St. Augustine... the Patron Saint of this Blog

"To seek the highest good is to live well."

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Augustine. St. Augustine is revered throughout Christianity, even non-Catholics, because of how well he speaks to the culture of every time. He was one of the greatest contemplatives, in his detailed theology of the person and his detailed analysis of the Trinity. However, St. Augustine never distinguished his theology from its application to everyday people. He was a Bishop and so could not devote himself completely to contemplation, and his guidance to the Christians God entrusted to him can help us as well.

The conversion story of St. Augustine is probably the best known conversion story, expect maybe St. Paul, due his classic "Confessions". To illustrate what St. Augustine can do for our current Christian culture, I think it best to speak of a couple of main features in his conversion.

St. Augustine had a loving mother, St. Monica (view my post on intercessory prayer), who prayed for him everyday to come to love God. St. Augustine was a very successful orator and teacher and became famous in his time. However, he was in touch with the idea that the "world was not enough" and started searching for God. He first tried a gnostic sect called Manichaeism, which rejected the good of the body in favor of the soul. He met a man named St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, who helped give St. Augustine a great example of a Catholic Christian and helped answer his questions (I'm sure there were many!). St. Augustine converted to Catholicism and became one of the greatest Church theologians.



St. Augustine left us some great insights into the human soul, and most importantly it's relationship to the Divine Person, Jesus Christ.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, O Beauty ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace."

St. Augustine realized that God plants in all of our hearts a deep desire for Him. As our creator, we need God to operate effectively. Everyone is searching for God, some need a little more help finding Him. St. Augustine needed the prayers of his saintly mother.

 

Ask yourself this question: is Jesus where you find your rest? Is Jesus who you turn to when you are having a bad day? Is Jesus your greatest love, or do you place something in front of Him? Do you love your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse more than Jesus? Do you love the pleasure that comes from impurity more than Jesus? St. Augustine shows us the answer to all of life's difficulties is resting and placing all of our trust, and hope in Jesus Christ the Son of God. 

I would like to dedicate this Blog to Jesus with St. Augustine as its Patron. St. Augustine. Pray for us to find God in all things. Pray that we to turn to Him with all of our problems. Pray that we love Him with all of our hearts and souls. 

St. Augustine Pray for us!

AMDG

P.S. Maybe you noticed the title of this blog "O Beauty ever new" was in St. Augustine's quote from Confessions. The reason for me choosing this title is because I believe the Beauty that is God and His perfect Love reach out to us every day. Jesus isn't just a person who lived 2000 years ago in a far away place. He is present in His Grace and Mercy to us every day. I experience His Beauty every day in many ways. Look for Him and see if you can find Him. Turn from the beauty of the world to the far greater Beauty of the Trinity.

Prayer #4: Intecerssory Prayer

"Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do." 

(Luke 23:34)

On the feast of St. Monica I felt it fitting to have a post on intercessory prayer. 

First, what is intercessory prayer?

"Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did." (CCC 2634) What the Church is trying to say here is that intercessory prayer is when we pray for others. As we pray we ask the Father to help those whom we are praying for. In praying as such we are imitating the Son's perfect prayer to His Father as seen throughout Jesus' life. 

Jesus, Himself, is intercessory prayer incarnate. This means His Being was always about petitioning God to forgive us. His life and especially His Crucifixion was a request to His Father to forgive His creation. That is why Jesus gave His prayer from the Cross in Luke 23:34 and He did so hoping we would imitate Him. 

"But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

(Matthew 6:15)

We imitate Jesus by offering intercessory prayer for others. On a practical note, this type of prayer is simple. All you need to do is ask God to forgive yourselves and others. You can ask God to help others to find Him. You can ask God to assist the poor and needy. The hardest part of this prayer is the necessary disposition behind it. We need to want others to have these things. I know it sounds like that is a given, but there are a lot of times I do not really care or want the ones I am praying for to have what I am asking God to give them. Love is the prerequisite for intercessory prayer. Love is necessary for any communication with God, as He, Himself, is Love.

"It's a sweet duty... praying for our friends. I always feel I've had a brief meeting with them when I do. Perhaps it is a meeting, of the best kind! 

--C.S. Lewis

The main reason we honor St. Monica is because of her preserving in intercessory prayer for her son St. Augustine. St. Augustine grew up away from God and carrying more about the things of the world than of God. St. Monica was a holy and great lover of Jesus. She wanted nothing more than the conversion of her son. It took a long time, but finally St. Augustine converted and was baptized. After this, St. Monica said there was no other reason to still be on Earth. She had lived long enough to see the answer to her prayers.

"Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest your weary ones. Bless your dying ones. Soothe your suffering ones. Pity your afflicted ones. Shield your joyous ones. And for all your Love's sake. Amen."

--St. Augustine

We can learn a lot from St. Monica's prayer. Is there someone you love away from the Christ and His Church? Is there someone you know who is struggling who could really use God's grace? Do you really want that person(s) to receive God's help? If so, imitate Jesus, imitate St. Monica in praying for them. Pray without ceasing. God answers those who ask with a sincere heart and who have confidence in Him. Never give up praying!

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

(Matthew 7:7)

AMDG

St. Monica pray for us!

Small Groups and why you need to join one

I am taking a break from my Prayer Series today to discuss Small Groups (the next post will be on Prayer)

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?" 

-- C.S.Lewis.

As summer ends, and school begins the age old question is asked... "What should I do this year?" At the University of Florida, there is no shortage of answers! Today I am specifically going to advocate for one way of "getting involved". I feel confident in suggesting joining a Church small group or Bible Study due to my experience with them.


However, before I begin I need to include that there are many ministries and apostolates you can join that will bring you closer to God. The reason I am suggesting Small Groups is because that is how I came to deepen my relationship with Christ. You are not me, and you might not like what I like. That is why you need to take what I say with some discernment. Always ask God to show you where He wants you to follow Him and get involved. 



I was not involved in Church when I was in High School, and when I came to UF I knew I wanted to start seriously considering my Faith. The problem with starting at a new school and wanting to try something new is that you have no idea how to begin. Luckily enough, I met someone who did know what to do. He got me involved in Catholic Gator Small Groups and I met other people like me who wanted to know more about God.

There is something really awesome about being a part of a group of guys who want to explore their Faith and come to know Jesus Christ in a deep way. My St. Joseph small group was perfect for someone like me who did not want to separate deep discussion from deep friendships. Some of the people I met in that small group are some of my best friends and we still discuss how great that group was even though we all have moved on to other ministries or have taken leadership positions.

Another reason I love small groups is having a leader in the group. As a growing Christian it is nice to have someone in the group who is in love with Christ. My small group leader was able to instruct me in a lot of things about my Faith and at the same time give me a great example of what it means to be actively living a devout life in college. His witness to Jesus still resides with me and helps to shape how I live now.

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

(Proverbs 27:17)

Exploring Sacred Scripture with a small group of guys is a great way to come to know Jesus in His word better. Before college I rarely read the Bible, and after being involved with a small group I was filled with a desire to read and pray with it (see my "praying with the scriptures" post). I came to see how other guys applied Scriptures and Faith to their lives and that helped me to be inspired as well.

The most important thing I gained from Small Groups was a lifelong discipleship with Jesus. I learned how to follow Him. The most important thing we can do with our life is to follow Jesus Christ and learn from Him how to live.

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer."

(Acts 2:42)

At the end of most of our Small Group meetings we had a challenge. So my challenge to you will be to ask God how He wants you to give your time to Him this year. It is easy to forget that God is the one Who gives us our time and He deserves all of it back. Offer some of your time each week in a participating in a ministry like Small Groups.

Contact me if you would like more information about Catholic Gator Small Groups or about any other ministry at St. Augustine's Catholic Student Center.

List of Apostolates at St. A's:

Catholic Gator Small Groups
CSF (Catholic Student Fellowship): Large group fellowship and discussion on the Faith
Newman: Free food and fellowship
Nueva Alianza: Faith group for our Spanish brothers and sisters (all are welcome)
Liturgical Ministers: Don't forget it is important and spiritually fruitful to participate and aid in the Liturgy of the Mass.



AMDG



PS: All of this information applies to women as well! haha

Prayer #3: The Rosary. What Is It and Where Did It Come From?

"Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

(Luke 1:44)

Everyone has seen a Rosary before, even non-Catholics. They seem to be one of the most popular Catholic symbols. However, not that many people know where it is from or why we pray with it?

A Rosary is a string of prayer bead used to aid a Christian in contemplative prayer. There are 15 traditional mysteries and five additional "Luminous" mysteries. These mysteries account different scenes in the life of Jesus. The one praying will meditate on these mysteries or a small group of them throughout the prayer. This way the prayer works to reveal the life of Christ. The Rosary is meant as an expression of "Lectio Divina" (Sacred Reading) in that you should be contemplating Christ in Scriptural scenes.

The mysteries are as follows:

Glorious:

1. the Resurrection
2. the Ascension
3. the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost)
4. the Assumption of Mary (see earlier post)
5. The Coronation of the Virgin

Joyful:

1. the Annunciation (when the Angel Gabriel visits Mary announcing the birth of our Savior)
2. the Visitation (when Mary visits Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist jumps for joy: Luke 1)
3. the Nativity (the birth of Jesus Christ in the manger)
4. the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
5. the Finding of Jesus at the Temple

Sorrowful:

1. the Agony in the Garden
2. the Scourging at the Pillar
3. the Crowning with Thorns
4. the Carrying of the Cross
5. the Crucifixion

Luminous: added by Pope John Paul II in 2002

1. the Baptism of Jesus
2. the Wedding Feast at Cana
3. the Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration
5. the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper

 It is a Marian devotion because as you are meditating on the mysteries, you are supposed to say ten "Hail Mary's" for each of the mysteries. However, before I explain why we pray they "Hail Mary's" or why Catholics pray to Mary, I want to show the origins of the Rosary.

The Rosary finds its origins in the 1200's with St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominicans (a religious order). Mary appeared to St. Dominic and told him that the Rosary  would be a great weapon against evil. He was to use it in prayer and preaching. It was used early on in preaching by having a sermon be given on one of the mysteries and then the public would pray ten "Hail Mary's" and then they wold proceed to the next mystery.

The Rosary has always had an attachment to the Laity. Throughout the 1200-1500's, towns and communities formed around Monasteries. During that time, Monks would pray all 150 Psalms every day and the Monastery would ring bells at the beginning of every Psalm. Soon the Laity started praying a "Hail Mary" for every Psalm the Monks would pray.This is why the "traditional" Rosary has 150 Psalms. This Rosary would include all three of the traditional mysteries.

As of 1475, the Rosary took the shape of what we pray today. In 1569, the Rosary became an official prayer of the Catholic Church by Apostolic Constitution. However, it wasn't until 1917 was the Fatima prayer added to the Rosary.







So what does the Rosary look like today:

The official (minimum) prayer is one "Our Father", ten "Hail Mary's", and one "Glory Be". These are said five times

Start with the first mystery (lets just say the Resurrection in the Glorious Mysteries) and meditate on it


saying the "Our Father", or "Lord's Prayer"
(which can be found in Matthew 6)
"Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen."


then ten times say
(The Hail Mary can be found partially in Luke 1:28)
"Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death."

end with

"Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now,
and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen."

Optional: "the Fatima Prayer" given by Mary in an apparition
"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy."


This is one "decade" of the Rosary. There are five decades to go with the five mysteries. So you'd repeat what was above five times, each time meditating on one the mysteries.

So why the Marian devotion? Why does it seem that this prayer is all about Mary?

First off, the Rosary is not all about Mary. Every prayer to Mary is "to Christ through Mary". It seems in Scripture that Mary has a special connection to Jesus as His Mother. As Mother of God, she can intercede, or ask requests of Jesus, for us faithful on Earth. Take a look at John 2:3:

"When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'they have no wine.' and Jesus said to her, 'O woman, what have you do with me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'"

We see in this Scriptural scene, also one of the Luminous mysteries, that Mary intercedes for the married couple and asks Jesus to help them. In our prayer lives we do not always know what we need to ask for. I know it seems like we always know what we want, but often times in my life I have wanted things that aren't what I really needed. Mary asks Jesus to supply us with all of our needs. She is our constant intercessor. She never stops asking for Jesus to supply us for what we need. She asks even before we know we need anything.

I would encourage you to try praying a Rosary, or a decade if a whole Rosary is too much, or even just one "Hail Mary". Ask Mary to pray for you. Trust that Jesus will answer His mother. Marian devotions are a great way to deepen your prayer life and help you to have confidence in your prayer to God. It was Pope John Paul the Second's favorite prayer.





It always helps to have friends pray for you here on Earth, just imagine how nice it is to have Jesus' mother, and all the other saints in Heaven praying for you. They are the ones who are literally always in the presence of the Blessed Trinity.


Mother of Jesus, pray for us on your feast of your Queenship!
AMDG

Prayer #2: Praying with the Psalms

The Psalms in the Bible are songs or prayer addressed to God. The Psalms were prayed by pious Jews before Jesus' time. Jesus, Himself, prayed the Psalms. He prayed them very memorably when He was on the Cross.

 In Jesus' most desperate time, the hour when He knew we would all look at Him, 

He prayed Psalm 22: 

"My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?"

Sacrosanctum Concillium (the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) calls the Psalms prayed in the Divine Office (I will explain what this is later) is "the voice of the bride addressed to her bridegroom; It is the very prayer which Christ Himself, together with His body, addresses to the Father."

When we pray the Psalms we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ as He prays to God, our common Father. We enter into the communion of Love that is the Trinity. We become part of the divine life that Christ wants us to enter into. Our sanctification is directly proportionate to the amount of time we spend sharing in the life of the Trinity. When we pray the Psalms, especially in community with others, we unite our prayer to the Universal Prayer that is prayed by The Son to The Father, from the Bride (the Church) to Her Husband (God), and from all creation to The Creator.

On a more practical note, whenever you are struggling to pray, or just cannot express what you are feeling, then the Psalms give you a great way to pray. I know from my prayer life, that sometimes it is hard to talk to God. Why not just pray the words Jesus prayed, the words God wants us to offer to Him?

The Divine Office, or Liturgy of the Hours, is the prayer of the Church as a whole. It allows all the faithful to pray in unison and without ceasing to our common Savior Jesus Christ. The Liturgy of the Hours extends the Liturgy of the Mass throughout the day and allows for us to life our entire lives in the Liturgy.

The word "liturgy" comes from the Greek word "leitourgia" which means "public service, or duty". The Liturgy is the public Worship of the Church. We offer it as a service to God. The origin of Liturgy in the Christian world is in the Institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper (Luke 22). When Jesus gave the Church His Body and Blood He ordained the Liturgy we celebrate today.

So in a way, whenever we pray the Liturgy of the Hours we participate in the Eucharist. We participate in the worship that Jesus gave to us.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a prayer that brings together every other form of prayer. It includes singing hymns (praise and worship), it includes praying the Psalms, it includes readings from the Sacred Scriptures (Lectio Divina), it includes readings from Saints and Fathers of the Church, it includes the "Our Father", and it includes Marian prayers and devotions.

It is prayed throughout the day at different times and so works to sanctify the day. The times they are prayed are:

• Office of Readings (when you wake up)
• Morning (9AM)
• Midday (Noon)
• Evening (~6PM)
• Night (~10PM)

For actual instruction into how to pray at each hour, I am going to provide links to other sites which will be more helpful than me trying to explain. 

http://divineoffice.org/ (for the prayers themselves)

http://divineoffice.org/liturgy-of-the-hours/how-to-pray-the-liturgy-of-the-hours/ (a good introduction on what to do)

marymotherchurch.me is also a very good ministry that has the Divine Office as part of their pillars of spirituality

I am still a novice in the Divine Office, and can tell you it was not an easy prayer for me to get into. I can tell you though that if you pray the Hours with faithfulness you start to experience life in a different way. I can feel myself participating in the life of Christ. I know that my discipline in prayer had definitely increased and that is a great fruit of having times to pray (remember my post before on prayer and schedules).

I encourage you to try praying through the Psalms and try taking up the Liturgy of the Hours! It is an adventure in Love and Life.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess 5:16-18)

AMDG

Prayer #1: Praying with the Scriptures

Prayer is how we enter into a dialogue of love with God, who is Himself a dialogue of love. The inner most being of God is love, and this Love calls out to us in a profoundly beautiful way. It beckons us into a communion with It, and prayer is our response to this Beauty.

“Mental prayer is nothing else than an intimate friendship, a frequent heart-to-heart conversation with Him by whom we know ourselves to be loved.” 

-Saint Teresa of Avila

Praying with Scripture is my favorite form of prayer, and I use Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) every day. It uses God's inerrant word to help us converse with Him. It is sometimes difficult in prayer to sense God's presence or to see what He is communicating to us. Using the Bible we are able to immediately place ourselves in dialogue with God and hear His voice. 

Praying with the Scriptures is easy, but takes a little time to get used to. The method of prayer I will be describing here is called Ignatian Prayer, and is named after the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola, who helped spread its use. 

The first step is to enter into the presence of God by offering a short prayer for God to help you pray and to be present to you.

Next you need to read the Scripture verses you want to pray with. For example (Luke 19:1-10)

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchae'us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today."  So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."

The importance of reading the Scripture first before meditating with it is so you can become familiar with the passage.

After you have read it once, now go slowly through the passage. The key technique used in Ignatian Prayer is to engage your senses and your imagination to enter into the Biblical scene. Some senses will mean more to you during different meditations. Start by "casting" yourself in the role of one of the characters in the passage. For example, lets imagine the scene through the eyes of Zacchaeus.

So begin by imagining the scene using your sight. In this example passage, What time of day is it? What does the crowd surrounding Jesus look like? What is it like not being able to see Jesus? What does the sycamore tree look like? How tall is it? What do you imagine when Jesus is looking at you? What does "your" house look like? Who all is with you in "your" house? What is Jesus' reaction when you offer to give to the poor, and turn your life around?

Next use your sense of touch to imagine what the scene is like. How hot is it? Is the crowd pushing you around? What does the tree feel like? How hard was it to climb the tree? 

Use your sense of hearing, and imagine the murmuring in the crowd? Is everyone yelling? Are they shouts of joy or cries of pain? Is Jesus saying anything? What is dinner like? What is Jesus telling you, or His disciples? What are the disciples saying to you?

Apply your sense of taste. This one is a little harder, but imagine what you are eating with Jesus? Is it a big dinner, or is it simple? Is it a dinner, lunch, or breakfast? 

Finally, what are you smelling? What does your food smell like? What does the tree your sitting in smell like?

The most important part of this prayer is not the imagination portion. The most important thing is to allow God to speak to you through this scene. Enter into this conversation with God I was speaking of earlier. Imagine Jesus isn't talking to Zacchaeus, but to you. What is He telling you? What is it that Jesus wants you to do in your life? Maybe He wants you to spend more time in prayer with Him, or maybe He wants you to be more generous with your charity.

 Ask God for the desires of your heart. Allow Him to fill you with His love. Make sure to focus on how Jesus acts in the Scriptures. How do His actions differ from how you would have handled the situation? Use this comparison to help God instruct you in how He wants you to make your change in your life. 

The key questions to ask here are: What are you feeling as Zacchaeus? What is Jesus telling you? How do you want to amend your life for God?

End with a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Thank Him for your time in communion with Him. Ask Him for help changing your life for Him. If prayer did not go well, ask for Him to aid you in your prayer in the future. Make sure to preserve in prayer no matter how it goes. 

This method of prayer takes some working through. I know when I first began praying this way I did not like it at all. I thought it was boring and unfulfilled. The key to making the prayer fruitful is to enter into the conversation with God. Do not stop at the imagining of the scene. It is easy to, but it won't fulfill you. 

I absolutely love this prayer style now! It allows you to converse with God in a profound way and as an added benefit it allows you to know the Scriptures better. Prayer allows you to know the Sacred Heart of Jesus and this prayer is all about entering into the Heart of Jesus. It allows you to see His Heart and to see yours as well. In doing this it is plainly clear what you need to do to grow in Faith and Love. 

In honor of the founder of the Jesuits and the one who spread this prayer method.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, Ora Pro Nobis!

AMDG (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam: For the Greater Glory of God)

Prayer and the New School Year

I'm sure every student out there is super excited to start the new school year. It is fast approaching here in Gainesville, and the start of every new school year brings about one of my major challenges... My schedule! The hardest part of every semester is trying to balance my life between God, school/work, and exercise/fun. So far in my schooling I have gotten only two at a time and sometimes only one for a period of time.

The purpose of this post is to emphasize why we need a schedule of prayer and some practical ways to go about creating a faithful and effective schedule.

One of the best ways to ensure your prayer life doesn't get destroyed with the change the new school year will inevitably bring is to have a schedule of prayer. What do I mean by a "schedule" of prayer? A schedule is where you set aside time every day for prayer. However, here is the hard part. The time you set aside NEEDS to be the same time every day! The importance of this is to make sure you do not forget to pray and that nothing gets in the way of your prayer. I know that sometimes a day will go by where I am just so busy in things I am doing that I forget to pray and it is always because I neglected to set aside a certain period of time for prayer.

As to what time you want to set aside it is up to you. However, saints have always recommended the morning as the best time to pray. I would suggest, and still defer to the wisdom of the saints, praying half your daily prayer in the morning and another half at night. I always find that my best prayerful days come from both starting and ending my day with conversation with God. As long as your prayer is at the same time and for the same period of time, then you are doing it well. The importance of this is so that it becomes a habit and it becomes an essential part of your day to where missing it would throw off everything.


How long should you pray? This is an interesting question and I think it depends completely on your state in life and what responsibilities come with it. If you have a schedule that keeps you working from 8 AM to 7 PM, then you don't have time to pray like a monk would. The ultimate key though is that you do not forget to pray and ignore God all day.

 I know some of you might think, and I for a long time thought this too, that I go about my day "thinking" of God and being "in" His presence do I really need to set a specific time every day to pray? I think of God all day!

I used to think this way and while it is a greater thing to do then to not think of God at all all day. However, prayer is more than thinking of God, while prayer involves that it is much deeper than that. Prayer is a conversation with God where you enter into the life of the Trinity and converse with God face to face. In order to do this, especially the listening to God part, we MUST set aside time in silence to talk and enter into a divine conversation where you come to know Christ.

Some of you are probably still thinking, my prayer is not like that, and I have been trying for a while and am experiencing nothing. Prayer is not always fruitful. All the saints can attest to this. Any Christian can attest to this. However, God speaks to us in prayer and as God says "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11 ESV) His word comes to us whether we hear it or not, and every time we pray we are being conformed to live as Christ did and as God wants us to live.

PRAYER MAKES US INTO SAINTS!

Soon I will be starting a series on different prayer methods to help you deepen your prayer life. Stay Tuned!!!

P.S. If any of you guys have prayer requests for me either comment with them or email them to me at connor35uf@gmail.com 

AMDG

The Assumption of Mary. What is it? What does it mean to us?

The Assumption of Mary:

The Assumption of Mary is a Catholic doctrine that Mary was taken up into Heaven at the end of her life with her body with her by Jesus. As Pope Pius XII said:

"The Immaculate Mother of God, the Ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." (Munificentissimus Deus 1950)

The Assumption was "Infallibly" proclaimed and defined by Pope Pius XII in 1950, which means it is a doctrine that Catholics must hold to be true. The Church claims this dogma to be "Divinely" revealed and a part of the deposit of faith the Church protects. 

A question must be asked now... Where does this dogma come from? Did it originate in 1950 with the Pope?

Before we begin with Mary's Assumption I want to show some references to saints being assumed into Heaven in Sacred Scripture.

In Genesis 5:24 Enoch was assumed into Heaven

 "Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer here, for God took him." (NAB)

In 2 Kings 2:11 Elijah was assumed

"As they walked on still conversing, a fiery chariot and fiery horses came between the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind." (NAB)

So we can see that saints can be assumed up into Heaven if God wills it, but we still haven't found why Jesus willed to assume Mary. 

An objection could be made that we do not see Mary's Assumption in the New Testament, but I do not think that is true. I think we can see proof of it by looking at some of the allegory used in Revelation.

In Revelation 11 and 12 we see a "woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant.... and she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter." This is also seen within the temple along with the "ark of his covenant".

Traditionally, Catholics see Mary as the "new" Ark of the Covenant as the "old" Ark carried God's presence on Earth in it. As Mary carried God in her womb we see her as the "new" Ark.

Now this passage in Revelation doesn't prove the assumption, but just that Mary is in Heaven. However, now lets look at a verse in Psalm 132:8 (NAB)

"Arise, Lord, come to your resting place, you and your mighty ark."

We can see further evidence for why Jesus would and did assume His mother up into Heaven.

However, the Catholic Church does not just read Scripture and then form her beliefs upon that reading. The Church was handed down the "Deposit of Faith" in divine revelation. Both in Sacred Tradition and Scripture. They both "...flow from the same divine wellspring" (Dei Verbum). This means that all doctrines of faith the Church holds are either handed down to her. 

Mary's Assumption was handed on to the faithful via oral tradition (via preaching) and protected from being morphed into an error. 

We see St. Paul the Apostle warning the young Church against abandoning tradition or going against it. 

"Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." (2 Thessalonians 2:15 NAB)

"We instruct you, brothers, in the name or our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6 NAB)

We can see that St. Paul was talking about a tradition or preaching that occurred before he wrote this letter in Sacred Scripture. Catholics believe that part of this tradition that was taught to the young Church (not just in this specific town and letter) is that Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. 

How does this affect our lives today?

All Christians who Jesus judges acceptable on the Last Day shall enter Heaven with their glorified body and soul, and we see a foretaste of this with our Mother Mary. She reminds us that Earth is not our home, we are made for a far-greater place and purpose than we always remember. We should always try to get as close as we can to Jesus, as Mary was, so that we may come to love Him as she did. We come to Jesus in prayer and through the Sacraments... particularly through the Most Holy Eucharist. 

So make sure you go to Mass today. Make sure you pray today. Make sure you live today for Christ.

I end with a prayer... 

"Lord, draw us ever closer to your Sacred Heart. Allow us to share in your glory in Heaven and help us to live our lives as we ought for your greater glory on Earth. Mary Mother of God, pray for us that we may share with you in the vision of God."

P.S. 

For all my fellow Jesuit groupies, it was on this day 479 years ago the first Jesuits (St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, and Blessed Peter Faber) pronounced their vows or Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. Likewise, today a lot of Jesuits are pronouncing vows as well. Remember to keep the Jesuits in your prayers! 

AMDG

Is Mumford and Sons the Key to the New Evangelization?

I was recently listening to Mumford and Sons, and I was struck by the imagery they used. It seemed to me oddly familiar. Upon further listening I realized how Christian some of their lyrics were.

Just to offer a couple of examples....

"Love; it will not betray you
   Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
   Be more like the man you were made to be..."
             --Sigh No More (Sigh No More)
"So make your siren's call

   And sing all you want

   I will not hear what you have to say"

             --The Cave (Sigh No More)

These lines seem to me to be at the forefront of any Christian's life. We must accept a transforming Love from God that will set us free from the siren's call and allow us to be who we were made to be. This Love was made flesh in Jesus Christ. It is Him whom we must accept and it is Him whom we must allow to transform us.

I hear so often that our generation wants to "find themselves". Yet we always look to the things of the world. We need to find ourselves in love. We find ourselves in giving  ourselves in service. As the Church says in Vatican II, "Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self" (Gaudium et Spes 24)

Your probably wondering where an English band, who is not Catholic, fit in the New Evangelization. The New Evangelization calls for the Church body and especially the Laity to evangelize the culture by making the Gospel more accessible (without watering it down or changing it). It also calls the Laity to evangelize their sphere of influence, whether it be their family or work environment. We are called to be a Catholic banker, or Catholic teacher. We are to do this not so much by preaching against sin at work, this isn't always appropriate, but by allowing ourselves to be so transformed by Christ that we radiate the Joy and Love of Christ!

This is where we can thank and learn from Mumford for their inclusion of Christian themes and ideals into what almost all would consider a not-overtly Christian band (think Matt Maher) and allow thee Gospel to reach those who wouldn't otherwise listen to praise and worship songs.

We should all think of ways we can help others see that God loves them. Always remember that the greatest way to evangelize is to allow ourselves to be transformed by Christ through prayer and the sacraments.

"Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify the world."
          --St. Francis of Assisi

AMDG 

Restless Hearts

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

-St. Augustine

 



 



This quote from St. Augustine in the 4th century seems to ring true in today's time just as much if not more so than it did in the 300's. It seems people of every time search for God in all the wrong places. We look for that "ultimate" thing that we think will fulfill us. We try work, relationships, alcohol, and other common forms of modern entertainment to make us think we are happy. We feel as if we busy ourselves with trivial things and avoid some of the big questions of life, then we will fool ourselves into thinking we are good.

 

This blog is going to be my musings on the big questions of life. I hope to share some of my thoughts about life and God and help anyone on the same path searching for God.

 

I am open to taking questions and I would love to hear any feedback on the site.