Homily #120208 ( 12min) Play – Truth is Jesus Christ Himself. The access to Truth comes through Holy Mother Church.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Ordinary Form - St. Jerome Emiliani – Optional Memorial
Readings: Wednesday 5th Week of Ordinary Time
1st: 1Kings 10:1-10
Responsorial Psalm: 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
Gospel: Mark 7:14-23

Audio (MP3)

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A repost of past video for the AirMaria Scotus Month Nov 8th-Dec 8th

Ave Maria!

St. Therese of the Child Jesus has said, “Love is repaid by love alone.” Elsewhere it is said in simpler form: “Love for love,” meaning God first offers us His love in the hope that we will respond by giving Him ours.

This principle of action and reaction is the heart of Bl. John Duns Scotus’ teaching. God first acts by willing Christ, the God-man, and the God-man responds with His Heart aflame for the love and glory of the Father. We also see God’s principle of action and reaction in the predestination of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Listen now as Father explains this eye-opening principle of “Love for love,” “action and reaction,” and how it plays out in all of creation, and in our lives.

Ave Maria!

Repost of Previous video for Scotus Month on AirMaria

Ave Maria!

“Click in” as Fr. Maximilian Mary recapitulates all that he has said thus far about the absolute primacy of Jesus Christ and prepares to launch into the subject of the mediation of grace and glory through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Having established the absolute primacy of Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone will show where Our Lady fits into God’s plan and what that means for our spiritual life.

Ave Maria!

This video series is based on the book A Primer on the Absolute Primacy of Christ by the host Fr. Maximilian M. Dean, FI

 LOVE AND THE CROSS:

The greatest manifestation of love.  

Jesus called his disciples, and leaving everything behind, they followed him. They accompanied the Master on the roads of Palestine, to villages and towns. They shared joys and fatigue and hunger. At times they risked their reputations and indeed their very lives for Jesus. At first they accompanied him externally, but little by little an interior disposition to follow him took root: their souls were transformed. This deeper disposition requires more than mere detachment, and even more than abandoning house and home, family and material possessions. In the Gospel our Lord says, “He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and I follow me”.

Denying oneself means refusing to be the center of one’s own attention. The true disciple must be centered on Christ, to whom must be directed all thoughts and cares, so that our entire day truly becomes an offering to God. To carry the cross means that one is willing to die.  Whoever picks up the cross and carries it squarely accepts his destiny and knows that his life will end on that cross. Carrying the cross means that a firm resolution has been made; it indicates that we are willing to follow him – if necessary unto death – that we wish to imitate him in everything without placing obstacles between us. 

To follow Christ we should identify our will with his; He took up his cross without hesitation. He carried it to Calvary, where He offered himself to God the Father in an offering of infinite merit and love. 

We should consider frequently that his Passion and Death on the Cross are the greatest expression of his love for the Father and for us. Certainly, the smallest act of love He performed, his most insignificant work – even as a child – had infinite merit, sufficient to obtain for all men over all of time the grace of salvation; to obtain for them eternal life and all the grace they would need to obtain it. In spite of this He was still willing to suffer the horrors of his Passion and Death on the Cross to show us how much He loves the Father, and how much He loves each of us. Some­times He expressed to his disciples the urgency that filled his soul: “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how dis­tressed I am until it is accomplished”. The Holy Spirit has written through Saint John: God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.  Jesus freely gave up his life for us because He loved us, for greater love than this no one has, that one lay down his life for his friends. 

Jesus Christ cannot restrain his desire to give his life for our love. If we want to follow him, not just externally but deeply, identifying ourselves with him, how can we reject the Cross, the sacrifice so intimately related with love and self-giving? Being close to Christ will lead us to complete self-surrender, to true love, to the greatest joy. Forgetting ourselves, identifying ourselves with his holy will in all things, cleans, purifies, makes transparent and divinizes our soul. To have the Cross is to have joy: it is to have you, Lord! 

The meaning and fruits of suffering.  

A holy soul once experienced difficult trials. One calamity after another befell her, and each succeeding disaster seemed worse than the one before. Finally, that soul turned affectionately to our Lord and asked, But Lord, what have I done to you? And in the depths of her  heart came the reply, You have loved me. She thought of Calvary and understood a little better how our Lord wanted to purify her and draw her close to the salvation of many who were lost, far from God. She was then filled with peace and joy. 

In our lives we will encounter sorrows, as all men do. If you have difficulties, be assured that they are a proof of the fatherly love the Lord has for you.  These are good moments to look with love upon Christ on the Cross, to understand that from the Cross He is telling us: I love you more, from you I expect more. 

Perhaps it is a painful illness that disrupts the plans we have made, or a misfortune affecting those whom we love most, or some kind of pro­fessional failure. Lord, what have I done to you?, we will ask. And He will respond in silence that He loves us; that He wants an unlimited acceptance of his divine will; that his logic is different from human reasoning. Then, when we accept and abandon ourselves, we come to understand – though perhaps later – what a great good are those difficulties. How thankful will we then be to our Lord! 

Often, though, we will find the Cross in the ordinary and even trivial things that we encounter in the course of run-of-the-mill days: fatigue; lacking the time we would like to do things; having to renounce a pleasant plan that we had made; bearing with love the defects of persons with whom we live and work or, in connection with them, some small, unexpected humiliation; aridity in prayer.  Our Lord awaits us there as well. He asks that we accept  those contradictions – great or small – without sterile complaints, without bitterness or rebellion. He asks for our love taking up that which goes against us and offering it as a valuable jewel. Our small contradictions united with those of Christ on the Cross acquire an infinite value to make reparation for the many sins committed daily the world over, and for our sins as well. 

Sorrows borne with and for love bear many other rich fruits: they serve as satisfaction for our sins; they purify our soul; they deepen and strengthen our character and per­sonality. They are the only way to acquire a certain special understanding and sympathy for our neighbor. In fact, they open us to Christ’s own interior life, and thus unite us more closely to him. Often, deep suffering sets its mark. on a decisive moment in our lives and leads us to a renewed fer­vor and hope, to a new way – fuller and deeper – of understanding our own existence. But pain and suffering should not mean sadness. When we carry our Cross together with Christ, our soul. is filled with peace and a deep joy amidst all its trials. The lives of the saints are full of joy, one which the world does not understand because the roots of such joy are sunk in God.

Seeking out mortifications.

If anyone will come after me … We want nothing in the world but to follow Christ closely. No other thing,­ not even our own lives, do we love more than this: iden­tifying ourselves with him; making the desires and senti­ments that He had on earth our own. We are close to him not only when things are going well, but also when we accept adversities with patience, happy to be able to accompany him on the way of the Cross, uniting our r sufferings with his.

If, however, we were only to await the trials and con­tradictions, the pain we cannot avoid, our love would lack generosity. We would be content with just getting by. We would have a reluctant disposition that might be described in these words: Mortification? Life has enough sorrows! I have-enough worries already! 

However, interior life depends too much on mortification not to seek it out actively. Those mortifications which arise spontaneously are important and valuable, but should not serve as excuses to flee from gen­erous voluntary sacrifices, the sign of a true spirit of penance .. ‘I will freely offer you sacrifice; I will sing your name, 0 Yahweh, your name, because it is good’ {Ps 53:8). 

The Church proposes that we consider the penitential aspect of our lives one day each week – on Fridays – by reflecting on the Passion of Christ. On this day, many Christians consider with greater care the sorrowful mys­teries of Christ’s life, or they accompany him on the Way of the Cross, or they read or meditate on his Passion. It is a good day to examine more carefully how we habitually bear contradictions and the generosity – fruit of love ­with which we seek out voluntary mortifications in little things; or how we struggle against our selfishness, laziness or the desire to be well thought of, to be the centre of attention. Other points for examination might include the small mortifications that make the lives of others more enjoyable; being cordial in our dealings with others; not giving into bad moods that perhaps will lead to brusque manners; smiling when we tend to be more serious; being punctual in our work or studies; eating a little less of what we like most or a little more of what we like least; not eat­ing between meals; keeping our desk, wardrobe or room neat and orderly; not giving in to curiosity; guarding our senses with refinement; not complaining about excessive heat or cold or heavy traffic…

As we finish today’s meditation on the words of Jesus, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny him­self, take up his cross and follow me, we request of him in the intimacy of our prayer, Grant me, Jesus, the Cross with no Simon of Cyrene to help me. No, that’s not right; I need your grace, I need your help here as in everything. You must be my Simon of Cyrene. With you, my God, no trial can daunt me … But what if my cross should consist of bore­dom or sadness? In that case I would say to you, Lord, with you I will gladly be sad. As long as I don’t lose you, no sorrow will be a sorrow at all. 

Fr. Francis Fernandez (In Conversation with Christ)

Mary Vitamin for August 23rd

Topic: Our Lady’s Joy in the Resurrection of Her Son

(The sixth mystery in the Franciscan Crown — Feast August 26)

Quote:

St. Teresa of Avila

One day after receiving Communion, it seemed most clear to me that Our Lord sat beside me; He told me that immediately after His resurrection He went to see our Lady because she then had great need and that the pain she experienced so absorbed and transpierced her soul that she did not return immediately to herself to rejoice in that joy. By this I understood how different was this other transpiercing, the one of my soul. But what must have been that transpiercing of the blessed Virgin’s soul! He also said that He had remained a long time with her because it was necessary in order to console her.

St. Teresa of Avila, Spiritual Testimonies, (ICS Publications: 1985), 390-91.

Quote used in Mary Vitamin #153

Meditation:

Imagine after days of painfully placing herself in God’s presence in prayer, with the agony of the Cross fresh before her mind’s eye, what a joy it was for our Lady to see the Lord in glory, alive and well and to speak with Him with no effort on her part.

I Peter 1:6-9

There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead t0 praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears.

When Our Lord appeared to Our Lady and “remained a long time with her because it was necessary to console her” did Our Lady ask about her holy spouse and parents? Did she receive “news” from the Lord about the happiness experienced by her beloved family members? Was this a part of Our Lady’s joy in the Resurrection? She saw her Son’s victory over death and the consequences for those she loved.

Resolution:

Today before beginning my usual prayers, I will call to mind the visit of Our Lord to Our Lady after the Resurrection. I will try to enter prayer with the joy of Our Lady and remember that it took her a long time with the Lord before she experienced the joy of the Resurrection.

Marian Vow:

Father Gabriel Allegra, O.F.M.

Precisely here is the essence of consecration: always to look carefully at the Immaculate Mother. Her mere look will indicate her wishes, will help one to put them into practice. And thus we will generously and easily do the will of the Father.

Mary’s Immaculate Heart, A Way to God, (Franciscan Herald Press: 1985), 76.

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

Mary Vitamin for July 29th

Topic: Martha and Mary
Luke 10:38-42

Quote:
St.  Francis de Sales
The two women represent our Lady.
The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales on Our Lady, (Tan Books) 62.
Tan Books

Meditation:
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
John 11:5

Archbishop Alban Goodier, S.J.:
And the name of Martha comes first. He could not blame her zeal; He could not find fault with her self-sacrificing charity. Nevertheless there was something else which, for the sake of all mankind, He must seize this occasion to defend. To work for Him was good, but to love Him was better; to serve Him was a glory, but to live with Him was a greater glory still. It was noble to be His handmaiden, but to be blessed among women was nobler. To seek the means to please Him was holy, but to seek first the  Kingdom  of  God  and His justice was to secure that all the rest would come. Martha stood for much that was best in the world, but Mary represented something more that transcended all the rest; indeed without it all the rest would be of little worth.
The Public Life of Jesus Christ (Burns, Oates & Wasbourne: London,  1930)

Resolution:
Today I will work on “service with love” in order to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady was able to live an exemplary life which combined the best aspects of the service of St. Martha and the contemplative prayer of St.  Mary.

Marian Vow:
The members of M.I.M., if they live faithfully their consecration, become, in this way, “little mediators”, as St. Maximilian says, at the unconditional service of the universal Mediatrix, ready, as “docile instruments”, to work as missionaries and with the missionary spirit in the Church and in the family, in society and in each field of labor; ready also, according to possibilities and obedience, to go themselves even to the missions “Ad gentes” (To the Nations) to save the souls of brothers who are still living “in the shadow of death” (Lk 1, 79).

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

Mary Vitamin for July 23rd

Topic: The First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary
(In honor of the month of the Precious Blood)

Quote:
And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him. And being in
an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood,
trickling down upon the ground.
Luke 22:43-4

Meditation:
Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich explains that Our Lord in the garden of
Gethsemane “understood not only the consequence of every species of
concupiscence, but also its own peculiar expiatory chastisement, the
significance of all the instruments of torture connected with it; so that not
only the thought of the instrument made Him shudder, but also the sinful rage of
him that invented it, the fury and wickedness of all that had ever used it, and
the impatience of all, whether innocent or guilty, who had been tortured with
it. All these tortures and afflictions Jesus perceived in an interior
contemplation, and the sight filled Him with such horror that a bloody sweat
started from the pores of His sacred Body.”
The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, Volume 4, (Tan Books), 89

Does a mother suffer only when she witnesses the suffering of her child? Or does
she suffer over and over again in her heart, anticipating the suffering of her
child? Is Our Lady not aware of the avarice of Judas and the hatred of the
leaders in the Temple towards her Son? A mother in her compassion cannot help
but anticipate the pain and suffering of her child. It is not recorded in Holy
Scripture that Our Lady was present in the Garden, but her heart was always
unwaveringly united with God, and she would share in his agony on the eve of the
great manifestation of God’s passionate love for mankind. She would share, the
way a Mother shares in the suffering of her son: silently, meekly, heart
breaking, full of love, yet accepting.

Resolution:
I will meditate in the Rosary what it cost Our Lady to accept the Will of God in
the Redemption of humanity. Our Lady does not need to be present in
the Garden of Gethsemane to share in the suffering of Her Son.

Marian Vow:
The Immaculate was the universal Mediatrix of redemption, to wit, was the only
Coredemptrix who has shared in person with the Redeemer –”under Him and with
Him” (LG 56) — the work of universal redemption, cooperating actively with her
tears, mixed in the Blood of Her Crucified Son, to rescue sinful mankind, from
Adam to the last man who lives on the earth.
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Statutes #51

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

MaryCast Specials #77 ( 09min) Play – Dr. Mark Miravalle gives a compelling argument for how the proclamation of the 5th Marian Dogma can bring about a new Pentecost since Mary was so instrumental for the first one where the Holy Spirit, her spouse, descended on the Apostles. He mentions the comparison that St. Maximilian Kolbe made of the spousal relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit with that of the union of two natures, human and divine, in the person of Jesus Christ.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #100501 ( 14min) Play – Today, on the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, Fr. Bonaventure preaches on how St. Joseph is the true model of a worker who centers all his work around his Son, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. Father contrasts this to the atheistic, Communist “May Day” celebrations, also on this day, which Pius XII counteracted by establishing this feast in 1955.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Gn 1:26-2:3
R: Ps 90:2, 3-4, 12-13, 14, 16
G: Mt 13:54-58

Audio (MP3)

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