us. It also implies that we accept our poverty. This is a fundamental point: there is no authentic love for God that is not based on the recognition of the absolute priority of his love for us, and the understanding that before doing anything, we should learn to receive. In his first letter, St. John writes: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us" (1 Jn 4:10).
As regards God, the first act of love, the foundation of any act of love, is this: to believe that we are loved, to allow ourselves to be loved in our poverty, just as we are, regardless of our merits and virtues. If this is the foundation of our relationship with God, then we are on the right path. We will always fall into a kind of hypocrisy if we, and not God, occupy the first place, the center of our lives, our actions, and even of our virtues.
This point of view is very demanding. It requires decentralization, a great self-forgetfulness that is at the same time liberating. God does not await certain works, acts, or achievements from us. We are, after all, useless servants. "God does not need our works, but he thirsts for our love," says St. Therese of Lisieux. First, God asks us to allow ourselves to be loved, to believe in his love, and this is always possible. Prayer is fundamentally this: to place ourselves in God's presence and to allow him to love us. Love's response comes during or outside of prayer. If we allow ourselves to be loved, then God will personally work the good in us and give us the grace to carry out good works: "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Eph 2:10).
It follows that all we have to do in prayer is to seek love and to strengthen it. This is the only criterion for judging whether we are doing badly or well in prayer. Everything that inspires us to love is good. Of course, true love is not superficial or sentimental, even though ardent feelings have their value when God grants them to us.
Everything that nourishes our love for God is beneficial for our prayer. Whatever makes us grow in gratitude and confidence in God awakens or stimulates the desire for self-giving, of belonging to him, and of serving him faithfully, which should become a habitual part of our prayer.
Seek to be simple
In prayer, we must not ramble on or multiply thoughts and considerations that end up taking us away from true conversion of heart. What use are elevated and varied thoughts about the mysteries of the faith? What benefit is drawn from constantly changing the subject of meditation, or exploring the theological truths and Scripture passages if they do not lead to the firm resolution to give oneself to God and to renounce oneself for love of him? St. Therese of Lisieux says that to love is to give everything and to give one's self. If our daily prayers steadily revolve around and return to one idea: stirring our hearts into giving ourselves totally to the Lord, to be persistent in serving him, then such prayer would seem poorer and yet be better!
As regards the primacy of love, we have this example from St. Therese of Lisieux. Before she died, her sister, Sister Agnes, asked Therese, "What are you thinking about?" She answered, "I am not thinking about anything. I cannot think, I am suffering too much, and so I am praying." "And what do you tell Jesus?" "I don't tell him anything. I love him!"
This is the poorest yet the most profound of prayers: a simple act of love beyond words or ideas. We must seek to be simple. Ultimately, our prayers need not be more than this: no words, no ideas, not a succession of particular unique acts, but a single, simple act of love! We need time and the profound work of grace to acquire such simplicity, because sin has made us so complicated and fragmented. We should at least remember that the value of prayer is not measured by the abundance and variety of actions, but by making a simple act of love. The further we advance in the interior life, the simpler our prayer becomes.
Be warned of a temptation that may arise during prayer. Beautiful and profound thoughts and insights can occur to us while praying. They can come as illuminations regarding God's mystery or heartening insights about our life. These thoughts or inspirations, which may seem ingenious, can be a trap that we must guard against. Of course, God does grant us lights and inspirations during prayer, but we should realize that such thoughts can take us away from God's true presence. We can be carried away or exult in these inspirations, and we end up cultivating them to the point that we focus on them more than on God. Then, when our prayer ends, we realize that these were nothing great and rather futile.
Week 6 - 10/20/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“Sacred Scripture”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Prayer for Students
b. Litany of St. Joseph (Latin Chant)
II. Review of Week 5
III. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
IV. “Sacred Scripture” - CCC # 101-141
V. Spiritual Reading: Time For God: A Guide to Prayer By Jacques Philippe, pp. 58-63
VI. Closing Prayer
a. Angelus
b. Intercessions
Time For God: A Guide to Prayer By Jacques Philippe, pp. 58-63
God may freely act in us. It is this, as so well illustrated by St. John of the Cross, which explains times of aridity, certain moments when the intelligence or the imagination do not function during prayer, and when we experience the impossibility of meditating or feeling anything at all. God allows this aridity, this "dark night," so that he alone may work on us in a profound way, just as a doctor anesthetizes a patient so that he may do his job tranquilly!
We will return to this theme, but let us keep in mind that if, despite our good will, we are unable to pray well and remain unmoved and incapable of beautiful thoughts, we should not become sad. Rather, let us offer up our poverty to God's action and our prayer will be more valuable than if we satisfied ourselves! St. Francis de Sales says, "Lord, I am no more than a dry log; set me afire!"
THE PRIMACY OF LOVE
The second fundamental principle is the primacy of love above everything else. St. Teresa of Avila says that in prayer what matters is not to think much but to love much. This is also a liberating consideration. If we cannot think, meditate, or feel anything, we can always love. If we are at the point of exhaustion, oppressed by distractions, and unable to pray, we can offer this to the Lord with serene confidence. In this way, we love and offer a magnificent prayer. Love is king, regardless of the circumstances, and everything always flows from it. Quoting St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux would say, "Love profits from everything, from good as well as bad." Love profits from feelings as well as dryness, from inspirations as well as aridity, from virtue as well as sin.
This principle is united with the primacy of God's action over ours. In prayer, our principal task is to love, but in relation to God to love is, in the first place, allowing ourselves to be loved. This is not as easy as it seems! We must believe in love even when we have the tendency to doubt it. We must also accept our misery.
It is often easier to love than to allow ourselves to be loved. It is gratifying to reach out to others, to give, and to believe ourselves useful! Instead, allowing ourselves to be loved presupposes that we accept to do nothing, to be nothing. This is the first task of prayer: not to think, offer, or do anything for God, but to allow God to love us as little children, to give God the joy of loving us. This is hard because it supposes that we have unshakable faith in God's love for us. It also implies that we accept our poverty. This is a fundamental point: there is no authentic love for God that is not based on the recognition of the absolute priority of his love for us, and the understanding that before doing anything, we should learn to receive. In his first letter, St. John writes: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us" (1 Jn 4:10).
As regards God, the first act of love, the foundation of any act of love, is this: to believe that we are loved, to allow ourselves to be loved in our poverty, just as we are, regardless of our merits and virtues. If this is the foundation of our relationship with God, then we are on the right path. We will always fall into a kind of hypocrisy if we, and not God, occupy the first place, the center of our lives, our actions, and even of our virtues.
This point of view is very demanding. It requires decentralization, a great self-forgetfulness that is at the same time liberating. God does not await certain works, acts, or achievements from us. We are, after all, useless servants. "God does not need our works, but he thirsts for our love," says St. Therese of Lisieux. First, God asks us to allow ourselves to be loved, to believe in his love, and this is always possible. Prayer is fundamentally this: to place ourselves in God's presence and to allow him to love us. Love's response comes during or outside of prayer. If we allow ourselves to be loved, then God will personally work the good in us and give us the grace to carry out good works: "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Eph 2:10).
It follows that all we have to do in prayer is to seek love and to strengthen it. This is the only criterion for judging whether we are doing badly or well in prayer. Everything that inspires us to love is good. Of course, true love is not superficial or sentimental, even though ardent feelings have their value when God grants them to us.
Everything that nourishes our love for God is beneficial for our prayer. Whatever makes us grow in gratitude and confidence in God awakens or stimulates the desire for self-giving, of belonging to him, and of serving him faithfully, which should become a habitual part of our prayer.
Seek to be simple
In prayer, we must not ramble on or multiply thoughts and considerations that end up taking us away from true conversion of heart. What use are elevated and varied thoughts about the mysteries of the faith? What benefit is drawn from constantly changing the subject of meditation, or exploring the theological truths and Scripture passages if they do not lead to the firm resolution to give oneself to God and to renounce oneself for love of him? St. Therese of Lisieux says that to love is to give everything and to give one's self. If our daily prayers steadily revolve around and return to one idea: stirring our hearts into giving ourselves totally to the Lord, to be persistent in serving him, then such prayer would seem poorer and yet be better!
As regards the primacy of love, we have this example from St. Therese of Lisieux. Before she died, her sister, Sister Agnes, asked Therese, "What are you thinking about?" She answered, "I am not thinking about anything. I cannot think, I am suffering too much, and so I am praying." "And what do you tell Jesus?" "I don't tell him anything. I love him!"
This is the poorest yet the most profound of prayers: a simple act of love beyond words or ideas. We must seek to be simple. Ultimately, our prayers need not be more than this: no words, no ideas, not a succession of particular unique acts, but a single, simple act of love! We need time and the profound work of grace to acquire such simplicity, because sin has made us so complicated and fragmented. We should at least remember that the value of prayer is not measured by the abundance and variety of actions, but by making a simple act of love. The further we advance in the interior life, the simpler our prayer becomes.
Be warned of a temptation that may arise during prayer. Beautiful and profound thoughts and insights can occur to us while praying. They can come as illuminations regarding God's mystery or heartening insights about our life. These thoughts or inspirations, which may seem ingenious, can be a trap that we must guard against. Of course, God does grant us lights and inspirations during prayer, but we should realize that such thoughts can take us away from God's true presence. We can be carried away or exult in these inspirations, and we end up cultivating them to the point that we focus on them more than on God. Then, when our prayer ends, we realize that these were nothing great and rather futile.
Week 5 - (10/06/07) - “The Transmission of Divine Revelation”
“What Makes Us Catholic?”
Week 5 - 10/06/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“The Transmission of Divine Revelation”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Prayer for Students
II. Review of Week 4
III. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
IV. “The Transmission of Divine Revelation” - CCC # 74-100
V. Spiritual Reading: The Journey Towards God by Fr. benedict Groeschel, CFR – Quotation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta On Conversion
VI. Closing Prayer
a. Angelus
b. Intercessions
Mother Teresa of Calcutta On Conversion
Conversion is love in action between God and the soul. The principal obstacle to conversion is sin. That is why the tenderness of God's love is so great that he gave us Jesus to wash away all our sins. He does this in confession through the merits of his Precious Blood. For that reason we go to confession and we become sinners without sin. This is true conversion: the love of God in the vivifying action offender and merciful love. The pure of heart can see God in every person. Then naturally such a person will want to share the joy of love with one's own family and neighbors, especially those who have done us harm or those whom we have harmed. This is truly the fruit of authentic conversion, because where there is love, there is God.
Letter to the Eucharistic Congress at Seoul, South Korea, October 1989
Week 5 - 10/06/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“The Transmission of Divine Revelation”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Prayer for Students
II. Review of Week 4
III. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
IV. “The Transmission of Divine Revelation” - CCC # 74-100
V. Spiritual Reading: The Journey Towards God by Fr. benedict Groeschel, CFR – Quotation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta On Conversion
VI. Closing Prayer
a. Angelus
b. Intercessions
Mother Teresa of Calcutta On Conversion
Conversion is love in action between God and the soul. The principal obstacle to conversion is sin. That is why the tenderness of God's love is so great that he gave us Jesus to wash away all our sins. He does this in confession through the merits of his Precious Blood. For that reason we go to confession and we become sinners without sin. This is true conversion: the love of God in the vivifying action offender and merciful love. The pure of heart can see God in every person. Then naturally such a person will want to share the joy of love with one's own family and neighbors, especially those who have done us harm or those whom we have harmed. This is truly the fruit of authentic conversion, because where there is love, there is God.
Letter to the Eucharistic Congress at Seoul, South Korea, October 1989
Monday, October 1, 2007
Week 4 - (09/29/07) - “The Revelation of God”
“Are Catholics Christian?”
Week 4 - 09/29/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“The Revelation of God”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Prayer for Students
b. Litany of the Saints
II. Review of Week 3
III. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
IV. “The Revelation of God” - CCC # 50-73
V. Spiritual Reading: The Imitation of Christ Chapter 58: HIGH MATTERS AND THE HIDDEN JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE NOT TO BE SCRUTINIZED
VI. Closing Prayer
a. Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
b. Intercessions
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
BY THOMAS À KEMPIS
TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN INTO MODERN ENGLISH
Digitized by Harry Plantinga, planting@cs.pitt.edu, 1994. This etext is in the public domain.
The Fifty-Eighth Chapter
HIGH MATTERS AND THE HIDDEN JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE NOT TO BE SCRUTINIZED
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, beware of discussing high matters and God's hidden judgments --why this person is so forsaken and why that one is favored with so great a grace, or why one man is so afflicted and another so highly exalted. Such things are beyond all human understanding and no reason or disputation can fathom the judgments of God.
When the enemy puts such suggestions in your mind, therefore, or when some curious persons raise questions about them, answer with the prophet: "Thou art just, O Lord, and righteous are Thy judgments";40 and this: "The judgments of the Lord are true and wholly righteous."41 My judgments are to be feared, not discussed, because they are incomprehensible to the understanding of men.
In like manner, do not inquire or dispute about the merits of the saints, as to which is more holy, or which shall be greater in the kingdom of heaven. Such things often breed strife and useless contentions. They nourish pride and vainglory, whence arise envy and quarrels, when one proudly tries to exalt one saint and the other another. A desire to know and pry into such matters brings forth no fruit. On the contrary, it displeases the saints, because I am the God, not of dissension, but of peace -- of that peace which consists in true humility rather than in self-exaltation.
Some are drawn by the ardor of their love with greater affection to these saints or to those, but this affection is human and not divine. I am He who made all the saints. I gave them grace: I brought them to glory. I know the merits of each of them. I came before them in the blessings of My sweetness. I knew My beloved ones before the ages. I chose them out of the world -- they did not choose Me. I called them by grace, I drew them on by mercy. I led them safely through various temptations. I poured into them glorious consolations. I gave them perseverance and I crowned their patience. I know the first and the last. I embrace them all with love inestimable. I am to be praised in all My saints. I am to be blessed above all things, and honored in each of those whom I have exalted and predestined so gloriously without any previous merits of their own.
He who despises one of the least of mine, therefore, does no honor to the greatest, for both the small and the great I made. And he who disparages one of the saints disparages Me also and all others in the kingdom of heaven. They are all one through the bond of charity. They have the same thought and the same will, and they mutually love one another; but, what is a much greater thing, they love Me more than themselves or their own merits. Rapt above themselves, and drawn beyond love of self, they are entirely absorbed in love of Me, in Whom they rest. There is nothing that can draw them away or depress them, for they who are filled with eternal truth burn with the fire of unquenchable love.
Therefore, let carnal and sensual men, who know only how to love their own selfish joys, forbear to dispute about the state of God's saints. Such men take away and add according to their own inclinations and not as it pleases the Eternal Truth. In many this is sheer ignorance, especially in those who are but little enlightened and can rarely love anyone with a purely spiritual love. They are still strongly drawn by natural affection and human friendship to one person or another, and on their behavior in such things here below are based their imaginings of heavenly things. But there is an incomparable distance between the things which the imperfect imagine and those which enlightened men contemplate through revelation from above.
Be careful, then, My child, of treating matters beyond your knowledge out of curiosity. Let it rather be your business and aim to be found, even though the least, in the kingdom of God. For though one were to know who is more holy than another, or who is greater in the kingdom of heaven, of what value would this knowledge be to him unless out of it he should humble himself before Me and should rise up in greater praise of My name?
The man who thinks of the greatness of his own sins and the littleness of his virtues, and of the distance between himself and the perfection of the saints, acts much more acceptably to God than the one who argues about who is greater or who is less. It is better to invoke the saints with devout prayers and tears, and with a humble mind to beg their glorious aid, than to search with vain inquisitiveness into their secrets.
The saints are well and perfectly contented if men know how to content themselves and cease their useless discussions. They do not glory in their own merits, for they attribute no good to themselves but all to Me, because out of My infinite charity I gave all to them. They are filled with such love of God and with such overflowing joy, that no glory is wanting to them and they can lack no happiness. All the saints are so much higher in glory as they are more humble in themselves; nearer to Me, and more beloved by Me. Therefore, you find it written that they cast their crowns before God, and fell down upon their faces before the Lamb, and adored Him Who lives forever.
Many ask who is the greater in the kingdom of heaven when they do not know whether they themselves shall be worthy of being numbered among its least. It is a great thing to be even the least in heaven where all are great because all shall be called, and shall be, the children of God. The least shall be as a thousand, and the sinner of a hundred years shall die. For when the disciples asked who should be greater in the kingdom of heaven they heard this response: "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven."42
Woe to those, therefore, who disdain to humble themselves willingly with the little children, for the low gate of the heavenly kingdom will not permit them to enter. Woe also to the rich who have their consolations here, for when the poor enter into God's kingdom, they will stand outside lamenting. Rejoice, you humble, and exult, you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours, if only you walk in the truth.
Week 4 - 09/29/07
www.geocities.com/laurence_gonzaga/study.htm
youngadultsfc.blogspot.com
“The Revelation of God”
I. Opening Prayer
a. St. Thomas Prayer for Students
b. Litany of the Saints
II. Review of Week 3
III. Study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
IV. “The Revelation of God” - CCC # 50-73
V. Spiritual Reading: The Imitation of Christ Chapter 58: HIGH MATTERS AND THE HIDDEN JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE NOT TO BE SCRUTINIZED
VI. Closing Prayer
a. Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
b. Intercessions
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
BY THOMAS À KEMPIS
TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN INTO MODERN ENGLISH
Digitized by Harry Plantinga, planting@cs.pitt.edu, 1994. This etext is in the public domain.
The Fifty-Eighth Chapter
HIGH MATTERS AND THE HIDDEN JUDGMENTS OF GOD ARE NOT TO BE SCRUTINIZED
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, beware of discussing high matters and God's hidden judgments --why this person is so forsaken and why that one is favored with so great a grace, or why one man is so afflicted and another so highly exalted. Such things are beyond all human understanding and no reason or disputation can fathom the judgments of God.
When the enemy puts such suggestions in your mind, therefore, or when some curious persons raise questions about them, answer with the prophet: "Thou art just, O Lord, and righteous are Thy judgments";40 and this: "The judgments of the Lord are true and wholly righteous."41 My judgments are to be feared, not discussed, because they are incomprehensible to the understanding of men.
In like manner, do not inquire or dispute about the merits of the saints, as to which is more holy, or which shall be greater in the kingdom of heaven. Such things often breed strife and useless contentions. They nourish pride and vainglory, whence arise envy and quarrels, when one proudly tries to exalt one saint and the other another. A desire to know and pry into such matters brings forth no fruit. On the contrary, it displeases the saints, because I am the God, not of dissension, but of peace -- of that peace which consists in true humility rather than in self-exaltation.
Some are drawn by the ardor of their love with greater affection to these saints or to those, but this affection is human and not divine. I am He who made all the saints. I gave them grace: I brought them to glory. I know the merits of each of them. I came before them in the blessings of My sweetness. I knew My beloved ones before the ages. I chose them out of the world -- they did not choose Me. I called them by grace, I drew them on by mercy. I led them safely through various temptations. I poured into them glorious consolations. I gave them perseverance and I crowned their patience. I know the first and the last. I embrace them all with love inestimable. I am to be praised in all My saints. I am to be blessed above all things, and honored in each of those whom I have exalted and predestined so gloriously without any previous merits of their own.
He who despises one of the least of mine, therefore, does no honor to the greatest, for both the small and the great I made. And he who disparages one of the saints disparages Me also and all others in the kingdom of heaven. They are all one through the bond of charity. They have the same thought and the same will, and they mutually love one another; but, what is a much greater thing, they love Me more than themselves or their own merits. Rapt above themselves, and drawn beyond love of self, they are entirely absorbed in love of Me, in Whom they rest. There is nothing that can draw them away or depress them, for they who are filled with eternal truth burn with the fire of unquenchable love.
Therefore, let carnal and sensual men, who know only how to love their own selfish joys, forbear to dispute about the state of God's saints. Such men take away and add according to their own inclinations and not as it pleases the Eternal Truth. In many this is sheer ignorance, especially in those who are but little enlightened and can rarely love anyone with a purely spiritual love. They are still strongly drawn by natural affection and human friendship to one person or another, and on their behavior in such things here below are based their imaginings of heavenly things. But there is an incomparable distance between the things which the imperfect imagine and those which enlightened men contemplate through revelation from above.
Be careful, then, My child, of treating matters beyond your knowledge out of curiosity. Let it rather be your business and aim to be found, even though the least, in the kingdom of God. For though one were to know who is more holy than another, or who is greater in the kingdom of heaven, of what value would this knowledge be to him unless out of it he should humble himself before Me and should rise up in greater praise of My name?
The man who thinks of the greatness of his own sins and the littleness of his virtues, and of the distance between himself and the perfection of the saints, acts much more acceptably to God than the one who argues about who is greater or who is less. It is better to invoke the saints with devout prayers and tears, and with a humble mind to beg their glorious aid, than to search with vain inquisitiveness into their secrets.
The saints are well and perfectly contented if men know how to content themselves and cease their useless discussions. They do not glory in their own merits, for they attribute no good to themselves but all to Me, because out of My infinite charity I gave all to them. They are filled with such love of God and with such overflowing joy, that no glory is wanting to them and they can lack no happiness. All the saints are so much higher in glory as they are more humble in themselves; nearer to Me, and more beloved by Me. Therefore, you find it written that they cast their crowns before God, and fell down upon their faces before the Lamb, and adored Him Who lives forever.
Many ask who is the greater in the kingdom of heaven when they do not know whether they themselves shall be worthy of being numbered among its least. It is a great thing to be even the least in heaven where all are great because all shall be called, and shall be, the children of God. The least shall be as a thousand, and the sinner of a hundred years shall die. For when the disciples asked who should be greater in the kingdom of heaven they heard this response: "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven."42
Woe to those, therefore, who disdain to humble themselves willingly with the little children, for the low gate of the heavenly kingdom will not permit them to enter. Woe also to the rich who have their consolations here, for when the poor enter into God's kingdom, they will stand outside lamenting. Rejoice, you humble, and exult, you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours, if only you walk in the truth.
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