Sunday 4 November 2012

31st. Sunday 2012 Fr. Raymond Homily, St. Bernard G

Homily by Fr. Raymond: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart"

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)  
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk 
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----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Raymond . . .
To: . . . . .
Sent: 
Sunday, 4 November 2012, 16:01
Subject: 

 SUN B 31
Jesus tells us today that the first and greatest commandment is that we must love the lord our God with all our mind and heart and soul and strength.  That seems at first to be a bit of a tall order for us.  Who could ever claim that he loves his God with all his mind and heart and strength?  The saints and the angels in heaven certainly can do that, but on this earth even the saints are the first to proclaim their shortcomings.  No doubt Our Blessed Lady managed, even here on earth, to love with all her mind and heart and strength.  But what about us?  What about the rest of our poor fallen race? Who could possible hope to claim that he loves his God with all his mind and heart and soul and strength.  This command surely seems a bit discouraging for us.  We certainly owe it to our Creator that we love him with all our mind and heart and strength.  But can we realistically hope to be able to pay that debt?

However we can be sure that God doesn’t demand of us anything that we can’t do.  God knows our weakness and he knows our frailty and so he has, through the gift of his grace, devised a plan to solve the dilemma. This plan wonderfully enables us, not just to fulfil this commandment, but altogether to surpass it.  God gives us the gift of his Spirit.  And through the gift of this Spirit within us He has enabled us now to love him with a love that is far above and beyond our own little love: it is as far above and beyond our own little love as his Godhead is above our humanity.  

This we can do because it is no longer now merely by our own little minds and hearts that we love God.  We love him now by the power of his very own Spirit.  By the gift of this indwelling Spirit, his very own Spirit who prays within us with unutterable groaning, we stand on a level ground with God himself.  We are caught up, as it were, in a love which is as big as himself and is altogether worthy of him.  Someone once said:  “Christian, know thyself!”  The more firmly and deeply we grasp this reality of who we are by grace and what fountains of grace well up within us; what infinite powers are at our disposal, then the more confident we will be in our ability to fulfil and to more than fulfil this greatest of God’s commandments:  “To love the lord our God with all our mind and heart and soul and strength”.


COMMENT: I found Fr. Raymond's Homily surpassed the Commentary; Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church  Sermons on the Song of Songs, no.83 (trans. ©Classics of Western Spirituality)   "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart" I have read that God is love (1Jn 4,16), but not that he is honor.. . . DGO.     Raymond's words ring peals of joy, "merely by our own little minds and hearts that we love God.  We love him now by the power of his very own Spirit.  By the gift of this indwelling Spirit, his very own Spirit who prays within us with unutterable groaning, we stand on a level ground with God himself."  

Saturday 3 November 2012

Recommended Reading: "He and I"

 It is interesting to find the widespread of "He and I" Websites.

 http://guadalupehousehi.blogspot.co.uk/     



NOTICE: I am a practicing Catholic, active and in good standing with my local parish, who professes faith and loyalty to the Church and our Holy Father. This little work is purely a personal expression of that faith and loyalty, and not an officially recognized ministry in the Diocese of Honolulu. ~ Peter 





J3, 2011UNE 1
Recommended Reading: "He and I"



A photo of Gabrielle Bossis and the book compiling
her communications with Jesus

I was at a church meeting the other night, when the conversation briefly turned to a certain book that one of the women had been reading little by little, on a daily basis; it was a book filled with alleged messages from Jesus to two women. After describing the book to me, I was immediately reminded of a similar book that I often read over and over, for the past 18 years, especially when I'm in need of spiritual encouragement; that special book is called, "He and I". After the meeting, I went home and took up my copy and slowly browsed over some of its passages... as always, my heart was filled with God's peace.

For those not familiar with this gem of a book, He and I is actually the published journal of a pious, aristocratic French woman named Gabrielle Bossis. Gabrielle was famous in her time and in her home country for having been a successful playwrite and stage actress with a comedic flair. In her latter years she reportedly heard the voice of Christ speaking to her regularly, especially during her prayer time and devotions; it was an intimate relationship, which lasted until shortly before her death in 1950.

While still living, Gabrielle had maintained a strict discretion about her experiences, and although her spiritual director had begun to publish the words she heard from Jesus, her identity was kept a secret. He and I became a huge spiritual success and continues to touch hearts up to the present day. Below are just a few quotes from the messages spoken by Christ to Gabrielle - 'pearls' from the book that I'd like to share with you...

'I am no longer on earth, so take my place.'
(March 10, 1937)

'Don't get the idea that a Saint is a Saint at every moment.  But there is
always my grace...  You must aim at perfection. But the perfection of your nature.
This is the way you will please me.'
(April 9, 1937)

'Enjoy me.  Give yourself a rest from saying your prayers so you may enjoy my Love.' 
(After Gabrielle received Holy Communion - April 28, 1939)

'When you ask, believe that I am good enough to answer you,
otherwise you will deprive me of the joy of giving.' 
(June 3, 1939)

'Thank me spontaneously as you would thank someone very dear to you.
I'm not just a messenger of suffering as so many imagine.  I am also the giver of
joys and I love your thanks, my little children; don't deprive me of this.'
(After Gabrielle experienced a great joy - November 25,  1940)

'... I am the friend who does good in the home and who sometimes
slips away before being recognized and thanked.'
(September 14, 1944)

'If you suffer, I am there to suffer with you.  And this is my cross again -
this suffering in your suffering.  Share it with me, for everything depends on oneness.
And if you believe in my Love, suffering will be sweet to you.  It will seem like
a little return for what I have given you...'
(September 28, 1944)

'... The weakness of your nature causes you to fall, and it's the humble effort
you make to get up and go on, the effort to please me that charms your Beloved.
And this is a joy, a joy for God.  Isn't that strange?  Later on you will see.
Later on you will understand.  Believe in that "later on".'
(While Gabrielle was making a Holy Hour - September 6, 1945)

'Pray.  Show an example of heartwarming love.  You remember
how good my mother and St. Joseph were to all those who received them
during their travels.  Long afterward people remembered their visit.
They left a wake of blessings all along their way.'
(September 12, 1945)

'Remember...  I traveled all your roads.'
(While Gabrielle was experiencing a moment of sadness - February 13, 1947)

'But each day is a first creation.  Not one is like another.
I never stop creating.  And it is all for all of you.  If I didn't hold you up, you
would cease to exist.  Will you love me enough to thank me for it?'
(While Gabrielle was enjoying the changing shapes of clouds - September 30, 1948)

'My child, ponder more often on the value of the present moment,
the danger of going back over the past and the uselessness of gazing into the future.
Just live the little moment you hold in your hands.  Simply and lovingly.'
(March 30, 1949)

If you enjoyed reading the above quotes, then I highly recommend you get the book - He and I will enrich your soul for the rest of your life, if you read it with the eyes of faith.  God bless!




Friday 2 November 2012

The Houses of Adoration, Marie-Benoite Angot.

Welcome to the page of the Association of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in the Archdiocese of Washington - AEMNC  
   http://dccatholicmovements.org/  
Second from left: foundress Marie Angot


The Houses of Adoration
Marie-Benoite Angot.
  (www.lesmaisonsdadoration.com
was founded in 1989 in France by Marie-Benoite Angot. 
This spirituality offers a way for lay people to consecrate themselves through Mary to the Living Person of Christ in the Eucharist, consecrating the world in preparation for His return in Glory. 
Houses of Adoration received final recognition by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in Rome on April 5, 2012, Holy Thursday, as a private international association of the faithful
Their vocation is to be the leaven in daily life like the yeast in the dough, in every country and in every situation. 
The spirituality is to spread throughout the world bringing the Living Love of Jesus-Eucharist to the world, through a true ministry of visitation carried out in the simple action of everyday life: the spirituality if that of Our Daily Bread. 
In imitation of the Virgin Mary, in her house of Nazareth, the souls of adoration never let a day pass without gazing on the Living Jesus with love in adoration. Responding to the call of Vatican II, they offer themselves as churches based in the home, to become "true domestic sanctuaries of the church." 
Priests known as "Missionaries of the Eucharist" adopt the same spirituality as the lay members, sharing their aims and helping them to live out their vocation and mission. 
The direction of the association is carried out by lay country delegates and diocesan delegates. 
The association is under the guidance of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in Rome. 
For additional information, please contact 
Ms. Angot, 31 rue du Sommerard, 75005 Paris, France 
or Ms. Connie Wells in the U.S. at cgwells31@gmail.com.    

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Books of Marie Angot on adoration
  



                                                                                 
WEBSITE  



Trans:  Livres

·         Les Maisons d’adoration
·         Adorer avec Marie
·         La vie d’adoration

Lettres

·         La joie de l'Eglise

Documents

·         Benoit XVI à Lourdes


Adoration in the Home Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey

Thank you, Fr. Mark. for this Post.
I am searching for the lady who set up Adoration in the Home, France.


Adoration at Home

|  | Comments (4)
P Mateo SSCC.jpg
Judging from some recent comments, I think it may be helpful to say something about the practice of Eucharistic adoration in the home for those who, for one reason or another, cannot go to a church or chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. The zealous apostle of this kind of adoration in the home was a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary of Perpetual Adoration, Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey (1875-1960).Father Mateo wrote:
Not every one is able to make the hour of Eucharistic Adoration in the church, particularly at night. Must they be deprived, then, of the honor and privilege of consoling the Divine Prisoner, alone and forsaken in so many tabernacles? By no means! In the sanctuary of their homes, let them prostrate themselves in spirit before the tabernacle, and, in union with the Priests who at that moment, in some part of the world, are offering the Sacrifice of Calvary to the Trinity, let them adore, praise, petition and atone in the name of their own and other families who offend and sadden the Sacred Heart by their daily denial of His rights as King.
It is helpful to make one's adoration at home in front of a blessed image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Holy Face. There are many people suffering from chronic illnesses, who are unable to go to a church where the Blessed Sacrament is present. They are not deprived of the graces flowing from Eucharistic adoration, and their prayer, even if it is made from a sickbed or a chair, is all the more precious in the sight of Our Lord, insofar as they unite it with patience to His own sufferings. One might say something like this;
Lord Jesus Christ,
my desire and the intention of my heart
is to pray before Thy holy image as if I were in Thy Eucharistic presence.
Transport my soul before the tabernacle where
Thou art most forsaken at this hour,
and there let me offer Thee my desire to adore Thee,
and my love,
in a spirit of reparation.
Or, like this:
Receive this time before Thee
as an act of adoration and reparation directed to Thee
in the Most Blessed Sacrament,
especially in that tabernacle on earth where Thou art most forsaken.
Make me, especially for the sake of Thy priests and for their sanctification,
a faithful adorer of Thy Eucharistic Face
and of Thy Open Heart hidden in the Sacrament of Thy Love.
Trusting that faith, hope, and love abolish every distance
and transport the soul straightway to the object of its desire,
I will adore Thee now with the same sentiments
of thanksgiving, confidence, and pleading love
that I would have,
were I prostrate before the Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood
hidden in the tabernacle, or exposed to my gaze upon the altar.
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4 Comments

Thank you for this post and your guidance.
God is so very good! ALL TO HIM!
May God bless you and your work, may the whole world adore.
Father Mark,
Thanks so much for the wonderful post on Father Mateo. I'm in Picpus where we celebrated St. Pacomius yesterday. He is one of the four original protectors of our Congregation. (The others are SS. Bernard, Augustine and Dominic). SS. Margaret Mary and Therese of the Child Jesus were added by later chapters.
Fr. Richard ss.cc.
Father Mark,
My life has been so enriched by your website. Thank you so much!
For the past several months I have been "transporting" myself upon awakening during the night to the Tabernacle to adore Jesus. I believe that this practice has opened the door to a deeper walk with Christ during my waking hours. I suffer from chronic illness and sometimes cannot be at Church during Adoration. I will definately take advantage of Home Adoration when I am unable to attend!

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