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Medjugorje
Message: February 25, 2013 Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling
you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and
the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the
battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little
children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life
will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my
call. |
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Published by the Marian Center of San Antonio / A Catholic
Evangelization Ministry In this beautiful Lenten message, Our Lady
clarifies our human condition in light of what she is trying to do for us.
She says, “Sin is pulling you
towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the
things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the
battle with the good and the evil that are in you.” Here
her language is revealing: Sin
“pulls” us while she “leads” us. The action
of “pulling” is regressive (“towards worldly things”), while the action of
“leading” is progressive (“towards the things of God”). We are “pulled” back,
down, or behind by sin, but one “leads” a person forward,
ahead, upward. Our Lady indicates that our forward progress is
blocked or slowed by the fact that we are “struggling and spending our
energies.” In other words, we are not free, clear channels through which Our Lady can gain easy access to
help lift us to a higher plane of existence, a spiritual quality of life. Her
efforts are stymied by the fact that we are otherwise occupied, exhausting
our own inner resources by the struggle of a “battle.” And what is this “battle”? Our Lady says we are
at “battle with the good and the evil that
are in you.” She does not
say we are at battle with demonic forces outside of us, with “enemies” of the Church or
Christianity or America; with people, powers, organizations, movements, or
ideologies antithetical to our moral doctrines or religious beliefs. She is
not presenting an “us vs. them” conflict for which we should be armed for
battle. We are not at war with the government, the media, Hollywood, a
political party, secular society, the atheists, gays, feminists, pagans, New
Agers, or any other “outsider.” No, Our Lady indicates that the enemy is within,
that “we have met the enemy and he is us” (as Walt Kelly wrote, originally in reference
to 1950’s McCarthyism). This is an extremely
important teaching—one that Our
Lord Jesus Christ also emphasized when instructing his disciples. It is very easy for religious folk to focus upon
the “battle” against “sin” as something external, separate or outside
of our own hearts. It is tempting to target “sin” or “evil” as an enemy
embodied by “other” people, places and things, instead of the subtle egoic force within our
own psyche. Such projecting
of this crucial battle outside of ourselves leads to the spiritual
bankruptcy of the Pharisees: a critical, judgmental, intolerant persecution
of sin “out there,” condemning “others,” without the vital realization of one’s own interior battlefield, left unattended and laid waste by evil. This is
the myopic Pharisaic vision that sees the “splinter” but not the “plank.”
Jesus said, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters one from the
outside that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth is what
defiles one….They [the Pharisees] are blind guides….The things that come out
of the mouth come from the heart and they defile. For from the
heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity,
theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to eat
with unwashed hands does not defile.” (Mt 15:10-20) It is interesting that Our Lady does not call
this a “battle between the good and evil” within us, but rather says
that we are struggling “with” the good “and” the evil inside. In other words, we are unconscious. We are tossed
by the winds of complete self-identification with whichever internal program for shallow, self-centered happiness happens to be dominant on a given day. One day
it is the exaggerated need for power and control; another day it is
the overblown obsession with affection and esteem; then again, it is
the compulsion toward safety and security. Often it is simply the
chase after physical pleasure. All the while, we run exhaustively on
“automatic pilot,” mostly oblivious to our own egoic
agendas that are driving our behavior from moment to moment. Our energies are
sapped by day’s end; we have struggled with the “good” inspirations toward prayer, works of
mercy, service to our neighbor, unselfish giving, or the need to reform and
convert areas of our life…and we have likewise struggled with the “evil” operations of a contracted, egoic
insecurity and anxiety to “have, do and get” by our own
devices things that should be wholly entrusted to God’s loving and faithful
providence. Whatever the case, we become sucked in to identifying with the “cause du jour” without any higher “Witness” or consciousness
that can observe reality impartially from the depths of a calm sea beneath
the crashing waves of our turbulently changing surface desires. We are
missing a spiritual “core,” an abiding “Presence.” Into this sad and sorry state of affairs that is
our human condition, Our Lady comes with the antidote to our plight: her
perennial call to prayer, saying, “Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer
becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God.” When we have truly answered Our Lady’s 32-year
call from Medjugorje to pray in this way—to the point
that prayer becomes our joy rather than the false self programs for happiness that will never work—we will
no longer walk “towards worldly things” or “towards the things of God.” No, at that
point, all the energy-draining complications and intermediaries will be
gone—as well as the “struggle” with both the “good” and “evil” within. All
will be “lost among the lilies,” as St. John of the Cross wrote of contemplative prayer, in the
sheer simplicity of loving intimacy with
our Creator. And then—only then—our “life will become a simple walk towards God” (unmediated by
“things” of any kind). May this Lenten season find us beginning such a new life and simple walk. March
Musings: Moving Deeper into Lent &
Approaching Resurrection Taking the Lenten Stance of a
Prodigal Son or Daughter: Do not lose heart, O
soul, do not grieve; pronounce not over yourself a final judgment for the multitude
of your sins; do not commit yourself to fire; do not say: ‘The Lord has cast
me from his face.’ Such words are not pleasing to God. Can it be that he who
has fallen cannot get up? Can it be that he who has turned away cannot turn
back again? Do you not hear how kind the Father is to a prodigal? Do
not be ashamed to turn back, and say boldly: ‘I will arise and go to
my Father.’ Arise and go! He will accept you and will not reproach you,
but rather rejoice at your return. He awaits you; just do not be ashamed
and do not hide from the face of God as did Adam. It was for your sake that
Christ was crucified; so will he cast you aside? He knows who
oppresses us. He knows that we have no other help but him alone. Christ knows
that man is miserable. Do not give yourself up to despair and apathy,
assuming that you have been prepared for the fire; he gains nothing if he
sends us into the abyss to be tormented. Imitate the prodigal son: leave
the city that starves you. Come and beseech him and you shall behold the
glory of God. Glory to the Lord and Lover of mankind who saves us! -- St. Ephrem the Syrian Death itself is doomed, evil must eventually collapse upon its own
hollowness. The whole “world” of sin is being eaten away from inside by the
worm of salvation. The evil and disorder in ourselves, the evil and disorder
that attack us from outside, all that is subject to fatality: it must die,
and there will be an end of it. But meantime the inner man is being made new
by the Spirit of God. That is the victory that bursts forth in prayer of
thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the vigor, the triumphalism,
of faith....It is the atmosphere of jubilee that reinforces our own hearts
against the insidious attack of devilry, whose aim is always to undermine our
hope…. It is against this creeping insinuation that we [will soon] sing and
shout “Alleluia!”
-- Fr. Simon Tugwell,
OP Staying
on the Joyful Path of Conversion for
Life Being converted is
simply meeting yourself for the purpose of going to the very end of your
being. Conversion means a willingness to see the truth of things
and conform one’s conduct to it. -- A. Sertillanges That dear preacher
Paul…was a wolf, but he became a lamb, a gracious vessel of
love—and the fire with which Christ filled his vessel he carried through the
whole world....He clothed himself in Christ crucified, and was stripped of
the joy of seeing the divine Essence. He clothed himself in the human
Christ—that is, in the sufferings and humiliations of Christ crucified,
and wanted no other joy. He even said, “I
refuse to glory except in the cross of Christ crucified”….As he traveled along
the way of humiliation he absorbed the boundless charity and
goodness with which God loves his creatures. He saw that Christ’s
will is for the eternal Father’s honor and our salvation and holiness,
and that he gave himself up to death in order to realize this holiness in us.
Paul grasped and understood this, and he at once devoted himself to giving
honor to God and his best efforts to his neighbors….And he became a vessel of
love filled with fire. – St.
Catherine of Siena It is clear that Paul wholly
fled from himself and cast out all his own will, and that his will was
active only in relation to Christ. Since with Christ there was nothing
undesirable or repugnant to his will, it follows that his was a wondrous pleasure
which was always present and with which he always lived. – Nicholas Cabasilas To be forgiven when we
know we don’t “deserve” to be forgiven is radically transformative in a way
violence can never be. To be forgiven does another kind of violence: to
our whole tit-for-tat notion of crime and punishment. To be forgiven
makes us realize that, unbelievable as it may seem, God
needs us for something. We have a mission….How often I’ve been harsh,
rageful, importunate, intolerant, unfaithful,
unkind, and just plain wrong….Often a long time passes before I see that,
once again, I’ve been persecuting Christ. Our offense doesn’t lie in
breaking a rule. It lies in offending against love, against truth,
against beauty. What’s remarkable about St. Paul isn’t that he had a
white-light experience. What’s remarkable is that he retained his fervor for all
the remaining years of his life.
– Heather King Lent is always a call
to conversion. We must remember that conversion is not a call to be
something other than what we are. Conversion is a call to become more of
what we are really meant to be.
– Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB This kingdom and this
salvation…are available to every human being as grace and mercy, and
yet at the same time each individual must gain them…through toil and
suffering, through a life lived according to the gospel, through abnegation
and the cross, through the spirit of the beatitudes. But above all, each
individual gains them through a total interior renewal which the gospel
calls “metanoia”; it is a radical
conversion, a profound change of mind and heart. – Pope Paul VI The more I walk with
Jesus every day in an eternal renewal of joy and life, I discover that to
serve is to reign….I will reveal to you a secret for reigning, for
overcoming exhaustion, tiredness, depression, and fear: turn your heart toward and give a hand
to someone else who is suffering more than you. It is an enormous
gift to have the poor among us. When I say poor, I am thinking of your
father, your husband, your wife, or your brother. In order to overcome our
limitations, or cross the threshold of our weariness, serving others is a
source of joy. It is a true, concrete experience of whomever
“loses his life for my sake will find it.” Even our sins should not stop
us from loving. Sometimes we feel blocked, poor, or incapable because
we think about our wounds and focus on our limitations. Let us try instead to
place them before the Lord in all truth, so that he can free us of the weight
of our sins and invite us as apostles in the world to announce his
Resurrection. The world awaits the Paschal annunciation of hope and the
joy of knowing that death is defeated forever…. Jesus invites us to
experience the Resurrection, to become bearers of hope, to be lights in the
world so that he can be more visible, more evident, and more present on the earth
through our lives, our call, and our “yes.” -- Sr. Elvira Petrozzi Lenten
“Set-Aside” Prayer: God, please help me SET ASIDE everything I think I
know….about myself, the Bible, the Church, the world, and YOU—that I may have
an open
mind and a new experience of all these things.
Please let me see your Heart and your Truth through the power of the Holy
Spirit. In Christ Jesus our Lord, amen. -- Adaptation of 12-Step “Set Aside” Prayer O Felix Culpa! O Happy Fault! O Necessary
Sin of Adam! (Easter
Vigil Exultet) March
31: Easter Sunday His Resurrection has
formed a bridge between the world and eternal life over which every
man and every woman can cross to reach the true goal of our earthly
pilgrimage.
–
Pope Benedict XVI March 25: First Joyful Mystery—Annunciation The
Church keeps the Feast of the Annunciation on the 25th of March.
There is still a touch of austerity upon the earth, there is still a silver
emptiness in the skies, but expectation of spring is already stirring the
human heart, the bud is beginning to break on the tree, the promise of
blossom has quickened the spirit of man. This is the season when we
celebrate the wedding of the Holy Spirit with humanity, the wedding of the
Spirit of Wisdom and Love with the dust of the earth….It is always a love
story. It is in Our Lady that God fell in love with humanity. – Caryll
Houselander
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Mark Your Calendar!
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March 1-2 |
“Faith on Fire” Charismatic Renewal
Conference; St. Mary Magdalen parish, 1710 Clower; call 226-7545 |
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2 |
Portraits of World
Mysticism Class: “Indwelling Presence:
Balancing Action & Contemplation—The Shekhinah
in Jewish Mysticism” with Mirabai Starr; 9 am-12
pm; Oblate School of Theology Whitley Theological Center; 285 Oblate Dr; $40; call 341-1366 x 212 |
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2 |
Archbishop’s Pilgrimage
from Mission Concepcion to Mission San Jose; 9:30 am – 1 pm; walk with Archbishop
Gustavo! Route begins at Concepcion Public Park, 600 E. Theo Parkway. Free
parking @ 714 E. Theo |
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4-6 |
3-evening Lenten Mission w/ Fr. Daniel
Renaud, OMI: “Unleashing the Spirit of
the Beatitudes”; 6 pm Mass and 7 pm-8:30 pm conference; St. Matthew’s
Catholic Church; 10703 Wurzbach Rd |
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7 |
Fr. Thomas Keating’s 90th
Birthday! Bridges to Contemplative
Living w/ Thomas Merton Class: “A
Transforming Vision of Love’s True Horizons” w/ Rosalyn Falcon Collier;
1-3 pm, Oblate School of Theology Rock House; 285 Oblate Dr., call 341-1366 x
212 |
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9 |
“Amazing Grace” Lenten Retreat on God’s Love; 8:30 am; St. Dominic
parish, 5919 Ingram Rd.; call 269-6361
(Adults only) |
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10-14 |
Contemplative Retreat &
Lecture Series: “People of
Pilgrimage—Listening for the Heartbeat of God” w/ Rev. John Philip Newell;
choose either full retreat or 3-evening lecture series only; Oblate School of
Theology, Whitley Theological Center; 285 Oblate Dr;
$395 for retreat/$65 lectures only; call 341-1366 x 212 |
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11
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Annulment Workshop (Informational
meeting) w/ Msgr. Mike Yarbrough & Carmen Mason; 7-8:30 pm, Holy Trinity
Church, upstairs Faith Formation Bldg; 20523
Huebner Rd; call 497-4200 |
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19 |
St. Joseph, spouse of the
Blessed Virgin Mary St. Mary’s University Lin
Great Speakers Series Lecture: “Our
Divided Political Heart & the Election of 2012” w/ E.J. Dionne, Jr.,
journalist & columnist for the Washington Post; 7 pm; St. Mary’s U.
Center Conf. Room A |
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19 |
5th Annual Frank
Montalbano Lecture: “Only the Day Can Decide: Meditating on the Gospels” w/
internationally-known author & professor John Shea; 7 pm Oblate School of
Theology Whitley Theological Center, 285 Oblate (free) |
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23 |
PEACE
MASS: 12 pm, St. Mary’s Church, 202 N. St. Mary’s; Rosary at 11:30 am |
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24 |
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s
Passion Rosary-making: 2–5:30 pm, St. Mary’s Church, 202 N. St.
Mary’s |
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25 |
Annunciation of Gabriel to
Mary; Monday of Holy Week; Passover begins |
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28 |
Holy Thursday |
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29 |
Good Friday |
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30 |
Holy Saturday / Easter
Vigil Service |
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31 |
Easter
Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord |
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“I adore you, God the Father, who created
me; I adore you, God the Son, who redeemed me; I adore you, O Holy Spirit,
who have so often sanctified me and are still sanctifying me. I consecrate
to you my whole day for the pure love of you and for your greater glory.
I do not know what is to happen to me today, whether troublesome things or
pleasant ones, or whether I shall be happy or sad, in consolation or in
grief. It will all be as you please. I
abandon myself to your providence, and I submit myself to all your wishes.”
-- St. Francis Xavier |
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Copyright, Marian Center of San Antonio. All
rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without
permission. |