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Thank you for joining us for today's Rosary! Today we're meditating on what struck Mike during his recent visit to the Sea of Galilee. Would you like to read through today's meditation? Make sure to subscribe to receive the show notes via email at DailyRosary.net. 

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Thank you for joining us for today's Rosary! Today we're meditating on the temptations Christ faced. Would you like to read through today's meditation? Make sure to subscribe to receive the show notes via email at DailyRosary.net. Be an apostle of the Rosary and share this with others!

Thank you for joining us for today's Rosary! Today we're meditating on the betrayal of Christ, and returning to the Lord with hope. Would you like to read through today's meditation? Make sure to subscribe to receive the show notes via email at DailyRosary.net. Be an apostle of the Rosary and share this with others!

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Interested in learning more about the Rosary, sharing your prayer intentions, and meeting people who are also living this way of life? Join our online daily Rosary community! Find out more at www.DailyRosary.net. 

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On this day, Oct 13, 1917 Mary worked a public miracle for more than 70,000 to see at Fatima called the miracle of the Sun. Earlier that year, in July Mary took the three children to hell and then she said to them…“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."

Mary showed the children a vision of the future, what would happen if humanity did not turn away from sin and turn to God. Mary also prophesied, "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world."

Ratzinger explained the vision: "The angel with the flaming sword on the left of the Mother of God recalls similar images in the Book of Revelation. This represents the threat of judgment that looms over the world. Today the prospect that the world might be reduced to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure fantasy: man himself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword. The vision then shows the power that stands opposed to the force of destruction – the splendor of the Mother of God and, stemming from this in a certain way, the summons to penance. In this way, the importance of human freedom is underlined: the future is not in fact unchangeably set, and the image that the children saw is in no way a film preview of a future in which nothing can be changed. Indeed, the whole point of the vision is to bring freedom onto the scene and to steer freedom in a positive direction. The purpose of the vision is not to show a film of an irrevocably fixed future. Its meaning is exactly the opposite: it is meant to mobilize the forces of change in the right direction. Therefore we must totally discount fatalistic explanations of the secret…Rather, the vision speaks of dangers and how we might be saved from them.”

We can prevent the prophetic vision Mary gave in 1917 and help bring about the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary by two means: The Rosary and our own personal cross 

Prayer: “Pray, pray very much!” and “Pray the Rosary every day.”

Penance: “Make of everything you can a sacrifice and offer it to God as an act of Reparation for the sins by which God is offended and for the conversion of sinners.” 

5 First Saturdays of Reparation

Accept and Offer to God what you don’t like, what you cannot change. Offer these for the Love of God, the Conversion of sinners, and in Reparation for sin.

There is a cosmic Struggle Between: The Devil, his demons and his servants of darkness and God, Mary, his Angels and His servants of Light. God is asking us to play our part for the good of the world and the good of souls.

In the Gospel of the Mass today, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, neither the younger nor the older son accepted what they were, sons of the Father. The younger rejected his sonship, wishing his Father dead to receive his inheritance and go and do as he pleased; the older son, by his own words, revealed his true conviction when he said to his father, “all these years I have slaved for you.” For some reason, neither could accept they were sons of the father. Maybe it was the deadly sin of acedia, otherwise known as sloth that prevented them. Sloth is that sin in which we wish to escape the effort, self-control and sacrifice it takes to be an adopted son or daughter of God. In our fallen human nature, it is hard, I mean there is stuff that will have to change in our lives, we will need to detach from disordered desires and addictions that keep us from living according to our true identity and dignity. As I stated yesterday

1. Acedia is an aversion to the invitation from God to become godlike, a saint.
2. What follows is the effort to escape our noble calling through busyness, workaholism, entertainment, news, sports, drunkenness, drug use, pornography, or sex
3. In the last analysis, acedia is this that man will not be what God wants him to be, His son

Magnanimity conquers sloth or acedia - Magnanimity is this: I want to be what you O God want me to be – your son and a saint!

I don’t want to escape this call to greatness. I accept it, with all its responsibilities, knowing that I cannot do this on my own, but I am confident you can do it in me! I stand ready – Father, go to work on me! I will not run away. This is why magnanimity is so closely related to Hope – the confident expectation that God can and will do in me what He wants if I stand still and don’t run away.

Why is it necessary to stand still, to sit in quiet and stillness?

First, Because in pride we think everything depends upon us and so we have to be diligent responsible and keep busy. This pride and self-reliance blocks the action of God because only God can make us holy.
Second we are afraid of what needs to be done in us to reach our potential and we think if we keep moving, God wont notice us and He will leave us alone and we can prevent God from doing what needs to be done in the us
Third we just don’t want to become what God wants us to become so we avoid him through those things I mentioned above: we avoid God by being responsible in the sense of being so damn busy that we are really just running away, or in distraction with news, entertainment, social media, kids sports, on and on and on…However when we sit in quiet, solitude and stillness we have to say to God: Not my will but Your will be done! God I am going to sit here in silence and stillness because I want you to do in me whatever you want to do in me

Its really very simple, stop trying to escape. Make some small break in the routine and rut of your life. Give God 5, 10, 20, 30 minutes of undivided attention with no distractions, be still and let Him do in you what He wants. Then make a habit of this every day. You have settled for far too little and its time to demand more for yourself which is exactly what God has always wanted – but you wouldn’t let him.

As we saw in defining hope, for this virtue to be present the person must perceive heavenly happiness as a) something desirable and possible, and b) something not yet secure. If either of these two truths are lacking from a person’s outlook, hope will die. Hence there are two vices which are directly opposed to the second theological virtue: Despair and Presumption.

The primary threat to hope is despair. Despair isn’t just a feeling of gloominess, or depression. It’s the refusal to strive after God, the refusal to make Holiness and Heaven our primary goal and to work for it. People succumb to despair for a variety of reasons, but ultimately, the causes of despair can be narrowed down to two categories. The first is excessive self-focus. If you just look at yourself you’re going to be struck with how disproportionate your strengths are relative to the goal. In other words, if you just look at yourself you’ll only see that there’s not enough there to do what needs to be done, and you’ll end up giving up on holiness and happiness. And it’s certainly the case that what we have on our own isn’t enough, which is why we’re supposed to keep our eyes on Christ, beg for God’s mercy and strength, and realize that “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). An excellent illustration of the danger of self-focus is the story of Peter, who, as long as he kept his attention on Our Lord, was able to walk on water. When his focus switched to his own personal ability and the surrounding circumstances, he began to sink. That’s how the interplay between hope and despair works: look at Him, not at yourself.

The second reason we despair is attachment to sin. We end up not really wanting to pursue God, because we know it’s going to mean giving up certain sins to which we’ve grown accustomed. So we choose the evil habits we’re used to over the promise of eternal joy. You are designed to be a saint. But you don’t want to be a saint because you don’t want to give up things you think you cant live without which aren’t really making you happy anyway, still you are addicted to them. What are they? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the addictions that keep you from perfect joy!

A major symptom of despair is an inordinate need for distraction. When you make the decision to settle for mediocre pleasures, mediocre achievements, mediocre loves, you still know deep down you ought to be pursuing higher things. So you try to find some distraction to help you drown out the divine call. Do you remember what it was like to put off studying for a big test, and then tried to make up for it by spending a night in the library? When you get to the library you’re terrified about how much work you have to do, and how little time you have to do it in. You know you need to buckle down and get to the books, but instead you go into denial, trying not to think about it. You wander aimlessly around the library in desperate search of anything that’ll help you procrastinate. You read a magazine article that isn’t even interesting, you browse your social media online, you strike up a conversation with the library staff. But all the while you’re bored, and you have this sick feeling in your stomach because you know a) that the test is coming, b) you don’t know what’s going to be on it; c) you’re not ready for it.

That’s our society. We know we ought to spend our time on more noble aspirations, getting ready for the final accounting of judgment, but we really don’t want to talk about it, and we don’t even want to think about it. So we look for anything that can distract us, anything that can drown out the guilt. Maybe that’s why there’s so little silence today. 

Presumption is a much more infrequently discussed kind of hopelessness. It’s the vice of thinking heaven is guaranteed: “I’m as good as saved already.”  Presumption can be just as dangerous as despair.

1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness,

But we don’t desire heaven and we fear death because we fear heaven because we think all the good stuff to be done is here on earth and heaven is just rest, you know R.I.P. What will we do in Heaven?

Let me suggest three things we will do in heaven: Understand our earthly life by God’s knowledge, share in all other human lives, and endless exploration into God and the New Universe

First, we will review our past life with divine understanding and appreciation of every single experience, good and evil: This corresponds to the first stages of Heaven known as Purgatory. It might consist of moral reeducation, rather than mere punishment, rehabilitation rather than retribution.

Second, we do the same to other’s lives from within. We will know them more intimately and completely than we could ever know our most intimate friend on earth b/c we share God’s knowledge of one another. The Communion of Saints will be even more interesting than human love on earth. Think of the first time you fell in love. The joy of learning about another person and doing all good things with them . Yet without out all the imperfections, and not just with one person, but with all people. We will have the ability to know every human that ever lived. Even more intimately than we knew our closest friend on earth. Who would you like to become best friends with in Heaven?

Your spouse, or son or daughter. Maybe a friendship cut short here on earth. I think of my two best friends killed in high school and college. My guardian angel. Who do you want to meet?

We will not only explore our own lives and the lives of others - We will begin the endlessly fascinating task of exploring, learning and loving all the facets of the inexhaustible nature of God.

The Contemplation of God is not boring. 

Heaven will be: Dynamic rather than static. Exploring rather than staring at God. Endless beginnings rather than merely the end because the whole world will be renewed and transformed

The material universe itself is destined to be transformed

Heaven will be a “New Heavens and a New Earth” 2 Pet. 3:13

“New Heavens and New Earth” means that Every good thing on earth will be in heaven

Philippians 3:21 For us, our homeland is in heaven and from heaven comes the savior we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.

From The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis chapters fifteen and sixteen

Drawn into a stable

Set the scene with the end of the world

Closing of the stable door

Their sadness at the loss of everything good in Narnia

Bigger on the inside than it was on the outside

This is fiction

but it certainly helps us think about the Heaven

and think about it we must

b/c that reality charges everything here with eternal significance and that is hope.

Recently we’ve meditated on the theological virtues of charity and faith, today hope. As we have discussed, faith reveals to us God’s supernatural plan for our lives. With faith we know that the ultimate purpose of each human person lies in the transforming union with God in this life and its fulfillment in Heaven. Once we have this knowledge, it’s time to begin working towards that objective. That’s where the theological virtue of hope enters the picture. Hope is the virtue whereby the individual strives for union with God and Heaven as something which is possible, but not yet guaranteed.

There are, then, three conditions needed for the virtue of hope: firstly, an active pursuit of God and Heaven; secondly, a realization that holiness, becoming a saint and the attainment of Heaven is possible, (after all, if it wasn’t possible, why would anyone even try?); thirdly, a realization that failing to attain holiness and Heaven is also possible, (after all, if getting to Heaven was guaranteed, why would you need to work at getting there?).

Tragically, it’s common to hear this striving for Holiness and Heaven as something which is merely a distraction from the responsibilities of this life of making a difference on earth.  For example, Marx, the founder of atheistic Communism once famously said that “religion is the drug of the people,” and more recently, Carl Sagan stated, “Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.”  I guess people think that ideas about the next life are simple forms of escapism or wishful thinking that keeps us from doing any good in this world.

Yet actually the contrary is true. Those with their eyes fixed on Heaven are the ones who do the most good for earthly society. C.S. Lewis articulates this very clearly: "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.” Mother Teresa did more for the poor than anyone and she spent at least four hours in prayer every day.

The fact is that those who are only interested in conditions down here lack the power to actually affect conditions down here. Hope, the pursuit of God, Heaven, and holiness, is what charges us on towards the perfection of temporal matters. So do you really want to make a difference?  Do you really want to change the world? Then start by making sure you’re putting God and your supernatural destiny first.

A critical part of hope is the desire for Heaven. The weird thing is that even though many of us know we should pursue the supernatural good, we don’t really want to. Union with God has somehow grown unattractive to a great many people. Heaven’s lost its appeal. Why is this, and what can we do to foster a longing for the happiness of the next life?

Well, one of the key reasons we lack a healthy attraction to God and Heaven is that our imagination has gotten very weak when it comes to Heaven. When we think of Heaven, we think of a white room, or a big choir that sings “alleluia” all day long, or a bunch of people playing harps and sitting on clouds. Obviously those images of Heaven aren’t going to thrill us; they’re not going to make us excited about the next life. We’ve lost sight of the glory, the joy, the total and perfect happiness that awaits us when we finally come home to God.

We're all becoming cynics. Spend time meditating on what God and the saints have to say about Heaven! 

(Luke 10:38-42). Jesus tells us in plain language: Only one thing is necessary, a deep friendship with Him; spending time alone with Him; talking to Him, listening to him in meditation, and just being with him in silence.

If you ask anyone what the bare minimum amount of time for a good conversation with a friend over coffee or a beer unanimously they say at least 30 minutes. If we want a friendship with Jesus we should give Him no less every day.

If we cannot, then we are addicts

If we will not, then we really don’t want a relationship with God.

I think the addictions to the routines of your life are preventing you. You can’t break these addictions in an instant. But you can make one small break in your routines which will free up the log jam and the next steps will follow. What is one small change you can make in your routine to enable you to have more time with Jesus in friendship: maybe  go to bed earlier, get up earlier, spend less time on the phone or computer or TV and then spend that time in friendship with Jesus?

Prayer is friendship with God: it is talking, listening and just being together. This corresponds to the three major expressions of prayer:

• Vocal prayer - speaking to God;
• Meditation – listening to God;
• Contemplation – just being with the One who loves us

Now, it is not difficult to speak to God – but it is more difficult to listen to him. By listening we mean first, the prayer of meditation.

The Catechism suggests two forms of meditation: Lectio Divina (reading and reflecting on the Bible or some writing of a saint or spiritual author); and secondly, the Rosary

This Rosary Podcast is a great way to do daily meditation

Regardless of the Method all Meditation includes 3 Simple Steps

Read or Listen to something from the Word of God which means something from the Bible, or a saint, or a good spiritual writer

Reflect or Think about what struck you

• Try to understand the passage; observe what is going on or being said and ask questions.
• Relate or apply it to your life
• Draw conclusions that fit your life
• Talk over all of this with Jesus in your mind and heart

Form a Resolution

• Choose something practical and concrete to remember or to do today based on your      meditation
• Write down your resolution and keep it with you
• Put it into  practice

St Francis De Sales on the importance of a resolution:

The most important thing of all is that you cling firmly to the resolutions you have taken in meditation so as to practice them carefully. That is the great fruit of meditation, without which it is often not only useless but harmful. Why so? Because the virtues upon which we have meditated but not practiced sometimes puff us up so much in mind and heart that we think we are already what we are resolved to be which no doubt is the case if our resolutions are solid and ardent. But when, on the contrary, they are not practiced, they are useless and dangerous. (Introduction to the Devout Life, II Chap 8)

In the Reported Message of Our Lady in Medjugorje on July 25, 2019 she exhorts us to perseverance in Prayer
“Dear children! My call for you is prayer. Prayer will be joy for you and a crown that binds you to God. Children, the trials will come and you will not be strong and sin will reign but if you are mine, you will win because your refuge will be the Heart of my Son Jesus. Therefore children, return to prayer so that prayer becomes life for you, day and night. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Today October 7, is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, originally the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, because when the victory comes it will come through the Rosary!

Throughout the 1500s, the Muslim Ottoman Empire grew in strength, especially by means of its domination of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1571, their fleet of 300 ships was massed, just south of Greece, in the Gulf of Lepanto, poised to invade Europe and wipe out Christianity. Pope St. Pius V saw this danger looming on the horizon. In response, he begged the leaders of the West to stop fighting among themselves and unite against the force that was a threat to all. But they were too consumed with building their own kingdoms to come to the defense of the Kingdom of God. So he turned to the Christian people, asking them to take up the weapon of the Rosary and pray it daily.

Pope St. Pius V finally found support in Don Juan of Austria, who cobbled together a much smaller fleet of about 200 ships. Giovanni Andrea, a Genoese admiral, agreed to lead the Christian armada against the Islamic onslaught. He possessed one of only five copies of Our Lady of Guadalupe and had been touched to the original Tilma, a gift from the King of Spain, which he hung in his flagship. On October 6, 1571, the night before the battle, Don Juan required all his sailors and soldiers to pray the Rosary while St. Pius V himself led the rosary at the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. He knew that if Europe was to be saved, it would only be through the intervention of the Mother of God and the Rosary.

On October 7, 1571, the Christian and Muslim fleets entered into Battle in the bay, south of the town of Lepanto (Greece). The Muslim fleet, led by Ali Pasha, arranged in the formation of a massive quarter moon. The Christian fleet was arranged in the shape of a cross, divided into three squadrons: left, center, and right. The battle started badly for the Christians: the Muslim fleet broke through the left and center squadrons, heading right for Admiral Doria’s ship. Doria slipped down to his cabin, where he had hung the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, fell on his knees and began to pray the Rosary. At that moment, the winds shifted against the Islamic fleet and scattered it. The Christians regrouped and destroyed two-thirds of the Ottoman armada. It is said that the sea was red with blood for miles around by the end of the battle.

In Rome, Pope Pius V knew the Christians were victorious before a message could possibly have reached him. During a meeting in the Vatican the pope suddenly rose up and gazed out the window, saying “This is not a moment for business; make haste to thank God, because our fleet this moment has won a victory over the Turks.” When the official news reached Rome, Pope Pius V gave credit to the Virgin Mary. He declared October 7th the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which we celebrate today as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, because the victory came through the power of the Rosary.

At Fatima Mary promised that in the end Her Immaculate Heart would Triumph. But she made it clear the Triumph would only come IF we did our part and use the weapon she has given us: The Rosary.

At San Nicolas Mary said: “The weapon that has the greatest influence on evil is to say the Rosary."

Sister Lucia dos Santos of Fatima said, "The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

Luke 17:5-10 The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you. ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’ We need an increase of faith; we are expected to be good servants, good soldiers

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ Faith is misunderstood. All people have a built-in desire for God because we were created for union with him and nothing less will satisfy. God takes the initiative in this relationship – He reveals himself to man and offers a total unconditional gift of himself, through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the full revelation of God. Jesus reveals all that we need to know to live in relationship with God and Jesus offers Himself to us in Baptism and the Eucharist so that we can achieve the purpose of life – union with God. All that is left is our response; our response to God is what we mean by Faith: By his Revelation, "the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company." The adequate response to this invitation is faith. (CCC 142) So, God reveals and offers himself to us through Jesus. Faith is my response to God by my total gift of self to him and believing the whole truth of what Jesus teaches. Faith is a response to all God has done and revealed.

My good friend Terry Sexton, a former Marine taught me the Key to Battle – And make no mistake, we are in a ferocious Spiritual War. Archbishop is our General. The Priests are the Commanders. You are supposed to be the Marines. The Marines Equip their soldiers at the lowest level with sound tactics – because as soon as the battle begins, no plan survives the 1st contact with the enemy. The Most Basic Unit in the Marines is a Fire Team consisting of 4 Marines. Every Marine is equipped to lead a Fire Team of 3 others. They are given basic tools to take care of one another. You have be a Fire Team leader. You must determine Who your Unit is – who are the 3 people you will take care of in this Spiritual Battle? Family, grand kids, close friends, those who have been entrusted to you. Ask the Holy Spirit and determine now who your Unit is that you commit to be responsible for.

You must Equip your Fire Team – your Unit with Tactics -Friendship, meaningful conversation and prayer. Create a time and a place, and an atmosphere in which you do the things you like to do that does not involve a screen and invite others to do it with you. Have coffee, or a meal, or drinks or desert, go for a walk, play cards…whatever you like and have a good conversation while you are doing it.

Learn the Art of Meaningful Conversation. Don’t begin by telling people stuff; instead, Seek to know, understand, love and care for them. Validate their existence by being genuinely interested in their lives, learn the art of asking good questions. Then, lead your fire team in praying the Rosary daily. 

I want you to help me Build an army for Our Lady of 10,000 people who live this movement of families and friends who live this way of life of Friendship, meaningful conversation and praying the Rosary together by 8/22/2020 the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. 

Be an apostle of the Rosary! Share this with others!

Today is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. He wanted to be a warrior, a knight in battle, yes for his own glory, still he wanted to be a soldier. When he was a young man he had a dream that his home changed into a great palace filled with shields, armor, swords and banners – on all this war equipment glittered a red cross. As he wandered the halls a beautiful poorly-clad young woman appeared and clasped his hand tightly and said to him: “Francis, my beloved, all this is for you and for your companions. Take up your arms.” Francis misinterpreted the dream. The poorly clad young woman was Lady Poverty; the companions – Franciscans, not secular Knights, and the weapons well, God had other weapons in mind: prayer, penance and preaching. God does not give up on us in our miscues. Francis came to the broken-down church of St. Damian, barley more than rubble. He fell on his knees before the Crucifix and in the silence, Jesus spoke saying: “Rebuild my Church. It is falling down.” Again, Francis did not interpret the will of God perfectly, he began rebuilding the little stone chapel of St. Damian. It was a good start, but God had something much bigger in mind. Men began Francis and his way of life. When there were 12, they went to the Pope for his approval. The night before, the Pope had a strange dream. The Pope dreamed he saw the Church splitting apart, and when it was about to fall into pieces, a small man came up and put his shoulder against the building and with one shove he set the Church back on its foundations like new. When the Pope awoke, he knew the small man was Francis. He approved his way of life.

The Church and the world today are in a difficult situation. There are 100 million people in America who were baptized Catholic. Only 15-20% go to Mass every Sunday. The largest and fastest growing group of people have no religious affiliation. For every person under 30 who enters the Catholic Church, 4-5 leave. Baby-boomers are gentrifying, the family is disintegrating, and marriages and baptisms are down by 50 % since 1971. US Surgeon General has declared loneliness and isolation a public health crisis. Roughly half of Americans suffer from this “disease” which I call “Friendship Deficit Syndrome” in which people have no one to share deeply with. Suicide is the number 2 killer of teens behind motor vehicle accidents. Drug overdose is #1 killer of Americans under 50; both a symptom of loneliness. Jesus personally invested in the Apostles, then at the Last Supper he said, “I no longer call you servants but friends.” Salvation comes from faith. Faith comes through friendship. St. Francis of Assisi once told a brother who was struggling with doubts: “Do not be troubled brother, but through friendship learn faith.” 

Where you live create an atmosphere of hospitality, friendship and good conversation in your kitchen, living room, deck, garage, by the pool – wherever. Invite people into this space, offer them something to drink or eat. Nobody cares if your house looks like Pintrest, in fact, if your home is too neat and clean it is not hospitable, it looks like no one lives there – the devil wants to stop you by this temptation. Don’t freak out about putting out a big spread – just offer what you have in your fridge and pantry. 

The Second Part of this way of life is to Learn the Art of Meaningful Conversation. Don’t begin by telling people stuff; it’s not your responsibility to fix people – that is God’s responsibility – not yours.The first step is to Seek to know, understand, love and care for them. Validate their existence by being genuinely interested in their lives. Learn the art of asking good questions. 

The third part of this way of life is that prayer and conversation with friends have some of the same ingredients.  

Since the 19th century this world welcomed, as though it is good news, what people call the death of God. Man, finally free, has become his own god. He can now enter on the way of progress with no inhibitions. According to those who rely completely on science, man is going to be able to resolve by himself all his problems, including the problem of war and even the problem of death. It is thought that there will be a scientific means found to overcome this final disaster which overtakes every human life. In this triumphalistic spirit the world has calmly given itself over to sin, to the most animalistic desires of the human person, which become the religion and morality of the world. From this has come the worst of slaveries, the worst of violence and the worst of despair. Mary, the Mother of God and Our Mother has been appearing at Medjugorje since June 24, 1981 until this day, Oct 2, 2019 to warn us this calm abandonment to sin has placed the world in a state of self-destruction, with no faith and no moral law, and therefore with neither order nor meaning in life, and this is occurring among Christians…Self-destruction because of sin is what Mary has come to warn the world of. This is precisely the message of the ten secrets of Medjugorje which have not yet been disclosed but are destined to be so.

The message, which started again June 24th of 1981 and continues to this day is a message of faith, prayer, fasting, conversion, and peace.

The message of the reported apparitions at Medjugorje is one of faith in God,

The official atheism of Communism in the East tried to eliminate God, and the practical atheistic materialism of the West has done this more thoroughly. God exists, he loves us, but he has created us free and will do nothing for us without us. This is the very law of creation, in fact it is the law of love. God offers Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ. God waits for our response, our yes or no. We give our yes through Faith in which we give ourselves unconditionally to the Father through Jesus; we believe all that He revealed that is handed down through the Catholic faith as it is summarized in the Catechism and we do our best to live what he revealed. If we don’t live it then we must not have believed it in the first place. The Blessed Mother says specifically in the messages that all religions are not equal and so there’s no sense of a false ecumenism. Jesus Christ is the one mediator to the Father. Our Lady has also given in the Medjugorje message a promise to leave a permanent visible sign for the “unbelievers”, something people can come and see, which will assist them in accepting the authenticity of Medjugorje.

At Medjugorje Our Lady is asking for a clearly greater quality and quantity of prayer, what she calls prayer of the heart, a greater interior prayer, and with this call of greater quality of prayer there’s also very clearly a call for more generosity in prayer.

Prayer is essential to the Message of Medjugorje because it is in prayer that we communicate with God, that our life derives its energy and is shared with God. Without prayer so many lives are distracted and dispersed for nothing because they are restricted to human solutions alone. Prayer brings us back to the very source of our existence and the goal of our life – God.

At Medjugorje, Mary has called for the fifteen decade rosary daily, and if one is quick to dismiss this as just impossible in the present world, it might be good to keep in mind that John Paul the Second got fifteen decades in each day and because he did, was inspired to do the same and therefor, Pope Francis also gets in his fifteen decades, so, they have rather packed schedules, rather significant calendars, and yet they get their prayers and so perhaps it’s not as impossible of a request as one might think at first glance.

Our Lady calls for Mass to be the “gift of the day” for the faithful. 

Today we celebrate the reality that God has given each person a guardian Angel

St. Faustina writes: When I entered the chapel for a moment that same evening, to thank God for all the graces He had bestowed on me in this house, suddenly God’s presence enveloped me.  I felt like a child in the hands of the best of fathers, and I heard these words:  Do not fear anything.  I am always with you.  His love penetrated my whole being.  I felt I was entering into such close intimacy with Him that I cannot find words to express it.

630 Then I saw one of the seven spirits near me, radiant as at other times, under a form of light.  I constantly saw him beside me when I was riding on the train.  I saw an angel standing on every church we passed, but surrounded by a light which was paler than that of the spirit who was accompanying me on the journey, and each of these spirits who were guarding the churches bowed his head to the spirit who was near me.

When I entered the convent gate at Warsaw, the spirit disappeared.  I thanked God for His goodness, that He gives us angels for companions.  Oh, how little people reflect on the fact that they always have beside them such a guest, and at the same time a witness to everything!  Remember, sinners, that you likewise have a witness to all your deeds.

One day there was an assassination attempt on the life of St Josemaria Escriva the founder of “The Work of God.” As Josemaria was climbing some steps through a busy crowd a man came towards him with knife intent on killing him. Suddenly it seemed, out of nowhere, another large man passed in front of him and disarmed the man with the knife. Josemaria did not recognize either of the men but as the assailant was led away, the other tall man came over to Josemaria and whispered in his ear “you mangey donkey” Josemaria immediately knew then who this man was: it was his Guardian Angel. You see each day in his prayers to God, Josemaria would ask God to look after his “mangey donkey” referring to himself. He had done this all his adult life but had never told a living soul.

s a gift from God you have at your disposal an angel of vastly superior intellect who is not bound by space and time to help you know and do the will of God and to protect you from the devil and demons. This Angel was created at the beginning of the world, has seen everything, and is at your disposal to guide and protect you.

On May 31, 2000, the CDF approved this consecration prayer:

O Holy Angels of God, here, in the presence of the Triune God and in the love of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer, I a poor sinner, want to make a covenant with you, who are his servants, so that in union with you, I might work with humility and fortitude for the glory of God and the coming of his Kingdom. Therefore, I implore you to assist me, especially – in the adoration of God and of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar – in the contemplation of the word and the salvific works of God – in the imitation of Christ and in the love of his Cross in a spirit of expiation – in the faithful fulfillment of my mission within the Church, serving humbly after the example of Mary, my heavenly Mother, your Queen. And you, my good guardian angel, who continually behold the face of our Father in heaven, God entrusted me to you from the very beginning of my life. I thank you with all my heart for your loving care. I commit myself to you and promise you my love and fidelity. I beg you: protect me against my own weakness and against the attacks of the wicked spirits; enlighten my mind and my heart so that I may always know and accomplish the will of God; and lead me to union with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are to live in reality and not according to illusions. What is reality? God is love. What are the Implications of the fact that God is love? The nature of love is to give itself as a gift to do what is good for others. So God creates the world and gives us his life at the beginning, on the cross, and in baptism. What more could we want?  He makes us his children, and he is our Father. 

Our Father is All-Good: Trust him. Abandon yourself to him with audacious confidence. He can only do good for you, there is no other option. So love him in return. Do all of the little and big duties and tasks of daily life for the love of God. Accept all that you cannot change with trust and love for God.  Offer it for the good of other souls. Work with God to get them to heaven. This is what Jesus lived for 30 years. 

Thérèse of Lisieux was a little soul, indeed. Still, from the time of her youth, she had bold desires: She wanted to become a saint, and not just any saint, but a great saint. A story from her childhood helps us understand this — a story she calls “a summary of my whole life.” One day, Thérèse’s older sister Leonie had decided she’d outgrown some of her playthings. So she offered to her little sisters, Céline and Thérèse, a basket full of such items. Céline chose one item that pleased her. But when it came to Thérèse’s turn, the future saint suddenly exclaimed, “I choose all!” and proceeded to take the entire basket. That story expresses well how Thérèse approached the spiritual life and the path to sanctity in particular. She understood that “there were many degrees of perfection” and she wanted the highest degree, saying to the Lord, “My God, I choose all! … ‘I choose all’ that You will!”

Later, Thérèse would express her bold desires for holiness in an even more audacious way, saying that she wanted to love God even more than Teresa of Avila, the great Carmelite Doctor of the Church! However, she also realized her weakness and littleness. And so, for Thérèse, saints like the great Teresa of Avila were like eagles, soaring on the heights of holiness; whereas, she simply saw herself as a weak little bird without strength and unable to fly. In fact, she readily admitted, “I am not an eagle.” Nevertheless, she went on to explain, “but I have … an eagle’s EYES AND HEART.” Then, she continued, “[So,] in spite of my extreme littleness I still dare to gaze upon [the Lord], and my heart feels within it all the aspirations of an Eagle.”

Such is the boldness that led Thérèse to discover the Little Way. I have always wanted to be a saint....I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: “Whoever is a LITTLE ONE, let him come to me.” And so I succeeded. I felt I had found what I was looking for. … The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more."

He makes us his father. We our his children. Abandon yourself to him with audacious confidence. He can only do good for you. There is no other option. Love him in return. Do all of the little and big duties and tasks of daily life for the love of God. Accept all that you cannot change with trust and love for God. Offer it for the good of other souls. Work with God to get them to Heaven. 

1 Peter 5:8 Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. In this spiritual battle the is a very important alliance between Mary, the Queen of the Universe and St. Michael the Archangel. The Book of Revelation 12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown…Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron scepter, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne…And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him…Let the heavens rejoice and all who live there; but for you, earth and sea, trouble is coming - because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that his days are numbered.’ …Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, that is, all who obey God's commandments and bear witness for Jesus.

St Faustina experienced the help of St. Michael: “September 29. On the feast of St Michael the Archangel, I saw by my side that great Leader, who spoke these words to me – ‘The Lord has ordered me to take special care of you. Know that you are hated by evil; but do not fear – Who is like God!’. And he disappeared. But I feel his presence and assistance.” (Diary of St Faustina, para.706)

“O glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, defend us in battle, and in the struggle which is ours against the Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against spirits of evil in high places (Eph 6:12). Come to the aid of men, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil (Wis 2:23-24, 1 Cor 6:20).

Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. But that cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with all his angels (Rev 12:7-9).

“Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of man has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions (Lam 3:15). Arise then, O invincible prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and bring them the victory. Amen.”

The Devil is the absolute destroyer, his goal is to divide and conquer by turning man against God and man against man. The weapons he uses is to sow doubt in us toward God the Father and to sow fear, hatred and polarization between husbands and wives, families and nations. Look around and we see precisely this at every level. There are human actors but this is first and foremost a spiritual war fought between spiritual beings, God, angels and demons. St Paul describes this in Ephesians 6:10

If this was not Sunday we would be celebrating today, September 29, the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. But since we are inundated with the powers of darkness in the world and in the Church I want to reflect on the often forgotten and vital role of St. Michael the Archangel, the Prince or Leader of the Spiritual Army of Angels.

The Book of Revelation 12:7, Describes a great battle between Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, the devil and his demons. This conflict began with the creation of the angels and it rages to this day and until the end of the world. St. Basil (Hom. de angelis) and other Greek Fathers place St. Michael over all the angels; they say he is called "archangel" because he is the prince or leader of the other angels.

In 1884 Pope Leo XIII had celebrated a morning Mass, he went to a meeting with the Cardinals. Suddenly he collapsed into unconsciousness. The doctors who came to his aid found no cause for the collapse, although his pulse almost ceased. Suddenly he awoke and was fresh as ever. He reported that he had seen a terrible vision in which the Devil and his demons would be unleashed in the later half of the 20th and first part of the 21st century as a punishment for sinful humanity. He was granted to see the devil’s seductiveness and ravaging for the coming ages in all lands. In this distress St. Michael the Archangel appeared and cast Satan with all his demons back into Hell. Seeing that we needed the help of the Angelic Army and especially its leader St. Michael, Pope Leo XIII composed the Prayer to St Michael and then commanded it be prayed at the end of every Mass throughout the world perpetually.

The entire Church prayed the prayer of St. Michael after every Mass until 1968. Then for some unknown, and demonic reason we abruptly stopped, and literally all hell broke loose in the late 60’s with no-fault divorce, contraception, abortion, the sexual revolution, the breakdown of the family, rampant drug use and the rapid inculcation of Marxist ideologies in our government and education system. I think we need to turn back to St. Michael!

On Oct 13, 1973, Mary the Mother of God at the Approved apparition of Akita Japan warned of the impending dangers for the Church

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.

"The demon will be relentless against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them"

"Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamites which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."

Am I really preparing myself each day for this spiritual battle by meditation and a resolution, examination of conscience, the frequent reception of the Eucharist and  Confession? What is the meaning of spiritual battle and how am I caring out my mission within my spiritual battles? 

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Vincent DePaul. His life is a striking example of Divine Providence, the way God works all things for good for those who love him. Vincent lived from 1576-1660. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1600 but did not finish his studies until Oct 1604. When he graduated, he was saddled with a large student loan debt. Nothing changes right! In 1605 the good news reached him that a family friend had died and left him some money to pay for his debt for which he had to go ship to Marseilles through the Mediterranean. In 1605, Vincent returning to by ship and was taken captive by Barbary or Muslim pirates, who took him to Tunis. There, De Paul was auctioned off as a slave. His first master was a fisherman, but Vincent was unsuitable for this line of work due to sea-sickness and was soon sold. His next master was alchemist and inventor. Upon the Alchemists death, Vincent was sold again. His new master was a former Franciscan priest from Nice, France, who had converted to Islam in to gain his freedom from slavery and was living in the mountains with three wives. The second wife, a Muslim by birth, was drawn to and visited Vincent in the fields especially when she heard Vincent singing the Hail, Holy Queen, and she questioned him about his faith. She became convinced that his faith was true and admonished her husband for renouncing his Christianity. Her husband became remorseful and decided to escape back to France with his slave. They waited ten months, but finally they secretly boarded a small boat and crossed the Mediterranean, landing in France in June 1607, more than two years of slavery. Through all of this God was working.

After DePaul returned to France he became a Parish Priest and continued his spiritual formation under Fr. Pierre de Bérulle, who was one of the greatest Marian Mystics and Theologians at the time. Bérulle assigned Vincent to serve as a chaplain and tutor to the Gondi family. Preaching a mission to the peasants, who were slaves for all intents and purposes, reminded him of his own harsh captivity and he was inspired to direct all his efforts to the poor. In 1617, Vincent contacted the Daughters of Charity and they then introduced him to poor families. Vincent then brought them food and comfort. He organized these wealthy women of Paris to collect funds for missionary projects, founded hospitals, and gather relief funds for the victims of war and to ransom 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa.

St. Vincent DePaul founded the Confraternities of Charity, the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. St. Vincent’s work has developed into 268 charitable organizations in 132 countries, serving 100s of millions of people each year. However, without his own experience of enslavement, I wonder if Vincent would have done so much good?

The world and our lives are not governed by random chaotic forces nor are they controlled by evil and stupid people. The World and our lives are in the hands of an all good, all powerful and loving Father who is guiding all things that happen to us for our greatest good and the greatest good of our loved ones. An I emphatically mean ALL things, even our own stupid or sinful choices, as I said yesterday. God allowed or permitted St. Vincent DePaul to be captured and made a slave for two years to bring about an even greater good – that Vincent would be moved by this experience and the grace of God to serve countless poor and slaves and to inspire 400 years of charitable work in his wake.

There are two parts of the Doctrine Divine Providence: The first is that God is so All-Powerful and Good that He can work All things, and I mean everything to our greatest good. The second part is that we will only benefit from the Providence of God if we cooperate with Him and do our part – responding with Faith, Hope and Love.