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The Mass is the greatest prayer of God

Catechism of the Catholic Church

560 Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the Church’s liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week.

MESSAGE #2752 from the Blessed Mother March 21, 2005

http://littlemary.excerptsofinri.com/

Listen To

http://littlemary.excerptsofinri.com/messages/audio/mp3/2752-0321-2005-bm.mp3

 My daughter, These messages are that of love, prayer and repentance, so please tell my children to accept my love for them. Tell my children to trust in my motherly intercession so more come to know my Son, Jesus.

My daughter, pray more, so more convert before it’s too late. Pray for those souls who are rejecting God’s love and mercy. Pray each new day and offer your suffering for the many who continue to add wounds to Jesus’ Most Precious Body. Embrace this Holy Week and pray, pray for those souls who are furthest away from Jesus. Your prayers and suffering are truly needed so more repent and turn their lives around. Prayer, sacrifice and penance is truly needed to convert the world. Each child must do their part so more souls can be saved.

Now, please come to Mass and adore my Son who is truly present in the Eucharist. Come to Mass as true believers and take heed to the Gospel. In this way, you will be able to go forth and harvest souls.

Now, please persevere and pray, pray for one another. Be loving children and abandon yourselves to God’s Holy Will each new day. Amen.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24

R. (2a) My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

All who see me scoff at me;

they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:

“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,

let him rescue him, if he loves him.”

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Indeed, many dogs surround me,

a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;

They have pierced my hands and my feet;

I can count all my bones.

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

They divide my garments among them,

and for my vesture they cast lots.

But you, O LORD, be not far from me;

O my help, hasten to aid me.

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

I will proclaim your name to my brethren;

in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:

“You who fear the LORD, praise him;

all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;

revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”

R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

A Homily by Fr. Robert Altier   Palm Sunday March 20, 2005

http://www.desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/

http://www.desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/audio/2005/Alti032005.mp3

Reading I (Isaiah 50:4-7)    Psalm 22, Reading II (Philippians 2:6-11)

Gospel (St. Matthew 26:14-27:66)

In the Gospel reading that we just heard, Our Lord spoke on two occasions, saying, This is the way it has to be in order to fulfill the prophets. This is a very important statement because Jesus Christ came to fulfill completely the law and the prophets. God says through the prophet Amos that He will do nothing in this world without first telling us through His servants the prophets. Therefore, what we can do is search the Scriptures and we can find all the various prophecies regarding the Messiah. We will see that God never said that He would send Mohammed or Buddha (or anyone else, for that matter), but He did say that He would send His own Son. The Second Psalm, for instance, says, You are My son, this day I have begotten you.

When we look at the Old Testament, the Jewish rabbis had gone through with a fine-tooth comb and they had realized that there were 350 specific prophecies regarding the Messiah, 350 different things that needed to be fulfilled. Some of them could be fulfilled by any number of people. He had to be born in Bethlehem. Well, there were lots of boys born in Bethlehem over the years. He had to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. Well, there were thousands of men who rode into Jerusalem on donkeys. But there were lots of other things. He had to be born of a virgin. There is only one Person in human history Who has fulfilled that. He would have to be crucified.

When we look at Psalm 22, which is what we heard in the Responsorial Psalm today, this is a psalm of prophecy. It is a prayer. It is a most amazing thing because one has to wonder what King David had seen or endured 1,000 years before Jesus came, because in Psalm 22 he talks about how they have put holes in my hands and my feet; I can number all my bones; they cast lots for my vesture; they wag their heads and laugh. You read down Psalm 22 and you begin to see that this is not a cry of a man who is despairing on the cross, which is what so many people seem to think when they hear those words: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? That is the first line of the Twenty-second Psalm. It is not a cry of despair; it is a prayer. It is Our Lord’s way of showing us that what is happening to Him is the fulfillment of what had been spoken.

And so in all 350 things, we see the fulfillment in Jesus Christ. There is no one else in human history who has even come close to fulfilling all of these things. There is only one Person in human history Who has fulfilled every last one of them, right to the point of Zechariah saying, They will look upon him whom they have pierced through, and they will mourn over him as one mourns for an only son. This is, again, exactly what we see.

It is also quite interesting to hear in the Gospel reading the words of the high priest, the words which are placed upon the lips of the people today, speaking as the high priest and the Pharisees, and in essence quoting almost word for word what we read in the Book of Wisdom in the second chapter when they tell him, If you are God’s son, come down from that cross. Recall what they said in the Book of Wisdom that this is what these evil people thought, thinking not aright: Let us condemn the just man to a shameful death. Let us have proof of his goodness and his meekness, for if God is his Father, as he claims, God will save him. Well, they were thinking not aright. They looked at Jesus upon the Cross and they said, Come down from that cross and then we will believe in you! Our Lord, on the other hand, stayed upon the Cross so that we could believe in Him. Nowhere was it ever prophesied that the Messiah would come down from His cross, but it was prophesied very clearly that He would have to be crucified with holes in His hands and His feet, and that He would be put to death – and put to a shameful death.

But it is very interesting that the Church gives to us the reading from the prophet Isaiah, one of the Suffering Servant songs. We hear about how He gave His face to those who spit upon Him, His beard to those who would pluck it, and His back to those who would beat Him. At the end of the reading it says, But the Lord God is my help, therefore I am not ashamed. And knowing, it says, that He would not be put to shame, He turned His face like flint. We condemned Him to the most shameful, inhuman sorts of things that we could think of, but He was not put to shame because He was doing the Will of His heavenly Father.

As we heard in the second reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Jesus humbled Himself. He humbled Himself so far that it was not enough for Him to be conceived in the womb of a human woman, it was not enough for Him to be a tiny helpless human baby who was dependent on His mother, it was not enough for Him to live a life of poverty and to be ridiculed throughout His entire life, but, as Saint Paul tells us, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to death on a cross. That is the humility of Almighty God Who has come to us to teach us what love is.

And so it is only by looking at the Cross and by looking upon Him on the Cross that we have salvation. There is only one means to salvation, and that is the Cross of Jesus Christ. Unlike the chief priest and the Pharisees who said, Come down from that cross and we will believe, we must be like Our Lady and Saint John who stood at the foot of the Cross right where the chief priest and the scribes were as well. They believed because He fulfilled the Scriptures and did not come down from that cross.

The Cross, as Saint Paul tells the Corinthians, is a stumbling block to the Jews and it is foolishness to the Greeks. It is a scandal to those who do not believe, but he says: For those who believe, it is the wisdom of God and it is the power of God. Saint Paul had determined that he would preach nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Cross of Christ is our only hope – there is nothing else. Search the world and you will find nothing that will bring you to heaven except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Search the Scriptures and you will find nothing that is going to bring salvation to your soul except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

How grateful we must be that He did not come down from the Cross. And how in our hearts we have to look at Him Who had been condemned to a shameful death and see that He is not ashamed, but rather that He is exalted because of His humility, that He is brought into the fullness of heaven and brings to the fullness of life all of those who will follow Him to the Cross in what is not in the least bit shameful but is a perfect act of love.

So the Church asks us now in this final week, in this most holy of all weeks as we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Easter, that we will enter with Our Lord into His Passion, that we will meditate upon these things that we have just read in the Gospels, that we will look at the prophecies. Read Isaiah 52 and 53, read the Suffering Servant Songs, read Psalm 22, read Psalm 69; see the things that were there that were prophesied thousands of years before Jesus came, and see their fulfillment in Him. Do not wish that He would come down from the Cross in order to believe, but rather be like Mary and John; stand at the foot of His Cross and – precisely because He did not come down from the Cross – believe, and know that there is no other means of salvation than the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Transcription Notes Our Blessed Mother Mary  4/2 Friday 8:15am msg. #1723

http://littlemary.excerptsofinri.com/

My daughter, in all that you do, remember Jesus’ suffering. In this you will find consolation. Jesus suffered for each of you because of His love and mercy for you. So reflect today on Jesus’ passion and you will find strength. All who are close to Heaven will suffer, just as my son. For God purifies and chastises all those He loves. God uses those who are willing, to make the truth known. Those who speak the truth and are willing to carry their cross will be persecuted by those who refuse to come to know Jesus. It is through suffering and humility that one is led closer to Christ, so be willing, dear children, to do all that you can to save souls.

Be courageous not fearful. Be willing to make the gospel known. Be willing to do what is right and not be like everyone else, for then you will become more like us. Be willing to suffer and believe with your whole heart that God knows how much each of you can endure. Do not become angry when trials come your way. By accepting each new cross, then joy and peace will not leave you. Without joy and love in your heart, others will not see Christ in you. … Much will remain a mystery to you and at times it will be hard to accept your cross. But you will be shown in time and what you must believe is that one day you will be free of all pain and suffering. Without total faith in God… Without total belief in God you will not be able to bear each new cross. Without trust and confidence in our Lord… So believe dear children, that God knows what is best for your soul. Believe so you do not doubt in God’s love for you. Believe so your heart stays open to what ever it is that God is asking you. Believe so that you do not question God when all is not going your way. Those who are weak will not understand what God is asking of them. They cannot understand because they do not spend the time needed to come to know Jesus.

Many today are relying on themselves instead of allowing God to be in control. Many are unwilling to pick up their cross because they do not want to suffer. Many today are choosing the easier road because they do not want to give up their selfish desires. Many are giving in to sin because they are refusing God’s grace. True happiness is only given to those who are living their lives for Christ, to those who are willing to carry their cross.

My children, I want each of you to be happy, but this will only happen if you spend time with Jesus. This will only happen if you pray and accept each new cross. It will only happen if you do the Fathers Will and accept God’s love and mercy for you. This will only happen if you obey all God’s commandments. Sin will cause turmoil in your life. Sin will eventually cause you much pain. Sin is what will separate you from God. Sin will cause you to be weak in all areas of your life because when you sin, you are refusing God’s help and grace. … Today I ask that you meditate on our Lord’s passion. I ask that you never forget what happened on Calvary. I ask you to look at Jesus’ wounds so you will understand and see how much pain He endured for each of you. I ask that you give up your pleasure today and spend time kneeling before the crucifix, for through this you will feel and understand God’s love for you. … You will become more accepting of each new cross you must bear if you meditate on our Lord’s passion.

Today I want each of you to truly know how much God loves you. I want you to be truly sorry for your sins. I want each of you to say yes to God, instead of refusing to carry your cross. I want the best for all my children but it will take effort on your part. It will take a prayerful life and willingness… … It will take a change of heart and true devotion to Christ. It will take commitment and discipline to be loyal to serve Christ. It will take total trust and belief in God. If you want true happiness then please take my hand now. Please allow me to assist you for then it will be easier for you. I will shower you with my grace. I will protect you and I will give you the encouragement you need. I will remind you just as any good mother would do. So, please accept my hand. In time, I will lead you closer to Christ. … In time, true happiness will then be given to you and nothing else on this earth will matter to you. For God will dwell in each child who believes and who turns away from sin.

My heart is open, so please accept my love for you. Please allow me to assist you. Please walk with me and together we shall climb the road to Calvary. … I am here for each of you. Now take time to ask God to show you how you can help heal Jesus’ wounds. Ask God and you will be given strength to do what truly pleases God. Amen.

The Carrying of the Cross – Fr. Robert J. Fox – Marian Manuel

http://www.fatimafamily.org/

Did the fallen evil angels know, as Jesus is presented the wood of the Cross, that it would be the very altar upon which He would redeem the world? If they did know, their hatred and pride with which they influenced men to reject Jesus did not stop them. How could it? In their intellectual pride at the time of their own trial when they foresaw all the consequences of their revolt, they still went ahead. In the heavens they fought St. Michael the Archangel and the good holy angels. The knowledge of what their decision would bring did not deter them from rejecting God.

Any sin of man is terrible, large or small. Mortal sin in which man dies unrepentant will lead him to hell for all eternity. It is for this the evil angels work. The good holy angels however, work to lead people to faith in the Blessed Trinity, to faith and love in Jesus Christ, to faith and love for His Church and the Mother of the Church.

The intellect of man was never as great as that of the angels. That is why God’s mercy is lavished abundantly upon man so that he can sin repeatedly and repent and the good holy angels rejoice. Man does not see all the consequences of his sin as did the angels at their trial.

How the holy angels rejoice at any human person who repents after sinning! To see the mercy of God bestowed upon a human being is their joy. Jesus said, “I say to you that, even so, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine just who have no need of repentance”

(Lk. 15:7). Christ repeated the thought again. “Even so, I say to you, there will be joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:10).

While the devils of hell are intensely active in stirring up hatred among the soldiers and Pharisees who line the streets as Jesus carries the heavy Cross in the direction of Calvary, the good holy angels marvel at such infinite mercy of their God become man who permits all this and endures all this for sinful creatures whom He loves even unto death on the Cross.

As Jesus falls under the weight of the Cross, under the weight of mankind’s sins, we can see the good holy angels interceding for His human strength to rise again, just as the Angel in the garden gave Him human strength.

Excerpts of Mary the Co-Sufferer – Excerpts by Professor Courtenay Bartholomew, M.D.   March 21 2009 

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/articles/marian-private-revelation/mary-the-co-sufferer.html

Close to his death, he made his last will and testament and bequeathed his mother to be our mother also, our spiritual mother. “Woman, behold your son … Behold your mother,” he said first to his mother and then to John (John 19:26-27). “Woman, behold your son,” he said to her. He was obviously referring to her as the “woman” first spoken of in Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; she will crush your head ” Indeed, it was on this hill called Calvary that this verse in Genesis was fulfilled. The word Calvary is from the Latin word Calvaria, meaning skull. The hill was also called Golgatha, the Hebrew word from the Greek Kranion, a skull. The Cross of the Redeemer was firmly crushed into the ground. And so, the “skull” was “crushed” by the man on the Cross, the Redeemer (“her seed”), and beneath that rugged Cross was the Co-redemptrix (not co-equal); one suffering woman, suffering with God who in turn was suffering for mankind and from them. Redemption begun at the Annunciation was completed on Calvary. It was 3:00 p.m. on a Friday.

But do we really understand and appreciate what it means to be “at the foot of the Cross” for three hours? Hers was the most spiritual, the most intense and incomparable suffering ever known; one solitary creature suffering with God, who in turn was suffering for all mankind and from them. She was a martyr whom God preserved from dying! That was the meaning of being the second Eve. That was the price of being Co-redemptrix, for from the very beginning of Creation she was thus chosen. But it was as though God had predetermined that one had to be a “Mary” to have the privilege of standing beneath the Cross. John speaks of that congregation: “Standing by the cross were his mother (Mary), and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (Jn 19:25).

Redemption had to come from suffering, and so, he needed a body to suffer. His mother gave him that body. No human father was involved in that conception. “You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me” (Heb 10:5). On that joyous day when he was born she wrapped his tiny body in swaddling clothes and placed him in his crib (Lk 2:12). But on that Friday at the foot of the Cross, 33 years later, she received a body, tattered and torn and swaddled with blood as he took upon himself the sins of the world. It was not a pretty sight but neither is sin in the eyes of God! It was the blood of the new and everlasting covenant which was shed for all so that sins may be forgiven.

Her suffering too was minimized. Words cannot fully describe and adequately measure Mary’s anguish on that day. Perhaps it can be appreciated somewhat better if every mother were to contemplate her own son on the cross in place of the son of Mary. Yet, if there were a thousand such mothers standing at the feet of a thousand crosses bearing their thousand crucified sons, the sum total of their anguish could not in any way equate the pain and suffering of that Mother of Sorrows on that hill on that Friday that some men call “Good.” She too was being crucified!

So said, in 1373, Lady Julian of Norwich, in her book Revelations of Divine Love, which records her privileged visions from God, says of Mary: “I saw part of the love and suffering of Our Lady Saint Mary, for she and Christ were so joined in love that the greatness of their love caused the greatness of her grief … for the higher, the greater, and the sweeter the love is, so the greater the grief it is for those who love, to see their loved one suffer.”

What is also not appreciated by many is that spiritual and mental suffering can also be as agonizing as physical pain, and at times even more so. For example, the emotional pain of a patient suffering from depression and the spiritual dryness of the “desert”, the so-called “dark night of the soul,” which a few prayerful people experience, can parallel or exceed physical pain, albeit measured on different scales and parameters of human suffering. There are also many cases, for example, of elderly spouses of happy and longstanding marriages, dying within hours or days of each other from the sheer anguish of the death of their loved one and from the unbearable and emotional pain of the separation. So it would have been with the Mother of Love on that Friday had she not been preserved from death by God. Indeed, the Church recognizes her as a martyr, the Queen of the martyrs, but one who was not allowed to die!

But the most important moment of His life, of course, was on Calvary; and it is there that we need to make sure we are united with Him. Most of us run from Calvary rather than running to Calvary.

Are we willing to take up the Cross, to deny ourselves, to walk all the way to Calvary, and to be blessed by the Cross in the fullness of what that means: to be united with Jesus Christ in His Passion, in His Death, and in His Resurrection?

An excerpt of a Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Friday August 9, 2002

http://desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/

“Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” These are not easy words when we stop to think about what Our Lord’s Cross required of Him and all of the things that happened to Him as He carried His Cross on the way to Calvary. But then He tells us that if we want to come after Him this is the only way. We know that if we are going to follow the Lord, it is to follow Him to Calvary, it is to be crucified with Him.

This is not something which is a popular idea in a society which upholds pleasure and ease, to hear about having to suffer and to have to take up the Cross, to deny the self in a society which tells us exactly the opposite. To indulge yourself is the virtue of America, but there is no virtue in that at all. It is to deny the self that we have to be about, and that is not something which comes naturally to any of us either; that is something which has to be a choice on our part; it is something that each one of us needs to make an act of the will to do. It is something we have to decide over and over and over, which is why Our Lord tells us that we have to deny ourselves everyday. That is what He tells us in Saint Luke’s Gospel: “You must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.”

If you really want to find the life that God created you to have, it is to be united with Christ. And to be united with Christ is to be united with Him in everything – everything from Bethlehem to Calvary and into, finally, His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. It is to be united with Jesus Christ in every aspect of His life.

Notes from Feb 10th 1999 Wednesday 8:05am msg. #1685

http://littlemary.excerptsofinri.com/messages/transcript/1999/0215-1999-mon.html

My daughter, you have been chosen for these times, so be glad each time your mother from heaven will come to you. … Be glad or worldly doubt will set in. When you are tired, come to me so I can give you encouragement. …

The reason why so many of our messengers give up is because they forget to take time to be consoled. … Many wait for Jesus and I to come to them, instead of turning to Jesus and I for help. My daughter, you too must take time for yourself. Take quiet time with God. You cannot carry these messages alone, for many are heavy and will pierce your heart. You need more time to talk with us, for this is how you will be comforted on this earth.

Today, I must remind all our children to pray and take refuge in our heart. For there will be days when each of you will feel like giving up. If you try to carry your burdens alone, you will become discouraged. … So please remember children, to take time to share your thoughts and feelings with us. God will then refresh you. God and I will help each child who comes with an open heart.

We will help each who spend prayer time with our Lord. So be not foolish and turn to God instead of man, for all your needs. Be not foolish… I ask today that each of you spend less time talking with those around you for this takes precious prayer time away from you. … I ask that you turn to God when you feel like talking and speak with Him. I ask you to pray and deepen your relationship with God. If you leave God last, then you will not be given the you will need on this earth.

If you do not take time to pray throughout the day, then the enemy will attack you whenever you are weak. The enemy, my children has planted many traps on this earth. And many will fall if you are leaving God last. … Each of you must ask yourselves today, are you spending enough time with God?

If you do not feel peaceful or joyful, then you are not leaving enough time for God. If you feel lonely or depressed, then you are not spending enough time with God. If you feel on edge or Confused, then please children, increase your time with our Lord. … Come to Mass more, so your soul can be nourished. Come more often… Take time to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament…

Don’t wait so long between visits, come more often. Don’t wait to cleanse your soul, come when the spirit moves you. ..Don’t wait for.. spend time each day with Christ. Don’t wait or it will cause you to fall further away from God.

My children, please listen and respond today, for I need each of you strong for times to come. … I need healthy children who are full of life and joyful. I need children who will remain peaceful through each new storm. This will not be if you are not nourishing soul. You will not remain strong if you are not coming to know the Blessed Trinity. If you are spending all your time watching TV or on the phone then you too will panic, for you will not know how to confide in God. You will not be at peace if you are wasting this time to truly come to know God.

I am here today to remind you to turn away from what ever it is that is pulling you away from God. If it is luxury, remove it from your home. If it is your money, then give it to those who are in need. … If it is pride, then humble yourself today… If it is because of busyness, then you will need to slow down. Each of you will have to be honest with yourself, or in the end you will suffer.

In the end, each of you know what is best for your soul. Each of you cannot say, “I did not know”, for I have reminded you many times. It is up to you, because I cannot force you to nourish and cleanse your soul. It is up to you to turn to God for strength. It is up to you to rely on God instead of our messengers for direction. Each of you need to come to know Jesus in a special way. Each of you need to examine your conscience… Without taking a look at how you are living, you will not change. You will not have true peace if you are separating yourselves from God. You will not be happy or joyful unless you are willing to work.

Without a willingness on your part, God cannot help you. Now I ask each of you to take time to reflect on this message so you spend more time with God. For this is the only way to really come to know God. This time my children, cannot be wasted, for this time cannot be given back to you… So be wise, take our hand, God and I are here for each one of you. God knows just how to help you, so please turn to God each new day. Amen.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm 2710

The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty ant in faith.

Excerpt of a Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Sunday February 3, 2002 http://www.desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/text/2002/Alti020302.htm

Most of us probably do not seek our refuge in the Lord, but rather, we seek our refuge in anything and everything other than the Lord, most often. You can ask yourself: When you feel stressed, do you turn to pray? When you are feeling attacked, do you turn to Our Lord? When you are feeling lowly or lonely or despised, do you turn to the Lord?

Many of us, in answer to those things, would probably say that we call someone else on the phone, we turn on the TV or we eat. We turn to material things; we look to all kinds of other things other than God. We do not necessarily seek our refuge in the Lord. What we need to strive for is true humility. There is not one single individual in Heaven who is not humble, not one. There is not one single person in Heaven who sought refuge in himself or herself.

There is no one in Heaven who did not seek the Lord. We need to be very clear about that. We have a choice to make. And the choices that we make in this world are also eternal choices. I have asked many times from this pulpit: Do you want to serve the Lord? Or do you want to serve some other god? Most of us are not going to bow down before idols; that is, little gods made of wood, silver, or gold.

But there are lots of idols in this society that many, many, many people bow down before, that many people put before God. We need to choose whom we are going to serve. Jesus tells us in the Gospel what the life of the Christian person is to look like. We are to be poor in spirit. We are to be mourning over sin. We are to be meek. We are to be lowly. We are going to be persecuted. We are going to be slandered. He makes all those points in the Beatitudes and calls those people blessed.

Now that is not what anybody who lives a worldly life would call blessed. But the Lord does. And so, we need to ask ourselves: Are we seeking our reward in Heaven? Or are we seeking our reward here on earth? Remember, if we go out of our way to seek the attention of others

Our Lord tells us: “You have already received your reward.” I think the same, then, can be said when we look at the Beatitudes. If we are seeking the things of this world – the comforts and the riches and all of the things that this world affords – if we are trying to be wise in the ways of the world, if we are trying to fit in, we have already received our reward, which means that we are not going to receive it in the end.

We will stand before God on the Day of Judgment and He will say, “I do not know you.” The goal of our Christian life is to be conformed to Jesus Christ, indeed, even more: to be transformed into Jesus Christ. Jesus was poor and meek and lowly. Jesus sought to serve others.

He gave of Himself, poured everything out for our sake. He was persecuted. He was slandered. And that is what is going to happen to us if we want to follow Him. That is the choice we have to make. Do we want to be like Jesus? Or do we just want to keep Jesus at a far distance and give Him lip service while our lives and our hearts are far from Him? The choice is entirely ours. The day of God’s wrath is drawing near. There will be a remnant that will be saved through it. And it will be a remnant only of those who seek refuge in the Name of the Lord. Do not think that when that day comes you are suddenly going to seek refuge if it is not what you are accustomed to already.

It is something that we have to do every day because then when that day comes we will be accustomed to calling upon the Name of the Lord. When that day comes, whether it is the day of our own individual judgment or a day of the Lord that will befall this world, it is not going to frighten us; it is not going to be a problem for us if we are accustomed to being humble and righteous and seeking our refuge in the Lord.

But if instead we seek pride, power, selfishness, if we are seeking our refuge in wealth, materialism, position, or anything else, then when the day of the Lord comes upon us we will not be seeking the Lord, but we will be seeking all the other things. It is absolutely essential that we strive for humility, that we strive for righteousness, and that we call upon the Name of the Lord. It is not something that is just a good idea. It is not something that [we can say], “Well, of course, we would hear it in church. But that is what we hear in church; we don’t really have to live it or pay attention to it.”

It is not something that we can compartmentalize and say, “Well, that’s on Sunday morning, but the rest of my life I don’t have to pay attention to that,” because one day each one of us will stand before the Lord and the choice we make now is the choice we will make then. Seek righteousness, seek humility, and seek refuge in the Name of the Lord.

A man called Francis

ESCANABA – Irving C. “Francis” Houle, 83, 1108 7th Ave S., Escanaba, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, at Marquette General Hospital.

He was born on Dec. 27, 1925, in Wilson, the son of Peter and Lillian (Bennett) Houle. Irving was raised in Wilson and attended Harris High School before moving to Escanaba in 1942. He graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1944.

The day following graduation, Irving entered the U.S. Army. While serving his country, he received the European, African, Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and the American Theater Service Medal. He was honorably discharged on June 20, 1946.

On Nov. 17, 1948, Irving married the former Gail LaChapelle at St. Joseph Church in Escanaba.

Over the years, Irving was employed with Robert’s Shoes, Montgomery Ward, Northern Chemical Supply, Harnischfeger Corporation, and worked for 15 years at EMP as the first plant manager.

He was a member of St. Joseph and St. Patrick’s Church and was active with the Knights of Columbus.

While he was a 3rd degree Knight, he was the Grand Knight and also the District Deputy prior to his installation as a 4th degree Knight.

He was a religious man that prayed with many people. A book, “A Man Called Francis” was written by Fr. Robert J. Fox on his Gift from God.

Irving enjoyed gardening, sports, and spending time with his family.

Among the survivors include his wife of 60 years, Gail; daughter, Margo (Brian) Rout of Columbus, Ind.; four sons, Steve (Peggy) of Escanaba, Peter (Mark Levesque) of Philadelphia, Pa., John (Lori) of Escanaba, and Matt (Salli) of Gladstone; seven grandchildren, Jodi, Jason, Jennifer, Stephanie, Jared, Jerilyn, and Ian; four great-grandchildren, Cole, Taylor, Jersie, and Cooper; brother, Robert (Colleen) Houle of Chelsie, Mich.; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Ray, Donald, Reyn, and Al; and sister, Gladys.

Visitation will be on Wednesday, Jan. 7, from noon to 6 p.m. at St. Joseph and St. Patrick Church in Escanaba.

The Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 6 p.m. with Rev. Eric Olson officiating. A meal will be served following the Mass in the church fellowship hall.

Burial will be in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund in Irving’s name will be established by the family at a later date. Envelopes will be available at the church and funeral home.

The Crawford Funeral Homes are assisting the Houle family with arrangements.

Francis was also on EWTN on a program called “RECLAIMING YOUR CHILDREN FOR THE CATHOLIC FAITH” hosted by Fr. Fox
below is link to a mp3 audio (30minutes) for episode#8 of the program called “The Church of New Covenant – The Cross”

 ”Francis”, relates the life of a married man in the United States who bears the wound marks of Jesus Christ on his hands. He undergoes the events surrounding the Suffering and Death of Jesus Christ each night of the year, more pronounced on all the Fridays of the year and during Lent, and with greater intensity during Holy Week.

Extensive references to Sacred Scripture will help you understand why and how Francis has been chosen to become a ‘living sacrifice’ and how the same should apply to every Christian.

The readers of this book will be inspired to greater devotion to the Sufferings of Jesus Christ which can be experienced in the devout making of the Way of the Cross. This book, prayerfully read, will lead to a great love of and adoration for the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, present with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the tabernacles throughout the world.

MESSAGE #2663 from the Blessed Mother August 11, 2004

My daughter, God has been warning His children for some time now,
yet many remain blind to the truth. Many are not preparing their soul
in this time of God’s mercy.

My children must understand that Change takes time. Change does not
happen over night. One must truly want to Change. One must turn to
God and ask, ask for His guidance. One must be willing to do their
part or Change cannot occur.

Change must happen now, so please do your part by truly turning your
lives around. Repent of your ways and be truly sorry for your sins.
Do penance every day and obey, obey all of God’s Commandments. Come
to Mass as often as you can so you have the grace needed to live a
holy life. Get down on your knees and pray, pray more. Get down on
your knees and pray and I will truly lead you closer to Jesus’ Most
Sacred Heart.

Be open to my Son’s love and mercy and be grateful for this time that
has been allowed to amend your ways. Use the protection God has given
you, for this will truly help keep evil away. Pray together now as a
family so you are strengthened for times to come. Many trials await
this world because sin has become widespread.

Please take refuge in My Immaculate Heart so that I can help you
before it’s too late. Take refuge now so that I can protect you
through all trials and storms. Take refuge so that I can help you
endure your crosses with love. Trust, trust in my motherly
intercession, for I am truly here for all my children.

Now, please pray with faith in your hearts so you come to know God’s
love for you. Pray, pray every day and I promise you, Change will
occur in your life. Change is truly needed, so begin today and give
your live to God. Amen.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2070 The Ten Commandments belong to God’s revelation. At the same
time they teach us the true humanity of man. They bring to light the
essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights
inherent in the nature of the human person. The Decalogue contains a
privileged expression of the natural law:

From the beginning, God had implanted in the heart of man the
precepts of the natural law. Then he was content to remind him of
them. This was the Decalogue.

Reading (Isaiah 48:17-19)
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the
LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the
way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your
prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves
of the sea; your descendants would be like the sand, and those born
of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted
out from my presence.

Friday December 10, 2004 Homily by Fr. Robert Altier

In the first reading, God says through the prophet Isaiah, If you
would hearken to My commandments, all these other things would
follow. All we have to do is make the Changes in our lives to live
what we believe. But that is the hard part. As always, and as I have
pointed out many times, we do not like to Change.

So we can listen to this over and over and over again and we walk
away and nothing happens. Not because it was not true or it was not
good, but because we do not want to Change. Therefore, we do the same
thing to Our Lord. We like Him from a distance, we acknowledge that
He is God, that He is Lord, that He is Messiah, but we do not want to
Change our lives to become more like Him and to do His Will. And so
we become just like the people He was talking to today.

We look at the saints and we think they are all right – but we do not
want to be like them. We look at Jesus and Mary and we think they are
wonderful – but we do not want to be like them, either. You can
say, “Okay, you don’t want to be one way and you don’t want to be the
other way. What’s going to make you happy?” The answer, if we are
going to be honest with ourselves, is “nothing” because we do not
want it.

That is what needs to Change. We need to look at it and say, “It’s
not enough to look at the saints from a distance. It’s not enough to
read the Gospels and think that Jesus is pretty good.” If we are
going to profess it, we have to live it, we have to Change and be
like Jesus, be like Our Lady, be like the saints, and not just simply
hold them at an arm’s distance and say, “It was good that they did
what they did, but I don’t want to.”

That is not enough. Otherwise, we can look at all of them, some of
the incredibly ascetic saints, and we can say, “We piped you a dirge,
but you didn’t wail.” We can look at saints like Therese, that
everybody loves, and we can say, “We piped you a tune, but you
wouldn’t dance.” All we can say is that we like our sins, we like to
be mediocre, we do not want to be saints.

That is a tragedy because we are going to look at Jesus and we are
going to do the same thing to Him: “He’s really great, but I don’t
want to be like Him.” That is not an option if we are going to claim
to be His followers, and it will be our condemnation if we continue
in that. So we need to make the Change to hearken to the Commandments
of the Lord, to hear His voice, to be obedient, and to live the faith
that we profess.

MESSAGE #2634 from the Blessed Mother May 26, 2004
http://littlemary.excerptsofinri.com/
 
 My daughter, Blessed will be those who go forth and proclaim the Gospel. They will be truly blessed by Almighty God. Those who truly live the Gospel will be protected from the evil one.  Woe to those who know the truth but refuse to live it, for how they will suffer for turning their back on God. So many today continue to crucify my Son because of their refusal to live and speak the truth. Very few are willing to be persecuted for living their faith.

I plead with my children today, let go of fear and be light to this world. Let go of fear and teach others all that I am teaching you. It is time now to be true warriors for Christ. Work constantly to strengthen your faith in God and live, live holy lives. Receive the Sacraments often, for then much strength will be given to you.

Dear children, please understand that you are entering a time of great purification. You must prepare your hearts now and respond to the many messages God has so graciously given you. You must stand tall and live, live a pure and holy life. You must learn the truth and truly live your Catholic Faith. You must listen to your Most Holy Pope and not allow evil to enter your Church.  Can you not see what is happening around this world? Bishops against Bishops, Priests against Priests, children against parents and authority. This is all part of Satan’s plan to destroy you. Parents are behaving like children and they are not living their vocation. A great darkness is covering this world because so many are not listening to God.

It is time now to put the Tabernacle and Statues back into Church. It is time now to say the St. Michael prayer, for you need this Archangel’s protection. If you continue to remove the holiness from your Church, you will see much more destruction. You will see much more irreverence and impurity. Shame on those Pastors who have allowed their Church to become a social hall.

Knees must begin to bend, even if the kneelers have been removed. Man must get down on their knees and pray, pray more in Church. The Rosary must not be denied, it must be recited by all my children. It must not be hidden in a chapel, for all my children must join hands and pray it together.

I am warning my children today, for God is not pleased with what is happening in many churches today. God will not have mercy on those who are leading others astray. This message is your wake up call and soon, very soon you will have to respond. This world is in danger and man can no longer deny Heaven’s pleas. All must repent of their wicked ways, for time is truly running out. A great sign will be seen from the heavens, but for many it will be too late if they continue to crucify my Son, Jesus. Convert, convert now and take refuge, refuge in Our Heart.

These messages are truly from my heart because I do not want to see my children suffer. Please, please share this message with the world so more repent and turn to Almighty God. Amen.

Genuflection, an Act of Reverence and Adoration –
Fr. Robert J. Fox – Reverence in Church
http://christianfamilyoutreach.com/pamphlets.htm

Just before entering the pew, one should genuflect. A genuflection is the bending of the knee to the floor as an act of reverence. (There is the saying: LEFT KNEE TO THE KING, RIGHT KNEE TO GOD.) By this simple act you are showing adoration to Jesus Christ, present in the tabernacle. The tabernacle should be in a visible place in the church with a sanctuary lamp or candle always burning. Whenever you pass before the Most Blessed Sacrament (Jesus) in the tabernacle, you should also (thoughtfully) genuflect.

Catechism of the Catholic Church -  http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

584 Jesus went up to the Temple as the privileged place of encounter with God. For him, the Temple was the dwelling of his Father, a house of prayer, and he was angered that its outer court had become a place of commerce. He drove merchants out of it because of jealous love for his Father: “You shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” After his Resurrection his apostles retained their reverence for the Temple.

Gospel (St. Luke 19:45-48)
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112108.shtml

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

An Excerpt of a Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Friday November 19, 2004
http://www.desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/

Now the thing that we have to look at is the point that Our Lord Himself is making. He goes into the temple and says, This is to be a house of prayer, and yet you are turning it into a den of thieves. What has been happening in the Church for the last number of years is that there is less and less and less and less prayer going on. Lots of talking, lots of goofing around, lots of playing around, lots of running around, but very little prayer going on in most Catholic churches. Just go someplace and try to pray before Mass. Try to pray after Mass. I am sure we have all experienced it in various places. It just becomes a zoo and you cannot pray even if you want to. It is a house of prayer.

The Blessed Sacrament is right there, and yet no one pays attention to Him. And just think what happens if you have ever tried to suggest to somebody that they should be quiet or maybe they should go outside or at least out to the foyer or down to the church hall. Boy, do they get angry.

But we also need to look and ask, “Have I myself given in to some of that?” We need to make some changes if we have. If we are the ones giving in to making the house of God a den of thieves then we need to change it and we need to make it a house of prayer.

 We have to remember also that each one of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is not just the church building where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved that is a house of prayer, but each one of us being a temple of God is to be a house of prayer. So we can also ask ourselves, “Am I turning the house of prayer into a den of thieves? That is, am I failing to pray? Am I failing to live according to the word of God in my day-to-day life? Is there something that I should be doing for the Lord that I am not? Am I stealing from God by refusing to give Him what is His due?” All of us can look at that same point and see where perhaps we are not praying as we should when we are called to be a house of prayer.

We are called to be a temple of the Holy Spirit wherein the Most Holy Trinity Himself dwells, and yet how much attention do we really give Him? If we are going to be upset when people are turning the church building into a social hall, why is it that we are not upset when we turn the temple of God – our own bodies – into a social hall? Why is it that we are not upset when we turn this house of prayer – our own hearts and souls – into a den of thieves?  God is asking of you great things, to be truly a temple of the Lord, to be a house of prayer, to be a place of worship, to be a place where God Himself is reserved with the greatest glory, the greatest honor.