Of Desire

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 17

restingjesus_Fotor3from Christ at Rest, by Hans Holbein the Younger (1519)

 

TO rest with Jesus in the Storm is not a passive rest, as though we are to remain oblivious to the world around us. It is not…

…the rest of inactivity, but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections—of will, heart, imagination, conscience—because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development. —J. Patrick, Vine’s Expository, p. 529; cf. Hastings’ Bible Dictionary

Think of the Earth and its orbit. The planet is in perpetual motion, always encircling the Sun, thereby generating the seasons; always rotating, generating night and day; always faithful to the course set out for it by the Creator. There you have the picture of what it means to “rest”: to live perfectly in the Divine Will.

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Resting in the Stern

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 LENTEN RETREAT
Day 16

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THERE is a reason, brothers and sisters, why I feel Heaven wants to do this Lenten Retreat this year, that up until now, I have not voiced. But I feel this is the moment to speak about it. The reason is that a violent spiritual Storm is bearing down all around us. The winds of “change” are blowing hard; the waves of confusion are spilling over the bow; the Barque of Peter is beginning to rock… and in the midst of it, Jesus is inviting you and me to the stern.

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An Intimate Testimony

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 15

 

 

IF you’ve ever been to one of my retreats before, then you’ll know I prefer to speak from the heart. I find it leaves room for the Lord or Our Lady to do whatever they want—like change the subject. Well, today is one of those moments. Yesterday, we reflected on the gift of salvation, which is also a privilege and calling to bear fruit for the Kingdom. As St. Paul said in Ephesians…

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On Losing One’s Salvation

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 14 

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SALVATION is a gift, a pure gift from God that no one earns. It is freely given because “God so loved world.” [1]John 3:16 In one of the more moving revelations from Jesus to St. Faustina, He beckons:

Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me—clamoring to be spent… I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don’t want to believe in My goodness. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 50

The Apostle Paul wrote that God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” [2]1 Tim 2:4 So there is no question of God’s generosity and burning desire to see every single man and woman remain with Him for eternity. However, it is equally true that we can not only refuse this gift, but forfeit it, even after we have been “saved.”

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 John 3:16
↑2 1 Tim 2:4

On Docility

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 12

sacredheart001_Fotor

 

TO “prepare the way of the Lord,” the prophet Isaiah entreats us to make the road straight, the valleys lifted up, and “every mountain and hill made low.” In Day 8 we meditated On Humility—leveling those mountains of pride. But the evil brothers of pride are the foothills of ambition and self-will. And the bulldozer of these is humility’s sister: meekness.

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My Boo-boo…Your Benefit

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For those who are taking the Lenten Retreat, I made a boo-boo. There are 40 days in Lent, not counting Sundays (because they are the “Day of the Lord“). However, I did a meditation for last Sunday. So as of today, we are essentially caught up. I will resume Day 11 on Monday morning. 

However, this provides a wonderful unintended pause for those who need a pause—that is, for those who are despairing as they look into the mirror, those who are discouraged, afraid, and disgusted to the point that they practically hate themselves. Self-knowledge must lead to the Savior—not self-hatred. I have two writings for you that are perhaps critical at this moment, otherwise, one could lose the most necessary perspective in the interior life: that of keeping one’s eyes always fixed upon Jesus and His mercy…

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On Making a Good Confession

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 10

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JUST as important as going to Confession on a regular basis, is knowing also how to make a good Confession. This is more important than many realize, since it is the truth which sets us free. What happens, then, when we obscure or hide the truth?

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The Tribunal of Mercy

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 9

confessional6

 

THE first path by which the Lord can begin to transform a soul is opened when that person, seeing themselves in the light of truth, acknowledges their poverty and need for Him in a spirit of humility. This is a grace and gift initiated by the Lord Himself who loves the sinner so much, that He seeks him or her out, most especially when they are enclosed in the darkness of sin. As Matthew the Poor wrote…

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On Humility

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 8

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IT is one thing to have self-knowledge; to see clearly the reality of one’s spiritual poverty, lack of virtue, or deficit in charity—in a word, to see the abyss of one’s misery. But self-knowledge alone is not enough. It must be wed to humility in order for grace to take effect. Compare again Peter and Judas: both came face to face with the truth of their inner corruption, but in the first case self-knowledge was wed with humility, while in the latter, it was wed to pride. And as the Proverbs say, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” [1]Prov 16:18

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Prov 16:18

Self-Knowledge

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 7

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MY brother and I used to share the same room growing up. There were some nights that we couldn’t stop giggling. Inevitably, we’d hear the footsteps of dad coming down the hallway, and we’d shrink beneath the covers pretending we were asleep. Then the door would open…

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The Blessed Helpers

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 6

mary-mother-of-god-holding-sacred-heart-bible-rosary-2_FotorArtist Unknown

 

AND so, the spiritual or “interior” life consists in co-operating with grace in order that Jesus’s divine life may live in and through me. So if Christianity consists in Jesus being formed in me, how will God make this possible? Here is a question for you: how did God make it possible the first time for Jesus to be formed in the flesh? The answer is through the Holy Spirit and Mary.

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The Inner Self

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 5

contemplation1

 

ARE you still with me? It’s now Day 5 of our retreat, and I am certain many of you are struggling in these first days to stay committed. But take that, perhaps, as a sign that you might need this retreat more than you realize. I can say that this is the case for myself.

Today, we continue expanding the vision of what it means to be a Christian and who we are in Christ…

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The Good Death

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 4

deathtoself_Fotor

 

IT says in Proverbs,

Without a vision the people lose restraint. (Prov 29:18)

In the first days of this Lenten Retreat, then, it is imperative that we have a vision of what it means to be a Christian, the vision of the Gospel. Or, as the prophet Hosea says:

My people perish for want of knowledge! (Hosea 4:6)

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Russia… Our Refuge?

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basils_FotorSt. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow

 

IT came to me last summer like lightning, a bolt out of the blue.

Russia will be a refuge for God’s people.

This was at a time when tensions between Russia and the Ukraine were heightening. And so, I decided to simply sit on this “word” and “watch and pray.” As the days and weeks and now months have rolled by, it seems more and more that this may be a word from beneath la sacré bleu—the sacred blue mantle of Our Lady… that mantle of protection.

For where else in the world, at this time, is Christianity being protected as it is in Russia?

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On Being Faithful

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 3

 

Dear friends, this is not the meditation I had planned for today. However, I have been dealing with one little crisis after another for the past two weeks and, in truth, have been writing these meditations after midnight, averaging only four hours sleep a night the past week. I am exhausted. And so, after putting out several little fires today, I prayed about what to do—and this writing came immediately to mind. It is, for me, one of the most important “words” on my heart this past year, as it has helped me through so many trials by simply reminding myself to “be faithful.” To be certain, this message is an important part of this Lenten Retreat. Thanks for understanding.

I apologize that there is no podcast for today… I’m simply out of gas, as it’s almost 2am. I have an important “word” on Russia that I will publish shortly… something I’ve been praying about since last summer. Thanks for your prayers…

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The Necessity of Faith

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 2

 

NEW! I am now adding podcasts to this Lenten Retreat (including yesterday). Scroll to the bottom to listen through the media player.

 

BEFORE I can write further, I sense Our Lady saying that, unless we have faith in God, nothing in our spiritual lives will change. Or as St. Paul put it…

…without faith it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb 11:6)

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Breaking History

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 1
ASH WEDNESDAY

corp2303_Fotorby Commander Richard Brehn, NOAA Corps

 

Scroll to the bottom to listen to the podcast of each meditation if you wish. Remember, you can find each day here: Prayer Retreat.

 

WE are living in extraordinary times.

And in the midst of them, here you are. No doubt, you probably feel powerless in the face of the many changes taking place in our world—an insignificant player, a person with little to no impact on the world around you, let alone the course of history. Perhaps you feel as though you are tied to the rope of history and being dragged behind the Great Ship of Time, tossing and turning helplessly in its wake. Continue reading →

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Madness!

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madness2_Fotorby Shawn Van Deale

 

THERE is no other word to describe what is happening in our world today: madness. Sheer madness. Let us call a spade a spade, or as St. Paul says,

Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them… (Eph 5:11)

…or as St. John Paul II bluntly stated:

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