Oh Nuts

Since we are now in the season of Lent and even if you have already decided on what you are going to be giving up or adding to your daily routine.  My intention with this blog is to share ideas, so in that spirit, I am sharing a list (not exhaustive by any means) that has an unknown source and trusting we can read it and not automatically find offense.  unknown source . #Lent   #Lentendiscipline   #Catholic   #LentenResolutions

The other day my mom, two siblings and my older sisters mother-in-law and brother-in-law had the opportunity to visit and pray at the tomb of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen down in Peoria. It was an amazing experience and is now the fouth saint/blessed/venerable that I have had the opportunity to pray in front of. The other three were St. Mary Magdalene, St. Maria Goretti and St. Padre Pio. Taken by me The picture on the top left is of Ven. Fulton Sheen's tomb and on the top right is a close up of the painting of our Lady of Czestochowa. On the bottom left is in the cathedral's adoration chapel where they also have several relics of different saints. Bottom right is information about Ven. Fulton Sheen. After praying in front of his tomb and visiting the relics in the adoration chapel we walked a block or two down the street to visit the Fulton Sheen museum, which was an amazing experience as well. Because they had a lot of artifacts that had belonged to him. Though they did...

Gospel Reading: Luke 24:1-12 Photo by  Bruno van der Kraan  on  Unsplash At daybreak on the first day of the week, the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;  but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (Luke 24:1-3) Abstain from frivolous activities and make an effort to focus your thoughts throughout the day on the death of Jesus for your Salvation.* *Taken from the 2019 Lenten Daily Devotional from the Basilica of The National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception.

Day of Fasting and Abstinence Gospel Reading: John 18:1-19:42 Photo by  eberhard grossgasteiger  on  Unsplash Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said,  "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly. (John 19:1-3) If you are able, attend a Good Friday service today, or offer an additional act of penance.* *Taken from the 2019 Lenten Daily Devotional from the Basilica of The National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception.

Gospel Reading: John 13:1-15 Photo by  Francois Pistorius  on  Unsplash Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus Answered him,  "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me." (John 13:8) Spend time in church or a quiet place, praying with Our Lord, and keep him company in the  Garden of Gethsemane as He awaits the suffering He is to endure.* *Taken from the 2019 Lenten Daily Devotional from the Basilica of The National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception.

Gospel Reading: Luke 1:36-38 https://www.catholic.org/news/national/story.php?id=54667 "Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.'  Then the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:38) Pray the Angelus, or a prayer of your choosing, for the courage to place your trust in God's providence as did the Blessed Virgin Mary.* *Taken from the 2019 Lenten Daily Devotional from the Basilica of The National Shrine of The Immaculate Conception.

Stabat Mater 1. At the cross her station keeping,  stood the mournful mother weeping,  close to Jesus to the last  2. Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,  all his bitter anguish bearing,  now at length the sword had passed.  3. Oh how sad and sore distressed  was that mother highly blessed,  of the sole-begotten One!  4. Christ above in torment hangs;  she beneath beholds the pangs  of her dying glorious Son.  5. Is there one who would not weep,  whelmed in miseries so deep  Christ's dear Mother to behold?  6. Can the human heart refrain  from partaking in her pain,  in that Mother's pain untold?  7. For the sins of His own nation  saw Him hang in desolation,  all with bloody scourges rent.  8. Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,  she beheld her tender child,  till His Spirit forth he sent.  9. ...

I am the kind of person who doesn't easily tell people what the problem is, if I am upset or frustrated about something. And I hate it when people bug me to tell them what the matter is. To me, if I am being bugged to explain how I am feeling at a particular moment, I take longer to respond. When I am ready to tell someone how I am feeling about something I will tell them then, and I will do it because I want to and not because they want me too. While I may have a hard time telling others about how I am feeling at at particular moment, there are different things that make me happy. The first one on the list is going to Adoration!! I love being able to go to an Adoration chapel and sit in silence with Jesus and just think. Silence is something that I enjoy and being able to sit in an Adoration chapel in silence is something that makes me feel better. The second one on the list is just being there for other people when they need someone to listen too. Because sometimes someone...

Last night I had the opportunity to venerate the major relics of St. Maria Goretti !! It was an amazing experience. She came to a church in my area and there was over 15,000 people who came, some people drove 2-3 hours to be there. My family and I were at the mass that was in honor of St. Maria and there was people standing in the back of the church. The gym in the church's school was for overflow, but I don't know if anyone was in there watching the live streaming that the church was doing of the mass. It is a little washed out but I was able to get a picture of the reliquary. When I left the church a little after 9:00 p.m. the line of people who were waiting to venerate the relics wrapped around the side of the school building. The venerating was supposed to end at 11:00 p.m. but there was still people in line at 11:30. Here is a link to the website with the remaining tour dates of the relics. If she is going to be in your area I highly recommend that you go and vis...

The First Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1234) Therefore, most beloved sister, or should I say, Lady, worthy of great respect: because You are the spouse and the mother and the sister of my Lord Jesus Christ (cf 2 Cor 11:2, Mt. 12:50) and have been beautifully adorned with the sign of an undefiled virginity and a most holy poverty: Be strengthened in the holy service which you have undertaken out of a burning desire for the poor Crucified, Who for the sake of all of us took upon Himself the Passion of the Cross (Heb 12:2), delivered us from the power of the Prince of Darkness (Col 1:13) to whom we were enslaved because of the disobedience of our first parent, and so reconciled us to God the Father (2 Cor 5:18). O blessed poverty, who bestows eternal riches on those who love and embrace her! O holy poverty, God promises the kingdom of Heaven and in fact, offers eternal glory and a blessed life to those who posses and desire you! O God-centered p...

The Second Letter of  Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1235) But with swift pace, light step unswerving feet, so that even your steps stir up no dust, may you go forward securely, joyfully, and swiftly, on the path of prudent happiness, not believing anything, not agreeing with anything that would dissuade you from this resolution or that would place a stumbling block for you on the way, so that you may offer your vows to the Most High in the pursuit of that perfection to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you. For Prayer and Reflection: What are the stumbling blocks that keep you from "going forward securely, joyfully and swiftly?" What passion will you never abandon in your life?

The Fourth Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1253) Gaze upon that mirror each day, O Queen and Spouse of Jesus Christ, and continually study your face within it, that you may adorn yourself within and without beautiful robes, covered, as it is becoming the daughter and most chaste bride of the Most High King, with the flowers and garments of all the virtues. Indeed, blessed poverty, holy humility, and inexpressible charity are reflected in that mirror, as, with the grace of God, you can contemplate them throughout the entire mirror. Then, at the surface of the mirror, consider the holy humility, the blessed poverty, the untold labors and burdens that He endured for the redemption of the whole human race. Then, in the depth of this same mirror, contemplate the ineffable charity that led Him to suffer on the wood of the Cross and to die there the most shameful kind of death. Therefore that mirror, suspended on the wood of the Cross, urged those who passed by to co...

The Third Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1238) Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your entire being into the image  of the Godhead itself through contemplation. So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness that God Himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him. And, after all who ensnare their blind lovers in a deceitful and turbulent world have been completely sent away, Who gave Himself totally for your love. For Prayer and Reflection: Clare uses the image of the mirror popular in the spiritual literature of her time. The medieval concept was that one gazed into a mirror to see there what one should become . Does this image speak to you in realizing that as one gazes upon one's truest self, one comes to see the very Image in which one was create...

The Second Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1235) Your Spouse, though more beautiful than the children of men, became, for your salvation, the lowest of men, was despised, struck, scourged, untold times throughout His entire body, and then died amid the suffering of the Cross. O most noble Queen, gaze upon [Him] consider [Him] contemplate [Him] as you desire to imitate [Him]. If you suffer with Him, you will reign with Him. [If you] weep [with Him], you shall rejoice with Him; [If you] die with Him on the cross of tribulation, you shall possess heavenly mansions in the splendor of the saints and, in the Book of Life your name shall be called glorious among men. For Prayer and Reflection: What times and places are reserved in your life NOW for "gazing, considering, contemplating," Jesus on the cross? Is this a struggle as you attempt to balance contemplation and ministry? How has your own suffering been a transforming p...

From the Letter of Saint Clare to Ermantrude of Burges, Look to heaven that invites us, O dearly beloved,  and take up the cross and follow Christ who goes before us, for through Him we shall enter into His glory after many different trials. Love God and Jesus, His son, who was crucified for us sinners, from the depths of your heart, and never let the thought of Him leave your mind. Meditate constantly on the mysteries of the cross and agonies of His mother standing at the foot of the cross. Pray and always be vigilant. The work you have begun well, complete immediately and the ministry you have assumed, fulfill in holy poverty and sincere humility. For Prayer and Reflection Where in your life are you invited to "take up the cross and follow Christ? In your  meditation on the mysteries of the cross, how have you encountered Jesus? Where in your ministry do you experience a fulfillment of "holy poverty and sincere humility...

The Third Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1238) Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation. So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness that God Himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him. And, after all who ensnare their blind lovers in a deceitful and turbulent world have been completely sent away, you may totally love Him Who gave Himself totally for your love. For Prayer and Reflection : Clare uses the image of the mirror popular in the spiritual literature of her time. The medieval concept was that one gazed into a mirror to see there what one was to become . Does this image speak to you in realizing that as one gazes upon one's truest self, one comes to see the very Image in which one is c...

I have been blind, unwilling to see The true love you're giving. I have ignored every blessing. I'm on my knees confessing I was originally going to do this post closer to Good Friday but then I changed my mind and decided to post this now. A while ago I remember hearing someone say that Josh Groban's song "My Confessions," besides being a love song, could be taken into a Catholic/Christian point of view. And last night as I was leaving Adoration parts of the song just started playing through my head and I knew that I wanted to try and write an analogy of sorts. So here is my attempt at that. That I feel myself surrender Each time I see your face. I am staggered by your beauty, Your unassuming grace. And I feel my heart is turning, Falling into place. I can't hide it Now hear my confession. To me the song is about finding Christ again and telling him our confession and how, like at the  beginning  of the song, we have been blind and unwilling  the tru...