Archive for the ‘Personal Thoughts & Reflections’ Category

Of Scribes And Pharisees….

Posted: January 15, 2012 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Have you ever been accused of being a Scribe or a Pharisee? Were they all a bad bunch? Actually the Scribes were the doctors of the law of Moses; the Pharisees were a precise set of men, making profession of a more exact observance of the law: and upon that account greatly esteemed among the people.

The Pharisees or Perusim, (separatists) constituted the largest Jewish party following the return from the Babylonian captivity. They strongly embraced the concept of separatism from the non-Jewish people because of their superiority as God’s chosen people. The Pharisees were the “Puritans” of their time (Talmage, “Jesus the Christ, “pg. 66). They strongly held to the observance of the Oral Law as well as the Torah (the written law). “They attempted to direct their activities to the masses whom they sought to influence according to the traditional doctrines.” (Cecil Roth, The Concise Jewish Encyclopedia [New York City: New American Library, 1980], pg. 424)

The basic tenets of their beliefs were:

Pre-existence of Spirits
The reality of reward and punishment
The necessity for individual self-denial
The immortality of the soul
Resurrection of the dead
These Jewish beliefs were mostly abandoned as Christianity embraced them as fundamental tenets. “The Pharisee tradition became the norm for later [current] Rabbinic Judaism.” (Roth, pg. 424)

Perhaps it can be said the Pharisees often missed the mark completely because their blinds only enabled them to see the law but not the spirit of the law. Because in essence all laws are born out of love, hence it might be further said that they loved the laws but did not experience the love behind the laws.

Today we often see some leaders in our Church either adopting the role of  OT Pharisee or even that of a New age ‘Pharisee’ liberalising it’s laws and professing that only the Spirit of the law is more important.  What did Jesus have to say about this?  Let us see….

In Matthew 5:17-21 He says…

17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Be it a gentle love or be it a tough love the message is quite clear, for the Love of God, Love with all your heart, your mind and your soul.

Matthew 5:43-47

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

Speak Lord Your Servant Is Listening

Posted: January 11, 2012 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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1 Samuel 3:1–10, 19–20

Can one have a favourite scripture passage? For me, this one comes close especially when the old can be seen in the light of the new.

In this old testament passages, we see God’s calling for Samuel and of His (God’s) Justice, Goodness, Faithfulness to come.  We hear a certain urgency when God calls his name twice the fourth time. 1 Sam 3:10 ( see Gen 22:11) (Luke 22:31)

Reflection

  • How many times have the Lord the called us but we were not listening?
  • Are our ears opened but only to hear the call of the world?
  • Or have we answered Yes Lord! But have not truly listened with our heart and opened our eyes in Faith?
  • Have we heard God’s calling for us? His Will for us? Or have we acted on our own perhaps even preaching but not practising what we preach?
  • Have we stayed back at the end of the Eucharistic Celebration to thank Him and have Him speak to us?

Have we truly declared in humility and meekness “Here I am Lord! I have heard your calling and am here to do your Will!”

or have we? Allowed ourselves to preach and do good works for our own glory? Not according to His Will for His Kingdom and Glory??

Matt 7:21-23

21 “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’ ( Greek translation Anomian from the word anomia Lawlessness (not God’s Law) )

The Ability To Love Is Within Each Of Us

Posted: January 10, 2012 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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From the Detailed Rules for Monks by Saint Basil the Great, bishop
(Resp. 2, 1: PG 31, 908-910)

Love of God is not something that can be taught. We did not learn from someone else how to rejoice in light or want to live, or to love our parents or guardians. It is the same-perhaps even more so—with our love for God: it does not come by another’s teaching. As soon as the living creature (that is, man) comes to be, a power of reason is implanted in us like a seed, containing within it the ability and the need to love. When the school of God’s law admits this power of reason, it cultivates it diligently, skillfully nurtures it, and with God’s help brings it to perfection.

For this reason, as by God’s gift, I find you with the zeal necessary to attain this end, and you on your part help me with your prayers. I will try to fan into flame the spark of divine love that is hidden within you, as far as I am able through the power of the Holy Spirit.

First, let me say that we have already received from God the ability to fulfill all his commands. We have then no reason to resent them, as if something beyond our capacity were being asked of us. We have no reason either to be angry, as if we had to pay back more than we had received. When we use this ability in a right and fitting way, we lead a life of virtue and holiness. But if we misuse it, we fall into sin. 

This is the definition of sin: the misuse of powers given us by God for doing good, a use contrary to God’s commands. On the other hand, the virtue that God asks of us is the use of the same powers based on a good conscience in accordance with God’s command.

Since this is so, we can say the same about love. Since we received a command to love God, we possess from the first moment of our existence an innate power and ability to love. The proof of this is not to be sought outside ourselves, but each one can learn this from himself and in himself. It is natural for us to want things that are good and pleasing to the eye, even though at first different things seem beautiful and good to different people. In the same way, we love what is related to us or near to us, though we have not been taught to do so, and we spontaneously feel well disposed to our benefactors.

What, I ask, is more wonderful than the beauty of God? What thought is more pleasing and wonderful than God’s majesty? What desire is as urgent and overpowering as the desire implanted by God in a soul that is completely purified of sin and cries out in its love: I am wounded by love? The radiance of divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe.

SAMUEL’S BIRTH IN ANSWER TO PRAYER

Posted: January 10, 2012 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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In today’s first reading 1 Samuel 1:9–20 we read about how distraught Hannah was on being barren. And how she was transformed through her deep heartfelt prayer to God.( 1 Sam 1:13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard) When she left the doorpost of the temple she was no longer sad as she had lifted her burdens up to the Lord. She trusted in Him to answer Her prayer and He did.

Reflection

God answers all our prayers even if the answer is sometimes no. When we fully place our trust in Him, His grace will come upon us and we will experience His peace and love. Prayer leads us closer to God and to the sacraments whereby we experience Him not emotionally or vicariously but by His real presence.

Praise Be To God! Alleluia!

A Reflection For Epiphany

Posted: January 8, 2012 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The Magi (pronounced ‘May dzhai’) were the first Gentiles to pay homage to Our Lord God and saviour Jesus Christ. They brought with them royal gifts of Gold,Frankincense and Myrrh. They recognised and accepted Him unlike most of his kinsman.

Do we all pay homage to Him in the Eucharistic celebration? Do we come to Him bearing our gifts and talents? Do we come in reverance, modesty, humility and love? Do we recognise, adore and worship Him in the Holy Eucharist?

Under The Fig Tree ( JN 1:43-51)

Posted: January 5, 2012 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Today’s Gospel appears simple but is profound on many levels.  There are one or two passages that stumped me till I did some research.  Below are notes which I found helpful and am delighted to share.  But first here are my reflections :-

  • How many of us upon hearing our Lord’s voice will pick ourselves up to follow him?
  • How many of us are comfortable sitting under a tree, reflecting on God’s goodness and Word without recognising that He is watching and waiting for us to be moved into action to build His Kingdom?
  • Do we always see Him with the eyes of faith in the Eucharist? Rabbi! The Son of God…The King of Kings!
  • Do we bear witness to His Glory in All things?
Notes

1:43 – Bethsaida: A village on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee. Nathanael: Also called “Bartholomew” in the Synoptic Gospels. See chart: The Twelve Apostles at Mk 3

Nathanael was profoundly versed in the SS. Scriptures; and hence, accommodating himself to Nathanael’s character for sacred erudition. Philip said, “We have found Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth, of whom Moses wrote,” etc., Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets, the long expected of the Jewish nation—who is no other, than Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth. He was reupted to be the son of Joseph of the Royal House of David. Our Lord was a Galilean, being educated and brought up at Nazareth. “Of Nazareth,” is to be joined with the word “Jesus,” not with Joseph,” as is clear from the Greek. The words of this verse are precisely the same as those briefly addressed by Andrew to Peter (v. 41, “We have found the Messiah.”

“Can any good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael, versed in the SS. Scriptures, knew that Christ was to come from Bethlehem (Micheas 5), and the Scribes, in their reply to Herod, said the same (Matthew 2:5). The Jews, in reply to Nicodemus (John 7:52), said that no Prophet could come out of Nazareth. Hence, Nathanael, in admiration, asks, can any thing extraordinary, can so great a blessing come from this obscure, mean village, in the despised Province of Galilee? Still, Nathanael does not deny it. He only seems to wonder at it. It might be true. For, although Micheas pointed to Bethlehem as his birthplace; still, other Prophecies said he would come from Nazareth (Matthew 2:23). Hence, the prudence of Nathanael, who, answering in hesitation, does not deny it, but only expresses surprise at such a great blessing coming from Nazareth, since the prevalent opinion among the people was, that He was to come from the seed of David and the town of Bethlehem (c. 7:42). “Come and see.” Philip had no doubt that a brief conversation with our Lord would at once convince Nathanael that He was the promised Messiah.

1:47 an Israelite indeed: i.e., a descendant of the patriarch Jacob, who was renamed “Israel” (Gen 32:28). Ironically, Jacob himself was known for his beguiling ways, especially when he intercepted the family blessing intended for his older brother Esau (Gen 27:35).

AUGUSTINE. (Tr. vii. c. 21) Has this fig tree any meaning? We read of one fig tree which was cursed, because it had only leaves, and no fruit. Again, at the creation, Adam and Eve, after sinning, made themselves aprons of fig leaves. Fig leaves then signify sins; and Nathanael, when he was under the fig tree, was under the shadow of death: so that our Lord seemeth to say, O Israel, whoever of you is without guile, O people of the Jewish faith, before that I called thee by My Apostles, when thou wert as yet under the shadow of death, and sawest Me not, I saw thee.

Another view of “Under The Fig Tree” : a symbol of messianic peace (cf. Mi 4:4; Zec 3:10).

Nathanael declares three things, which had been predicted of our Lord in the SS. Scriptures. 1st, he declares Him a doctor and teacher, “Rabbi,’ This was prophesied regarding Him by Joel (2:23)(NAB,Clemetine Vulagate), who calls Him “a teacher of justice.” 2nd, “the Son of God.” declared long before by the Psalmist, “filius meus es tu.” 3rdly, King of Israel, as predicted by Zacharias (9:9).

1:51 – An allusion to Jacob’s Ladder (GN 28:12)

 

 

The Double Commandment Of Love

Posted: January 3, 2012 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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From a treatise on John by Saint Augustine, bishop

The Lord, the teacher of love, full of love, came in person with summary judgment on the world, as had been foretold of him, and showed that the law and the prophets are summed up in two commandments of love.

Call to mind, brethren, what these two commandments are. They ought to be very familiar to you; they should not only spring to mind when I mention them, but ought never to be absent from your hearts. Keep always in mind that we must love God and our neighbor: Love God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

These two commandments must be always in your thoughts and in your hearts, treasured, acted on, fulfilled. Love of God is the first to be commanded, but love of neighbor is the first to be put into practice. In giving two commandments of love Christ would not commend to you first your neighbor and then God but first God and then your neighbor.

Since you do not yet see God, you merit the vision of God by loving your neighbor. By loving your neighbor you prepare your eye to see God. Saint John says clearly: If you do not love your brother whom you see, how will you love God whom you do not see!

Consider what is said to you: Love God. If you say to me: Show me whom I am to love, what shall I say if not what Saint John says: No one has ever seen God! But in case you should think that you are completely cut off from the sight of God, he says: God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God.Love your neighbor, then, and see within yourself the power by which you love your neighbor; there you will see God, as far as you are able.

Begin, then, to love your neighbor. Break your bread to feed the hungry, and bring into your home the homeless poor; if you see someone naked, clothe him, and do not look down on your own flesh and blood.

What will you gain by doing this? Your light will then burst forth like the dawn.Your light is your God; he is your dawn, for he will come to you when the night of time is over. He does not rise or set but remains for ever.

In loving your neighbor and caring for him you are on a journey. Where are you traveling if not to the Lord God, to him whom we should love with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind? We have not yet reached his presence, but we have our neighbor at our side. Support, then, this companion of your pilgrimage if you want to come into the presence of the one with whom you desire to remain for ever.


In The Fullness Of Time The Fullness Of Divinity Appeared

Posted: December 29, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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From a sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot
(Sermo 1, in Epiphania Domini, 1-2: PL 133, 141-143)

The goodness and humanity of God our Savior have appeared in our midst. We thank God for the many consolations he has given us during this sad exile of our pilgrimage here on earth. Before the Son of God became man his goodness was hidden, for God’s mercy is eternal, but how could such goodness be recognized? It was promised, but it was not experienced, and as a result few have believed in it. Often and in many ways the Lord used to speak through the prophets. Among other things, God said: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. But what did men respond, thinking thoughts of affliction and knowing nothing of peace? They said: Peace, peace, there is no peace. This response made the angels of peace weep bitterly, saying: Lord, who has believed our message? But now men believe because they see with their own eyes, and because God’s testimony has now become even more credible. He has gone so far as to pitch his tent in the sun so even the dimmest eyes see him.

Notice that peace is not promised but sent to us; it is no longer deferred, it is given; peace is not prophesied but achieved. It is as if God the Father sent upon the earth a purse full of his mercy. This purse was burst open during the Lord’s passion to pour forth its hidden contents—the price of our redemption. It was only a small purse, but it was very full. As the Scriptures tell us: A little child has been given to us, but in him dwells all the fullness of the divine nature. The fullness of time brought with it the fullness of divinity. God’s Son came in the flesh so that mortal men could see and recognize God’s kindness. When God reveals his humanity, his goodness cannot possibly remain hidden. To show his kindness what more could he do beyond taking my human form? My humanity, I say, not Adam’s—that is, not such as he had before his fall.

How could he have shown his mercy more clearly than by taking on himself our condition? For our sake the Word of God became as grass. What better proof could he have given of his love? Scripture says: Lord, what is man that you are mindful of him; why does your heart go out to him? The incarnation teaches us how much God cares for us and what he thinks and feels about us. We should stop thinking of our own sufferings and remember what he has suffered. Let us think of all the Lord has done for us, and then we shall realize how his goodness appears through his humanity. The lesser he became through his human nature the greater was his goodness; the more he lowered himself for me, the dearer he is to me. The goodness and humanity of God our Savior have appeared, says the Apostle.

Truly great and manifest are the goodness and humanity of God. He has given us a most wonderful proof of his goodness by adding humanity to his own divine nature.

A Reflection On Receiving The Eucharist

Posted: December 26, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations
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When we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, we are transformed into living tabernacles of our Lord, our God. How can our hearts not sing with joy? How can we not spread the Good News? How can we allow the evils of the world to rob us of this honour by our actions?

Catholicjules

I AM GREAT I AM

Posted: December 22, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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How do you help someone enter into a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? That is the question that has plagued me for many months? Am I the only one trying to help?, obviously not! The message of how to, is out there in homilies, books, Church fellowship talks, bible sharing, blogs, its practically everywhere.  But why are most people not listening? Do they not care for entering into a relationship with God?

Although this may be an over simplification, I believe the answer is a two fold one.  One, they have not fully surrendered their lives to God and two, they are holding on to their addictions, hurts, un-forgiveness or sins.

In both instances ‘I’ am in charge of my destiny, ‘I’ love my way of life it is all ‘I’ know! ‘I’ will continue to live this way, don’t try to teach ‘me’.  ‘I’ go to Church every Sunday and ‘I’ go for the sacrament of reconciliation at least once a year.  God knows what is in ‘my’ heart.  Or one day when I can muster enough strength I will change and come back to the Lord.  Why then do you not experience inner peace and constant happiness?  Why do you feel unfulfilled? Why is your life filled with anger and resentment?  Why do you constantly feel guilty? Why do you feel like you’re in quicksand half the time? Why does it seem your life is going in circles?

Ours is a loving God and His love endures for ever ( Psalm 136 ) God is love (1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16) ; the God of love and peace (2 Cor 13:11); love is from God (1 John 4:7); he will be silent in His love (Zeph 3:17) In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us ( 1 John 4:10) For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) He came for sinners ( Matt 9:10 )

Why then be afraid to surrender to the Lord our God? Why do we say “They Kingdom come, thy Will be done” If we do not mean it?  Surrendering to Him does not mean we become mindless or risk being puppets with no control of our limbs, it simply means we invite God our Father to minister to us, to love us and to pour His graces upon us.  To allow Him to do this we need to empty ourselves. He must increase  but I must decrease (John 3:26 ) And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work (2 Cor 9:8)

Jesus came to draw sinners to himself (Luke 15:1) So why wait? He loves us and says there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7) Hence let Him transform us and He will do so, so long as we desire it with a contrite heart.  He will show us the way….He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. (Philipians 3:21)

We therefore have a choice to make if want to enter into a relationship with God our Father.  Are we continuing to say I am Great as I am! Or do we bow down before the Great I AM and praise Him for His goodness?

Catholicjules.net

The Blind See

Posted: December 14, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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The third blind man is the soul which, by not understanding itself, disturbs and harms itself.  Since it only knows how to act by means of the senses and discursive reflection, it thinks it is doing nothing when God introduces it into that emptiness and solitude where it is unable to use the faculties and make acts, and as a result it strains to perform these acts.  The soul, therefore, that was enjoying the idleness of spiritual peace and silence, in which God was secretly adorning it, is distracted and filled with dryness and displeasure.

It will happen that while God persists in keeping the soul in that silent quietude, it persists in its desire to act through its own efforts with the intellect and the imagination.  It resembles a child who kicks and cries in order to walk when his mother wants to carry him, and thus neither allows his mother to make any headway nor makes any himself; or it resembles one who moves a painting back and forth while the artist is at work so that either nothing is accomplished or the painting is damaged.

A person should take note that even though he does not seem to be making any progress in this quietude or doing anything, he is advancing much faster than if he were treading along on foot, for God is carrying him.  Although he is walking at God’s pace, he does not feel this pace.  Even though he does no work with his faculties, he achieves much more than if he did, for God is the agent.

It is no wonder if he does not advert to this, for the senses do not attain to what God effects in the soul at this time.  As the Wise Man says: “The words of wisdom are heard in silence” (Qo 9:17).

A soul then, should abandon itself into God’s hands and not it’s own, nor those of the other blind men; for insofar as it abandons itself to God and does not apply its faculties to anything, it will advance securely.

Saint John Of The Cross +1591

Why Jesus Sent The Twelve Without Money

Posted: December 6, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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The Lord of all comes as a slave amidst poverty. The hunter has no wish to startle his prey. Choosing for his birthplace an unknown village in a remote province, he is born of a poor maiden and accepts that poverty implies, for he hopes by stealth to ensnare and save us.

If he had been born to high rank and amidst luxury, unbelievers would have said the world had been transformed by wealth. If he had chosen as his birthplace the great city of Rome, they would have thought the transformation had been brought about by civil power. Suppose he had been the son of an emperor. They would Say:” How useful it is to be powerful!” Imagine him the son of a senator. It would have been: “Look what can be accomplished by legislation!”

But in fact what did he do? He chose surroundings that were poor and simple, so ordinary as to be almost unnoticed, so that people would know it was the Godhead alone that had changed the world. This was his reason for choosing his Mother from among the poor of a very poor country, and for becoming poor himself.

Theodotus Of Ancyra

+446 Bishop of Ancyra (modern Ankara)

“Your Sins Are Forgiven”

Posted: December 5, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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With voices in harmony and hearts in concord we have begged the Lord for our own hearts by saying, Create a clean heart in me, O God and renew an upright spirit in my bowels (Ps 50:12) …..*see Ps 51:10 new nos. and translation.

It’s a psalm of someone repenting, someone wishing to retrieve the hope he had lost, lying where he had fallen, begging the Lord to give him a had to raise him up again; like someone quite capable of injuring himself but not of healing himself.  After all, we can stab and wound our own flesh whenever we want, but to heal it we look for a doctor; well, in the same way the soul is perfectly able to sin all by itself, but to heal the hurt it has caused by sinning, it implores the helping hand of God.

That’s why he says in another psalm, I myself have said, Lord. Have mercy on me, heal my soul since I have sinned against you (Ps 40:4).  see Ps 41:4 new nos. & translation  The reason he says I myself have said it, Lord, is to thrust before our eyes the fact that the will and decision to sin arises from the soul and that we are fully capable of destroying ourselves, while it takes God to seek that which was lost and to save that which has wounded itself.  For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost (Lk 19:10).  It is Him that we pour out our prayers and say Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew an upright spirit in my bowels (Ps 50:12). *see Ps 51:10 new nos. and translation. Let the soul that has sinned say this, or it may perish twice over through despair, having lost itself once already by its delinquency.

Saint Augustine of Hippo +430

The Saintliness Of Andrew

Posted: November 30, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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Can we content ourselves with such an unreal faith in Christ, as in no sufficient measure includes self abasement, or thankfulness, or the desire or effort to be holy?  For how can we feel our need of his help, or our dependence on him, or our debt to him, or the nature of his gift to us, unless we know ourselves? How can we in any sense be said to have that “mind of Christ,” to which the Apostle exhorts us, if we cannot follow him to the height above, or the depth beneath; if we do not in some measure discern the cause and the meaning of his sorrows….

Obedience to God’s commandments, which implies knowledge of sin and holiness, and the desire and endeavour to please him, this is the only practical interpreter of Scripture doctrine.  Without self-knowledge you have no root yourselves personally; you may endure for a time, but under affliction or persecution your faith will not last.  This is why many in this age (and in every age) become infidels, heretics, schismatics, disloyal despisers of the Church.  They cast off the form of truth, because it never has been to them more than a form.  They endure not, because they never have tasted that the Lord is gracious; and they never have had experience of his power and love, because they have never known their own weakness and need.

 

Blessed John Henry Newman

Temptation And Perseverance

Posted: November 23, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations, Memory Book
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Is God then so ignorant of things, so unacquainted with the human heart that he has to find out about a man by testing him?  Of course not.  It is in order that a person may find out about himself……People are not as well known to themselves as well they are to their Creator, nor do the sick know themselves as well as the doctor does.  A man is sick; he is suffering, the doctor isn’t suffering, and the patient is waiting to hear what he is suffering  from the one who isn’t suffering.  That is why a man cries out in a psalm, From my hidden [faults] cleanse me, O Lord (Ps 18:13).  There are things in a person which are hidden from the person in whom they are.  And they won’t come out, or be opened up, or discovered, except through tests and trials and temptations.

If God stops testing, it means the master is stopping teaching.  God tempts or tests in order to teach, the devil tests or tempts in order to mislead.  But unless the one being tempted gives him a chance, his temptations can be driven off as as unsubstantial and ridiculous.  That is why the Apostle says, Do not give the devil a chance (Ep 4:27) People give the devil  a chance with their lusts and longings.  Now it is true that people cannot see the devil they are fighting with, but they have a very easy remedy for that;  let them conquer themselves within and they will triumph over him without.

Why am I saying this?  Because you do know yourself unless you learn yourself through trial, temptation and testing.  When you have learned yourself, don’t be heedless about yourself.  At least, if you were heedless about yourself when hidden from you, don’t be heedless about that self when it has became known to you.

 

Saint Augustine Of Hippo

+430 Doctor of Grace

On Faith…

Posted: November 22, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations
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It is reason that creates motives for believing. Faith is to the religion very much like credit is to business. Just as one must have a reason for giving credit, so, too, one must have a reason for believing. The conclusions of reason for accepting the testimony of anyone – for example, the testimony of Christ – are not mathematically certain. They are only morally certain. They are very much like the certitude that you have that you were born of your own parents.

FJ Sheen

For Reflection…

Posted: October 22, 2011 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“Jesus Christ is our true greatness;it is he alone and his crosses that should be sought in ministering to people.  If we seek for anything else, we will find nothing but bodily and spiritual afflictions.  But if we have found Jesus Christ in his cross, we have found the roses among the thorns, sweetness in bitterness, all in nothing.”

 

Saint John De Brebeuf

+1649

FIRE ON EARTH – LOVE’S PURE FLAME

Posted: October 20, 2011 by CatholicJules in Meditations
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When the soul of God enamoured
Gives her heart and life to Him,
He perfects the patient victim
On the Cross, mid shadows dim…

If I could but tell the treasures
Hidden by our Triune God
For the souls who strive to follow
In the path that Jesus trod!…

But it is a precious secret
To the loving one revealed,
To me, lowly, inexperienced,
It is hidden and concealed…

Blessed is the heart abandoned
To this crucifying pain,
In the arms of the Beloved,
Burned, consumed in love’s pure flame…

Yet more blessed, when the anguish,
Stripped of all consoling forms,
Clothes the soul in desolation,
Into Christ Himself transforms…

Happy blessed soul who suffers
Thus that God alone may reign,
Seeking but to die, the better
Thus His sacred love to gain…

Nailed upon the cross with Jesus,
I to you this lesson give;
You will sound its depth and meaning
If a life of prayer you live. Amen

Saint Paul Of The Cross
+1775

Personal Reflection…On Holy Communion

Posted: October 8, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I realise that a book or two could be written about solely about Holy  Communion that is, both the Holy Eucharist and the Body of Christ.  The Love story of God and man from the beginning of time and throughout salvation history.  I have pondered all these in my heart and mind you these should be pondered upon regularly not just once in a long while, but perhaps at least every Sunday.    I am constantly filled with awe and intrigue as day by day a little more is revealed through Love, Faith, Charity and Grace.

A little while back as I finally entered into a personal relationship with our one triune God, I began to finally understand a little of what it meant to be in communion with my sisters and brothers in Christ.  No longer was I a stranger in my own faith community either by personal choice or otherwise but I began to understand a little bit better what it means to love your neighb0ur.  No longer would my hand hair stand on ends when an acquaintance in church would address me as ‘brother.’  No longer were my hands sooo heavy nor the uncomfortable feeling overwhelming that I could not raise it in praise and worship for our awesome God.  I could finally hug my sisters and brothers in Christ with genuine love and affection.  I began to slowly see that by receiving the true body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in the Eucharist it connected me to His Body the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Still yet a deeper mystery to be unravelled in time….

Only today! my second time being privileged to be called to give Holy Communion to the sick, did God’s grace allow me to not only see the connection but truly experience the connection of not just giving but being in communion with.  It is truly a ‘Love Connection!’ In Love, With Love, and In Love; Through Him, With Him and In Him.

Praise be to God!

Some notes for further reflection …..

  • our human body is the temple of God and so we can only receive Him when our body, mind and soul are ‘washed clean’. i.e. to put on our wedding garment.
  • We experience God and partake in His diving nature when we are fruitful, to be fruitful is to live a righteous faithful life.  With virtue and knowledge,  knowledge with self control, self control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with love. Never forget we ourselves were cleansed of our past sins and are still in need of cleanliness.
  • Through God’s Love

While In Adoration….

Posted: September 28, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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28 Sept 2011

 

“Your thoughts are not my thoughts, your words are not my words. If you love me do my Will.”

 

And towards the end of a praise and worship session, I had this strong prompting that……..God loves us whether we are deserving or not and he wants us to love others in the same way.

How Not To Have A Deeper Relationship With God..

Posted: September 27, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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For those who do not have a relationship with God, do not know what it means to be in one and have no experience of God in their lives then just continue to do what you are doing.  You are on the right track of how NOT to have a relationship with Him let alone a deeper one.   Am I trying to drive you further away from God our Father? No on the contrary, I am trying to create an awareness of what are the ways that might keep us away from Him. 

From personal experience it is harder for someone to experience God when he/she is looking at life through tinted lenses and clogged ears.  What do I mean? Well because of our sinful ways, we often times choose to see the world the way we want to, act on our every desires and do not care that it is not God’s will for us.  The tint and clogged ears refers to sin in our lives hence the discoloured view and the inability to listen to the Word of God.

Here are some of the obstacles i.e. thoughts or actions that prevents us from a meaningful relationship with God our Father :-

  • Not worshipping Him and not rightfully giving Him thanks and praise for all He has provided for us.  Thinking that whatever we have is by our own doing.
  • Not praying and seeking His wisdom and counsel in all things.
  • Think we are in control of everything.
  • Thinking we have lots of time to repent and turn our lives around, so we do what we want to do. Live life like that is no tomorrow, party on…
  • Treat the Sunday Eucharistic Celebration as a day of obligation.
  • Arriving late for Mass and leaving before the last hymn is sung and not praying in thankgiving thereafter.
  • Receiving the Eucharist even though we have committed grave sin/s.
  • Letting our addictions control our lives without actively seeking help egs. Alcoholism, pornography, gambling, receational drug taking etc.
  • Believing that most of the traditions and Sacraments of the Church are man-made and hence can be ignored afterall God knows our heart.
  • We are only human and so God will understand if we give in to our weak nature.
  • Read scripture like we are reading a book or magazine.
  • Not doing a proper examination of conscience before going for the sacrament of reconciliation.
  • Not making every effort to refrain from committing the sins we confessed.
  • Cursing and swearing is okay because everyone is doing so.
  • Believing that modesty is only in the heart.
  • Intentionally exposing ourselves to explicit movies.
  • Thinking it is okay to oggle hunks and babes in egs. swimsuit magazines etc.
  • Not making every effort to increase in faith or knowledge of our Faith.
  • Not praying regularly.
  • Viewing the world as a ‘dog eat dog’ one and survival is only for the fittest.
  • Watching Television for hours on end.
  • Thinking that community service is only for those who have the time.
  • There is Me, Myself And I.
  • Work, work and more work 7 days a week.  I will rest when I’m dead or when I’m too old to.
  • Life is all about happiness and the pursuit of it.
  • Life is all about money and the pursuit of it.
  • The ten commandments are only guidelines or just a movie.
  • Communion is between me and God only.

The list provided is by no means exhaustive as there are many other areas not explored here like idolatry in things, items, celebrities, money etc. then there is relativism and much more.

Let us pray for one another, that we may all grow in faith and deepen our relationship with God our Father who loves us.  Amen.

 

 

Do It Anyway – Blessed Mother Theresa

Posted: September 26, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

            If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

-this version is credited to Mother Teresa

“Who Do You Say I Am”

Posted: September 23, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Jesus tells me that in love it is he who delights me, while in suffering, on the other hand, it is I who give pleasure to him.  Now, to desire good health would mean seeking happiness for myself instead of trying to comfort Jesus.  Yes I love the cross, the cross alone; I love it because I see it always on Jesus shoulders.  By this time Jesus is well aware that my entire life, my whole heart is consecrated to him and to his sufferings.

Ah dear Father, pardon me for using this sort of language; Jesus alone can understand what I suffer when the painful scene of Calvary is enacted before my eyes.  It is equally incomprehensible how Jesus can be consoled not merely by those who sympathise with his torments, but when he finds a soul who for the love of him, asks no consolations and only wants to be allowed to share in his suffering.

When Jesus wants to make me understand that he loves me, he permits to relish the wounds, the thorns, the anguish of his Passion.  When he wants me to rejoice, he fills my heart with that spirit which is all fire and he speaks to me of his delights.  But when he wants to be delighted, he speaks to me of his sufferings, he invites me in a tone which is both a request and a command to offer my body that his sufferings may be alleviated.

Who could resist him? I realise that I have made him suffer exceedingly by my failings, that I have made him weep too much by my ingratitude, that I have offended him too grievously.  I want nobody but Jesus, I desire nothing else (which is Jesus’ own desire) than his sufferings.  Allow me to say it, since no one can hear us, I am ready even to be deprived for ever of the tenderness which Jesus lavishes on me, I am prepared to bear his hiding his beautiful eyes from me as long as he does not hide from his love, for this would cause my death.

 

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina +1968

Faith Messages Received From Adoration Of The Blessed Sacrament

Posted: September 8, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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For a few months now, while praying and being in Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament I have received these messages.  I only started writing them down recently.  I have discerned and decided that I should share them as they do fall under the private revelations category as far as I can tell, but more like faith building messages.  In any case they can be used for personal reflection….

  • 3rd Aug 2011  – If you will not be led then you are lost.  Come take my hand and follow me.
  • 10 Aug 2011 – Many seek me but do not find me, know that I am in the quiet.
  • 17 Aug 2011 – I am in My Father and My Father is in me.  My Love conquers all evil.
  • 24 Aug 2011 –  Keep the eyes of your heart focussed on me and you will sail through foul or fair weather.
  • 7 Sep 2011 – Love not just the deserving but the undeserving, My Love lies in your forgiveness.

 

 

Those Who Love Your Law Shall Have Abundant Peace

Posted: September 5, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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From a sermon on the beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, pope

The blessedness of seeing God is justly promised to the pure of heart. For the eye that is unclean would not be able to see the brightness of the true light, and what would be happiness to clear minds would be a torment to those that are defiled. Therefore, let the mists of worldly vanities be dispelled, and the inner eye be cleansed of all the filth of wickedness, so that the soul’s gaze may feast serenely upon the great vision of God.

It is to the attainment of this goal that the next words refer: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. This blessedness, dearly beloved, does not derive from any casual agreement or from any and every kind of harmony, but it pertains to what the Apostle says: Be at peace before the Lord, and to the words of the prophet: Those who love your law shall enjoy abundant peace; for them it is no stumbling block.

Even the most intimate bonds of friendship and the closest affinity of minds cannot truly lay claim to this peace if they are not in agreement with the will of God. Alliances based on evil desires, covenants of crime and pacts of vice–all lie outside the scope of this peace. Love of the world cannot be reconciled with love of God, and the man who does not separate himself from the children of this generation cannot join the company of the sons of God. But those who keep God ever in their hearts, and are anxious to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, never dissent from the eternal law as they speak the prayer of faith. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

These then are the peacemakers; they are bound together in holy harmony and are rightly given the heavenly title of sons of God, co- heirs with Christ. And this is the reward they will receive for their love of God and neighbor: when their struggle with all temptation is finally over, there will be no further adversities to suffer or scandal to fear; but they will rest in the peace of God undisturbed, through our Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

I Love Being Catholic!

Posted: August 21, 2011 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections, Questions & Answers
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We all should spend sometime today and reflect on our faith.  Why are those of us Catholic, still Catholic?  And perhaps those from other denominations can reflect on why not Catholic?  What is it that is keeping you away from the Catholic faith? 

I absolutely know why I am Catholic and loving every little bit of it because I have the fullness of faith and am in communion with the one triune God!

Today’s Gospel especially shows us who it was that established our Church.

Matthew 16:13-19

So I encourage you sisters and brothers in Christ, to share with all of us why you are Catholic here in the comments section?  Those of you interested to know more about the Catholic faith and are in Singapore can contact me for a sit down and I will share with you all that I know.  For those overseas, a good place to find answers will be at http://www.catholic.com/

God bless you all!

🙂

Personal Reflection And Prayer

Posted: August 3, 2011 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections, Prayers
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“Every time the Cross I bear seems lighter and the joy of carrying it fills my heart, I seem to trip and fall and end up right where I began. The difference is that each time I draw closer to learning a little bit more on how not to fall.”

Lord I pray for your grace, help me to grow in my faith so that I may never forget that your yoke for me is easy and that you are always there to come to my aid should I need it.  Amen

Have You Visited Me In Prison?

Posted: July 29, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Matt 25:36

How many of us will ever get an opportunity to visit someone in prison in his/her lifetime? But if you did have an opportunity to visit someone, then is that all you have to do?  How many trapped behind prison walls have more freedom then those on the outside because they have found God’s love through his son Jesus?  And it was all because someone like you had brought the love of Jesus to them.

Still there are many, maybe more on the outside who are trapped in their own personal ‘prisons’ and remain trapped because they never knew the love, peace and comfort that God offers them through His son Jesus Christ.  Someone like you and me can share Him with them to set them free!

Let us first identify some of them who are in ‘prison’ :-

  • Those who have an addiction…..
  • Those who are lonely…..
  • Those who feel abandoned….
  • Those who are sick and depressed….
  • Those who are aged and depressed because their children no longer make the time to visit them….
  •  Those who are hurt and angry and refuse to forgive…
  • Those who have never experienced true love…
  • Those searching for God and feel they have not found him…
  • Those who remain in sin….
  • Those who have been brought up to believe that survival is for the fittest only….
These are just a few examples and as you know there are many other forms out there.  So how do we help? Where do we start?
We can start by telling them that God loves them and move on from there…….Pray….listen….share…..pray….listen….share……pray……
God loves you my dear sisters and brothers and so do I !

Reflection – Are You An illuminist?

Posted: July 21, 2011 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The word illuminism, comes from the Latin for light: lumen

When one talks to an illuminist, evidence contrary to the latter’s view has little or no effect on his conviction.  Even if the evidence is objectively compelling, it does not penetrate his mind or will.  This is natural illuminism.

On the supernatural level this disease shows itself in the conviction that “I have a special light from the Holy Spirit; you do not.  Therefore, I am right and you are wrong.” I like to call this form of the aberration the privileged-pipeline-to-God idea.  One can present to this person objective evidence from reason, Scripture, the teaching Church, brilliant theologians, and once again, no dent is made on the illuminist’s mind.  The reaction is the same:”I know better; you are wrong.”  It is clear that disagreements with an illuminist spouse, relative, friend, fellow worker or parishoner will go nowhere until humility enters the picture – and that requires conversion.  Psychology may help somewhat, but it cannot bring about the inner transformation we are talking about in this volume.

 

 

An extract from the book Deep Conversion Deep Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.

 

 

For Reflection…

Posted: July 20, 2011 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth for hiding these things from the learned and clever and revealing them to mere children” ( Lk 10:21 JB)

Doctoral degrees are usually worthwhile, but they can trigger conceit in some people and it is the conceit that is the problem.  So also with vanity stemming from other gifts and accomplishments.  It blocks insight into the most important of all human questions, the ultimate whys and hows of being fully beautiful and fulfilled.

Love joins humility as the source of this superior light.

Let us journey from born egocentrism to true love for one another.

Remain In My Love

Posted: May 26, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The love which our Blessed lady had for God was so great that she suffered keenly through her desire of union with Him; hence the Eternal Father, to console her, sent her his only and beloved Son.  If you wish to come to where I am going, that is, to glory, you must come this road, that is, through thorns.  Before communion, we ought to exercise ourselves in many acts of virtues.  Prayer and communion are not to be made or desired for the sake of the devotion we feel in them, for that is seeking self, and not God; but we must be frequent in both the one and the other in order to become humble, obedient, gentle and patient.  When we see these virtues in a man, then we know that he has really gathered the fruit of prayer and of communion.  Our sweet Jesus, through the excess of his love and liberality, has left himself to us in the Most Holy Sacrament.

He who works purely for the love of God desires nothing but his honour, and thus is ready in everything either to act or not to act, and that is not in indifferent matters only, but even in good ones; and he is always resigned to the will of God.  The Lord grants in a moment what we may have been unable to obtain in dozens of years.  To obtain perfectly the gift of humility, four main things are required; to despise the world, to despise no person, to despise one’s self, to despise being despised.  Perfection consists in leading captive our own will, and in playing the king over it.  A man ought to mortify his understanding in little things, if he wishes to easily mortify  it in great ones, and to advance in the way of virtue.  Without mortification nothing can be done.  We ought to hope for and love the glory of God by means of a good life.

SAINT PHILIP NERI

Saint Philip Neri (1595) was an Italian priest and the founder of the Oratory.

Understanding Is The Reward Of Faith

Posted: May 2, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Understanding is the reward of faith.

Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe,

but believe that you may understand.

St. Augustine

***** PRAYER *****

Posted: April 28, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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O God, wake me out of the nightmare fantasies of sin and temptation that threathens my peace with you, that I may live in the daylight of your purpose and be alert and attentive to your love for me in Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray.  Amen.

AMEN! A Declaration Of Faith..

Posted: April 25, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Have you ever reflected on why you say Amen prior to receiving the Body of Christ?  Do you even know why you do? Has it become  routine to do so?

…
We Catholics should all be saying a loud resounding AMEN! A conviction on our part…as for me personally I do so because..

I am saying……

  • I believe wholeheartedly in the Creed I profess.
  • I believe that I am truly receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ my saviour.
  • I am proud to be a catholic.
  • I am in communion with the Church, i.e. part of the body of Christ my saviour.  I am one with my sisters and brothers in Christ.
  • I am receiving Jesus in a state of grace, free from mortal sin and hope to have eternal life.
there are more I could lists but these few are the most important to me.
Here is what  Rev. Jerome A Magat said in a homily I believe or a Gospel reflection…

Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you , unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

In John 6:51-58, the Gospel provides us with another installment from John’s sixth chapter.- the Bread of Life discourse. In order to solemnize His claims, Jesus would often preface His statements by saying, “Amen, amen, I say to you.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) reminds us that our Lord would use the phrase “Amen, amen” in order “to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching. His authority founded on God’s truth” (CCC, 1063). Similarly, we use the term “Amen” after we recite the Our Father at Mass during what is known as the “Great Amen” as well as when we receive Holy Communion.

What does the term “Amen” mean, and what does our saying “Amen” mean when we respond to the statement “The Body of Christ” when we receive Holy Communion?

What does the term “Amen” mean, and what does our saying “Amen” mean when we respond to the statement “The Body of Christ” when we receive Holy Communion? Again, the catechism reminds us: “In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word ‘believe.’ This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. And so we can understand why ‘Amen’ may express both God’s faithfulness towards us and our trust in Him.” (CCC, 1062) And so, more than simply “I believe,” the word “Amen” means that I place my life forward for the truth of a particular claim. It is more than an idea that resides in the mind. It is also an act of the will expressing God’s trustworthiness and my desire to believe, trust and love Him.

When a communicant says, “Amen,” to the words “The Body of Christ” when he receives the Eucharist at Mass, he is saying “Amen” to several realities. First, he is saying “Amen” to the reality of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Next, he is saying “Amen” to the priesthood which confects this Eucharist, the authority of the bishop who ordained the priest and the pope that holds them in full communion with the See of Peter. Finally, he is saying “Amen” to all that the Church proposes as being true and definitively taught as worth of our belief. So, in order to make a genuine communion, a person receiving the Eucharist must be in full communion with the Church – that is, he accepts everything that the Church teaches. To believe in anything less makes that person’s “Amen” a disingenuous act. A true “Amen” links us to Jesus and nourishes us into everlasting life.

This precisely is the reason why Catholics don’t offer Holy Communion to non-Catholics (with the exception of the Orthodox). The reasoning is really quite simple. If, for example, a Protestant or a Jew was to come up to the Communion line and the priest said, “The Body of Christ,” the only response would be “Amen.” However, since neither Protestants nor Jews believe in the Eucharist in the same way that Catholics do, the priest would be asking the Protestant or Jew to violate their conscience in saying “Amen” to realities they do not accept.

Thus, the Church reminds us that the sacraments are not intended to engender unity. Rather, they are intended to express the unity that already exists among believers. Catholics are, therefore, not to receive communion in Protestant ecclesial communities because Catholics are not in communion with Protestants. That is why Jesus’ words in our Gospel are so chilling. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”

So, receiving Holy Communion with a resounding “Amen” expresses the unity of believers in the Catholic Church under the headship of the Roman Pontiff and his collaborators, the bishops. May the “Amen” that we say at Holy Communion be authentic – reflective of our unity of belief in all that our Lord has deemed necessary for our salvation and made known through His Bride, the Church.

~~~~~~~~

It is a statement of belief that the gathered Church makes in Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. It is further an acknowledgement of the presence of Christ in the faithful and union with Christ in his Body, the Church.

See how St. Augustine framed both of these aspects of the mystery of the Body of Christ in the early 5th
century:

“If you wish to understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle as he says to the faithful, ‘You are the body of Christ and His members.’ (1Cor 12:27) If therefore, you are the body of Christ and His members, your mystery has been placed on the Lord’s table, you receive your mystery. You reply “Amen” to that which you are, and by replying, you consent. For you hear, “The Body of Christ,” and you reply, “Amen.” Be a member of the body of Christ so that your “Amen” may be true.” But, why in bread? … Let us listen to the Apostle who said, ‘We though many, are one bread, one body.’”

(1Cor 10:17) [Augustine, IIA6.1 Sermon 272 (dated 405-411) Ed PL 38.1246-1248]

How is “Amen” an Act of Reverence?


Saying “Amen,” means we assent to our faith with our head and heart and will. Not only do we believe in the real presence but we also commit ourselves to living and acting as Jesus did and does. Tertullian, a 3rd century North African theologian, applied the Latin term sacramentum to the rites of baptism and Eucharist. Sacramentum referred to the oath of allegiance that soldiers made to the Roman emperor to serve him, even with their life. At this time in
the Church’s history, persecutions were common enough to make baptism into Christ a commitment that could mean dying for the faith. Thus, saying “Amen” to the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ serves as a Catholic pledge of allegiance to follow Christ.

How is Receiving Communion Itself an Act of Reverence?


The act of receiving is itself another powerful and meaningful gesture. “To receive” means to get, to obtain, to admit, to let in, and to accept. It implies a certain openness in the person receiving. It points to a hoped-for capacity in the person to be nourished by what one receives and to be nourished by the generosity of the Giver. Receiving, therefore, is an act that renders one vulnerable to what is given and to the one giving. Will the gift meet all my needs? Will the gift
be truly what I desire? Will I ever be hungry again? The procession of the faithful, the Body of Christ in the world is a procession of the hungry, the needy, and the hopeful. We may not always recognize each other in this manner, but all of God’s people (except possibly the very youngest) approach the minister of Communion with some experience of these things. What then do we see? We see members of our worshiping assembly engaging in a dialogic act of proclamation and response as well as a reciprocal act of giving and receiving. The minister of Communion, who herself has just been nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, now serves the assembled Body by giving them food and drink. Even with her own vulnerability, demonstrated in needing to receive Communion, she and other ministers welcome fellow
sinners and nourish these same members of the Body with food and drink from heaven.

FOR REFLECTION

…
“What you see is transitory, but the invisible reality signified does not pass away, but abides. Behold, it is received, eaten, and consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed? Not at all! Here, on earth, His members are purified, there they are crowned. Thus, what is signified will endure eternally, even though what signifies it seems to pass away. Receive,
then, in such a way that you may take thought for yourselves, that you may have unity in your hearts, that you may fix your hearts always on high.” St. Augustine, IIA6.2 Sermon 227 (dated 412-413, 416-417)

Be Filled With The Holy Spirit – St Augustine

Posted: April 14, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Reflection Of Being An Extraordinary Minister Of Communion

Posted: March 19, 2011 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I had a strong desire a few years ago to serve in our Church in whatever Ministry that allowed me some form of flexibility in managing my time.  The reason for this, is because I am doing shift work at my employ and so it is almost impossible to commit to a fixed weekly schedule.   To my limited knowledge at that time, I knew a few ministries and almost all of them would require a rather fixed schedule.  So I shelved the idea, thinking it best that I wait till either I find an office hour job or serve when I retire.   Deep in my heart I wanted to serve as an Extraordinary Minister Of Communion, but felt that I was not worthy as I led a rather sinful life.  So in my mind I was considering an alternative, and that it would likely be to serve  in the capacity of a warden.

After a few years had passed and as my elder son was preparing that year to receive his first Holy Communion.  Parents had to meet regularly with the Parish Priest so that all of us could equip ourselves with the knowledge necessary to share our faith with our kids.  While this was going on, our Parish Priest was also started a basic bible knowledge course of which both my wife and I made a commitment to attend, as we were learning so much from him.  That was how I received my calling to the EMC.

I desperately needed to change my lifestyle and my life! But how?  So I prayed earnestly to God to for help and His guidance and was led to join the LISS seminars.  Needless to say that it was life changing, thereafter I developed a deeper and closer relationship with the one triune God.

Close to a year now since I started this journey, I am now serving as EMC.  On the first two occasions that I served during Mass, it was slightly overwhelming because not only was I elated to serve, but had to observe and remember quite a fair bit all while being reverent.  I have pondered and prayed and still pray everyday on how I can serve our Lord to the best of my ability.  The other day as I prayed on how to always remain focussed on Jesus especially when I am serving Mass as EMC, the Holy Spirit led me with this thought, “You are holding Jesus in your hand” then I had a vision of St Anthony holding the child Jesus.  I teared with joy in my heart…….and uttered a resounding AMEN.

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I extracted this from a book which I think is wonderful and does an incredible job in describing what it truly means to be a Eucharistic Minister of Holy Communion….

For special ministers of Holy Communion, there is another dignity and responsibility: you must become what you give.  You must become and live as the Body of Christ that you give to your brothers and sisters.  In you as in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, God the Father starts with the human and brings out the beyond-the-human.  God the Father gives you a share in a ministry that humans could not deserve and would not dare ask for their own! Your call to serve is as unexpected and as undeserved as the young boy’s at the multiplication of the loaves and fishes out of thin air. (John 6:1-15) He could have, but didn’t.  When Jesus wanted to feed the large, hungry crowd of his hearers, he didn’t ask the Father to create loaves and fishes out of thin air.  He could have, but he didn’t.  Jesus began this great miracle with loaves and fishes provided by a young boy.  How happy and surprised that boy must have felt in knowing that Jesus had chosen to use his loaves and fishes in so great a miracle!  The boy and the crowd that shared his lunch realized that God likes to start with the human when he is acting for and with human beings,  God starts with the human-with-us to lead us beyond human possibilities.  That is what Jesus did for the hungry crowd on the hillside in Galilee; that is what Jesus does for us who accept God’s call to ministry and for those we serve.

Through your humble service as minister of Communion, God unites you to your fellow members of the Body of Christ and actually forms all of you into that Body.  But God doesn’t do this without the human: God loves the human too much to ignore it! A special minister’s human, personal, interior qualities will either build up or tear down the Body of Christ, that temple for God in the Spirit made up of brothers and sisters in Christ.  The “Rite of Commissioning Special Ministers of Holy Communion” contains words that are worth recalling often: “In this ministry, you must be examples of Christian living in faith and conduct; you must strive to grow in holiness through this sacrament of unity and love.  Remember that, through many, we are one body because we share the one bread and one cup.”

There must be an essential unity between your life inside and outside the liturgy, as the liturgical scholar Aidan Kavanagh states: “The common end for which the diverse liturgical ministries work is not a ceremony but a corporate life in faithful communion with all God’s holy people and holy things.  For this reason liturgical ministers should never be seen to do in the liturgy what they are regularly seen to do outside the liturgy.”  To put his another way: your service as ministers inside the liturgy should only make visible the faith and love you are seen to manifest outside the liturgy.  Generous self-giving, conformed to the pattern of Chris’s self giving unto death, must mark both your interior and exterior life both inside and outside the liturgy.

St Augustine exhorted his hearers to such self-giving while praising St Lawrence , deacon and martyr , who had ministered the chalice of the Lord’s Blood:”Just as he had partaken of a gift of self at the table of the Lord, so he prepared to offer such a gift. In his life he loved Christ; in his death he followed his footsteps.”  Similarly, your love for Christ present in the Eucharist and in his people will make the bread and wine you minister to others genuine signs of Christ’s self-sacrifice and your own.  The bread and wine that you minister to others will be outward signs of the love that flows from the heart of Christ and from your own heart.

“If then, you want to understand the body of Christ,” says Saint Augustine, “remember what the Apostle says: ‘You are the body of Christ and members thereof’(1Cor 12:27).  If, then, you are the body of Christ and his members, it is your mystery which is set forth on the Lord’s table; it is your own mystery that you receive.  You say ‘Amen’ to what you are, and in saying ‘Amen’ you subscribe to it.  For you hear the words ‘The body of Christ,” and you answer ‘Amen.’ Be members of the body of Christ then, so that your ‘Amen’ may be authentic.”  As special ministers of Holy Communion, you join with your brothers and sisters to say “Amen” to Christ as you receive him in the Eucharist; you also lead your brothers and sisters, through their “Amen,” to make a personal act of faith in the Christ who is present in the Eucharist and in themselves. Let your “Amen” to being a member of the Body of Christ be true, so that you can help make others’ “Amen” to being members of the Body of Christ also be true.  This true “Amen” is a Christian Commitment: the liturgical ministries, ”As special ways of living out the baptismal life of faith….demand a renewal of faith in view of the new charge given by the community to the individual.  These moments of personal dedication demand reflection, prayer, and discernment so that the decisions to be made may be truly responsive to God’s call.

Such reflection, prayer, and discernment are not one-time only nourishment, but a necessary diet for sustaining a life of generous service to God’s people, both inside and outside the liturgy.  Your life as a special minister of Holy Communion must be one of both being and giving the Body of Christ .  Let your “Amen” to that life of service be real and complete.  Then you will find great joy in the Lord who chooses to be present in you, in those your serve, and in the Eucharist that forms you into his Body.

My Lenten Prayer For You..

Posted: March 10, 2011 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I pray for you my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as I hope you’d pray for me….
That as we have embarked on this Lenten journey, we never lose focus on Jesus our Lord and Saviour who is leading us closer and deeper into our Father’s bosom.
That we remain humble, prayerful and steadfast in relinquishing all bonds we have that is of our kingdom, for it is His kingdom we seek to rest in. Let us be beacons of light for one another instead of candle snuffers. May the Grace of God be upon us and may He unite all of us in His love.
Amen.

Whenever There Is Silence

Posted: March 2, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Whenever there is silence around me,
by day or night,
I am startled by a cry.
The first time I heard it,
I went out and searched
and found a man in the throes of crucifixion.

I went to him and said,
“I will take you down.”
And I began to take the nails
out of his hands and his feet.
But he stopped me and said,
“You cannot take me down.
For I cannot come down
until every man, every woman, and every child in the world
shall come together to take me down.

“But sir,” I said, “your cry: I cannot bear your cry.”

“This cry,” he told me,
“It is the anguish of those with no food,
of those who thirst,
the ones huddled naked against the cold,
the cry of those who are lonely and in prisons.
This is the cry of the homeless,
of the ones rejected and hated by society.
It is the cry of those whose lives are snuffed out
by anger, hate or fear.
This is the cry of those living on the edge of war,
those made to wander from their homes in search of peace.”

“Then what am I to do?” I asked him.

“Go about the world,” he said,
“Tell everyone you meet: It is a shared cross on which we all do hang.”

 

For A nice PDF copy Download it here

 

Adapted by Bill Huebsch from an unknown source.

FTFF

Posted: February 10, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Freely, Totally, Faithfully, Fruitfully

 

Christ gives us all the above, when he gives of himself in the Eucharist he instituted.

Use this easy to remember gauge or rather ‘A Love Standard’ when we give of ourselves whether in marriage, or in servitude of others.

Face Prayer By James And Joy Pinto

Posted: February 8, 2011 by CatholicJules in Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I think this is a simple but wonderful prayer…..

..

Posted: December 21, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Lord Jesus I decrease myself and ask that you increase within me Oh Lord.

7 Advent Stations

Posted: December 5, 2010 by julesplife in Life's Journeys, Memory Book, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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What are the Advent Stations?

The Advent Stations take us on a tour of the Old Testament.  Like the traditional Lenten Stations of the Cross, these Advent “stations” or “stopping points” provide a way to ponder the mystery of how God prepared the world to receive his Son at the moment of Annunciation.  Each station contains an Old Testament foreshadowing of the incarnation, a meditation, the New Testament fulfillment in Christ, and then a prayer.  They can be prayed alone, or with you family, or even in the church with a group of the faithful.

Join me as we prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord, Jesus.

The 7 Adventstations (Click Here)

Thought Of The Day..

Posted: December 2, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“It is only when we die unto ourselves that we can rise with Jesus, our Saviour.”

 

Thought Of Day…

Posted: November 24, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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As I was reflecting on why it is so difficult for one to remain holy.

 

For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good, and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.

Wisdom 4:12

 

And then I was led to this passage….

 

For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested.

Wisdom 6:6

 

Thought Of The Day…Why did Jesus have to die?

Posted: November 4, 2010 by CatholicJules in Life's Journeys, Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I have been reflecting on this very question for nearly a month now, and it all started with a lady who said this in a prayer meeting.  She said, “If you think about it, Jesus didn’t really have to die but he did so for us to remember.”

She has a point, though it is an overly simplistic and minuscule one.

Upon deep reflection, I have found that to answer this question ,”Why did Jesus have to die.”  You must first ask, “Why did he live?”

And you would have found your answer…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If at the end of your reflection on this, you still have no answer then perhaps we can arrange a sit down and I will share what I have learnt with you.  Else I can always share my very own personal testimony with you (no matter how hard it is for me) and we can go from there….

Thought Of The Day…On Sharing God’s Love

Posted: November 3, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“Some people need spirituality more than others, right now I am comfortable with where I am at.”

This is a common line or reply whenever one is called to either deepen their faith or relationship with God.  Even before sharing can begin, a full stop followed by an exclamation mark is laid down.  So does it mean we who are trying to share God’s love with our brethren should give up? No, it just means we should pray for the people we are reaching out to and let God soften their hearts. In time if God willing and by their own free will they too will get to experience His love.

Here are some thoughts of our holy Father Pope Benedict XVI

  • A Christian knows when it is time speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak.  He knows that God is love and that God’s presence is felt at the very time when the only thing we do is to love.
  • We all ask ourselves what the Lord expects of us.  It seems to me that the greatest challenge of our time is secularization: that is, a way of living and presenting the world as if “Deus non daretur”, in other words, as if God did not exist.  There is a desire to reduce God to the private sphere, to a sentiment, as if He were not an objective reality.  As a result, everyone makes his own plan of life.  But this vision, presented as though it were scientific, accepts as valid only what can be proven.  With a God who is not available for immediate experimentation, this vision ends by also injuring society.  The result is in fact that each one makes his own plan and in the end finds himself opposed to the other.  As can be seen, this is definitely an unlivable situation.  We must make God present again in our society.  This seems to me to be the first essential element: that God be once again present in our lives, that we do not live as though we were autonomous, authorized to invent what freedom and life are.


Easy Prayer For Hard Times…

Posted: October 15, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“Immaculate Heart Of Mary, I place all my trust in you.”

Fr.John Corapi

Reflection Of The Day…

Posted: October 12, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“Your apostolic effectiveness and mutual communal enrichment depends not on the amount of time you spend with people but of the quality of your presence.”
Fr. Thomas Dubay

Reflection of the day…

Posted: October 10, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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“What I have come to understand is that this whole groundwork of prayer is based on humility and the more a soul lowers itself the more God raises it up.”

Teresa of Avila

Thought Of The Day…On Discernment Of Spirits

Posted: October 8, 2010 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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I attended just one of a series of talks on the discernment of spirits so far and had even bought the book ‘Landmarks’ an Ignatian journey which briefly covers some aspects of it. (Haven’t finished reading it )  Both of them are great resources on the subject.  But lately this is what comes to mind :-

If I continue to thirst and hunger for righteousness, would I not instantly recognize my Lord’s voice?

“To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John10-3:5

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