Post-Election Thoughts

"It is going to be very difficult for us to win elections in a nation that is so dependent on government. This victory was not secured last night. This victory was secured in the 1930s when Franklin Roosevelt passed Social Security... 

The United States of America is passing away...the world is passing away. Jesus Christ is still on the throne, despite who is in the White House. We cannot lose heart, especially as pro-lifers, as Christians. 

Continue to run the good race knowing that your cause is just. Only through prayer will this country be transformed." 

- Rushad Thomas

Prayer - A Plan for Beginners

1. Minimum requirements of prayer

The two most important daily prayers are the daily Rosary and the Morning Offering. These should be consistent in your daily prayer life. Never let go of these two exercises. 

Rosary

It is hard to imagine anyone not committed to a morning offering and a daily rosary.

Say the rosary every day.

Morning Offering

If we do not start every day in prayer we will be in effect destining our day to selfishness.

If you have a Smartphone, download an app called "Streaks." Everyday that you say your morning offering and pray your Rosary, tap the calendar day to check the day off, this way you will see your consistency and it will give you motivation to carry on even when you do not feel like it. If you do not have a Smartphone simply use a real calendar and X off days that you have accomplished your morning offering and Rosary.

2. The Three Hail Mary's Devotion

Once you are faithful to these two crucial exercises you can begin to add additional prayers to your day. A most powerful devotion is the Three Hail Mary's. This is most effective especially in the area of attaining purity and protection from all mortal sin. Special graces are given to souls who practice the Three Hail Mary's.

Say three Hail Mary's in the morning and three at night with the invocation: "Mary my mother, preserve me from mortal sin this day/night." Do not forget this little invocation. 

3. Moving forward

Once you are faithful in the above tasks, add these spiritual exercises to your routine. Do not simply remain in your current spiritual state, always be moving forward:

• Spend a few minutes kneeling in silence each day in front of a Crucifix, image of Christ or ideally, in front of Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament to seek His will.

• Begin the practice of mental prayer. For more information on how to enter into mental prayer please click here.

Do not over complicate this process and do not take on too much at once. Begin with the morning offering and Rosary and then build upon that. Pray to Our Lady to teach you how to pray and to give you the discipline necessary to develop and maintain a fruitful and deep prayer life. The Holy Spirit will begin to invite you to deeper levels of prayer. Once you are faithful to the concrete necessities (morning offering, daily Rosary, Three Hail Mary's devotion, mental prayer, silent adoration) then you will be able to hear and answer the call to contemplation. 

Take peace and invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, your Guardian Angel, Our Lady, St. Joseph, and your patrons. Hold fast to your exercises, and be patient with yourself: remember that you cannot learn to run before you learn to walk.

All The Saints Became Saints Because of Mental Prayer

"All the saints became saints because of mental prayer." - St. Alphonsus Liguori

Preparation 

1. Act of faith in the presence of God ("My God, I believe that I am in Your presence and from the depths of my nothingness, I adore Your majesty."),

2. Act of humility ("Lord, because of my sins I should be suffering the pains of hell right now, I am sorry for having offended thee, in Your mercy please forgive me.")

3. Prayer for God's guidance ("Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus and Mary, Father, please give me Your light in this prayer so that it will be profitable to me.")

These prayers are just suggestions and can be used as a rough guide. You may use them word for word or formulate your own, as long as they include an act of faith, an act of humility, and a prayer for God's guidance.

4. Now say a Hail Mary to ask for Our Lady's assistance and a Glory be to ask St. Joseph, our Guardian Angel, and our patrons to help us.

Meditation

Use a book, a holy image, or a statue (i.e. the Gospels, the Stations of the Cross, Spanish Crucifix, an Icon, an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus...etc).

The subject of meditation does not have to be reading material. Illiterate people and children who cannot yet read are capable of mental prayer.

If we are reading, we read slowly and stop when something strikes us. Extract the thought and make an act of affection. An affection has nothing to do with feelings. Acts of affection can be acts of  thanksgiving, praise, adoration...etc.

Examples of acts affection

"My God, I esteem You above all things."

"I love You above all things."

"I wish every man on earth loved You."

"Let me know what Your will is and give me the grace to follow it."

"My God, I am happy because You are God, the highest good, lacking nothing."

"God, I love You with all my heart."

Use the book or image as a means to make affections.

Make lots of petitions

Humbly ask God for things such as:

Forgiveness of sins

Perseverance

Holiness

A holy death

The salvation of our friends

The grace to love Him more and more (once a person has the love of God he has every other grace).

Ask Him for these things in the name of and by the merits of Jesus Christ.

In dryness

If you are so dry that you cannot make any acts of affection say this prayer:

"O God, come to my aid, O Lord, make haste to help me."

Nothing is more profitable than making petitions over and over in the name of Jesus Christ.

"Ask the Father anything in my name and He will give it to you." - Jesus Christ

Make a resolution

At the end of mental prayer, make a particular resolution. Never finish mental prayer without making a resolution.

"Today Lord, I am not going to get snippy with my boss."

"Today Lord, I am going to be patient with my obnoxious coworker."

"Today Lord, Instead of walking around all day looking severe, I am going to smile."

Conclusion

1. Thank God for the lights you have received during mental prayer.

2. Resolve to keep the resolution you just made.

3. Pray to God the Father, through Jesus and Mary, for the grace to keep that resolution.

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Mothers, you can teach your children very early to start mental prayer. It's nothing fancy. They are talking to Jesus. Everyone except babies can do this.

If we are not saints after our First Holy Communion, it is not because of Our Lord, it is because of obstacles within us. Obstacles: sin, lack of bodily mortification, lack of interior mortification, lack of spiritual reading.

All of these can be solved if we get serious about mental prayer.

Grace comes principally through the sacraments but the grace we get from sacraments comes primarily through our prayer life.

Mental prayer and sin cannot stay together.

Take 15 minutes a day to start. It is an investment in your eternity.

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These truths have been transcribed for the benefit of your soul from this sermon: http://www.audiosancto.org/sermon/20080203-Mental-Prayer-is-Essential-for-Salvation.html

One Thing Is Necessary...And It Is Not Beauty, Not Health, Not Talent. It Is The Salvation Of Our Immortal Souls.

‎Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with God. Speak with familiarity and confidence as to your dearest and most loving friend. Speak of your life, your plans, your troubles, your joys, your fears. In return, God will speak to you--not that you will hear audible words in your ears, but words that you will clearly understand in your heart. These may be feelings of peace, hope, interior joy, or sorrow for sin...gentle knockings at the door of your heart. 

Who knows? Perhaps if God had given us greater talent, better health, a more personable appearance, we might have lost our souls! Great talent and knowledge have caused many to be puffed up with the idea of their own importance and, in their pride, they have despised others. How easily those who have these gifts fall into grave danger to their salvation! How many on account of physical beauty or robust health have plunged headlong into a life of debauchery! How many, on the contrary, who, by reason of poverty, infirmity or physical deformity, have become saints and have saved their souls, who, given health, wealth or physical attractiveness had else lost their souls! Let us then be content with what God has given us. "But one thing is necessary," and it is not beauty, not health, not talent. It is the salvation of our immortal souls.

From all this can you now have any doubt that God wishes to save you? From this moment onward never dare to utter again: 'I wonder does God wish to save me. Maybe He wishes to see me damned on account of the sins I have committed against Him.' Get rid of all such thoughts, once and for all, since you must now realize that God is helping you with His graces and calling you insistently to love Him. - Saint Alphonsus Liguori

We Should Never Again Use The Expression, 'When Jesus Was On Earth;' Jesus Is Still On Earth

“We should never again use the expression, ‘When Jesus was on earth’ or think of Him as being only in heaven; Jesus is still on earth.” – Fr. John Hardon, S.J.


“He remains among us until the end of the world. He dwells on so many altars...” – Saint Maximilian Kolbe


“While all the sacraments confer grace, the Eucharist contains the author of grace, Jesus Christ Himself.” – Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

“It is there in His Eucharist that He says to me: ‘I thirst...thirst for your love. I thirst for your happiness, for it was to save you that I came into the world, that I suffered and died on the Cross, and in order to console and strengthen you, I left you the Eucharist. So you have there all My life, all My tenderness.’” – Mother Mary of Jesus, foundress of the Sisters of Marie Reparatrice

“To speak of the Blessed Sacrament is to speak of what is most sacred. How often, when we are in a state of distress, those to whom we look for help leave us; or what is worse, add to our affliction by heaping fresh troubles upon us? He is ever there waiting to help us.” – Saint Euphrasia Pelletier, foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

So there is only one thing to do - pray. If it doesn't come easily, pray all the more.

I found this article on www.catholic.org and enjoyed it. (:

"Anyone who prays only when she can affectively bring along her heart and soul will not sustain prayer for long. But the habit of prayer, the ritual, simple fidelity to the act, showing up to do it irrespective of feelings and mood, can sustain prayer for a lifetime and reign in the roaming of the head and heart."

So there is only one thing to do - pray. If it doesn't come easily, pray all the more.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - It feels like a terrible thing I'm about to say, but here goes: I often have a very hard time with prayer.

I wish I didn't. I wish I had a heart like St. Therese or John Paul the Great or St. Francis de Sales, but right now I don't. I've been struggling greatly with discouragement and futility and a lack-luster, ho-hum spirit. Combine that with the busyness of homeschooling, childcare, housework, and other responsibilities and it's a recipe for defeat.

Why is it such a struggle? Everything in me wants to be closer to Jesus. There's nothing in my heart that wants to reject Jesus and choose the world instead. Yet I continually seem to be clawing my way up the mountain loaded down with frustration and doubt instead of walking steadily along the path of trust and devotion.

I love Jesus. There is no doubt about that. He is my Wonderful, merciful Savior. I will not let Him go. That much I know for sure. So why doesn't that translate into a vibrant, rich, colorful, fulfilling prayer life? What's wrong with me?

What's wrong is that I'm me and not the idealized, perfected image of me that I want to be. I have many weaknesses to overcome. If I am ever to do that, I need help. And Jesus, being ever wise and helpful, gives me what I need - struggle.

The struggle is a gift because the most important thing I need to learn is simply to be faithful. To adopt Nike's slogan, "Just Do It." Like strengthening a muscle through repeated exercises, my heart needs some strength training, and some days the weight is heavier than others. There are those sweet times when prayer is joyful and rewarding and inspiring, but then there's times when it's like schlepping through thick mud and it feels utterly pointless.

It is a test of my faithfulness. It's the weight of perseverance. It will strengthen me if I carry it. I don't have to run with it, only walk. But if I truly want to grow in devotion and holiness, I am obligated to struggle. There's no assurance that I won't fall or fail miserably - quite the opposite. Sure as the sun will rise, I will fall. I'll screw up. It doesn't matter. I'm obligated to struggle anyway.

Devotion is proven during the hard times; the flat, stale, monotonous times. It's easy to fall in love, but staying in love requires great effort. God has heard me say I want to love Him more, and He obliges my request by giving me ample opportunities to prove it. It's up to me to push my weak heart to resist the complacency and excuses and distractions and come to Him in prayer.

I recently read "The Sustaining Power of Ritual: Emotions, Celebration, Boredom" by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser and it was a good dose of encouragement. He begins like this: "Never travel with anyone who expects you to be interesting all the time. On a long trip there are bound to be some boring stretches."

He writes in a reassuring way about the purpose of ritual and habit in our spiritual lives. Everything is not exciting, brimming with emotion and romance all the time. That does not automatically mean there's something wrong. There is something important to be said for routine and duty.

"Duty and commitment without heart will not ultimately sustain themselves. However, with that being admitted, it is important to recognize and name the fact that any relationship in love, family, church or prayer can only sustain itself over a long period of time through ritual and routine. Ritual sustains the heart, not vice versa."

"Anyone who prays only when she can affectively bring along her heart and soul will not sustain prayer for long. But the habit of prayer, the ritual, simple fidelity to the act, showing up to do it irrespective of feelings and mood, can sustain prayer for a lifetime and reign in the roaming of the head and heart."

Jesus knows what meager, pitiful things I have to give Him even on my best days. It's not Jesus who tells me I must prepare an extravagant banquet for Him every time I pray, but the enemy of my soul. That way he can persuade me to skip prayer when I am feeling stressed or disinterested or unmotivated. It's pointless to pray when your heart isn't in it, he lies. Why bother?

Well, I need to bother because it's the only way to resist the liar. It is never pointless to pray and Satan knows it. And whether I say, "Amen" and feel any better for the time I spent in prayer or not is beside the point. I'm building spiritual muscle and training my will. I'm showing the Lord in my small way that I'm not a fair-weather friend but a sincere follower.

The good news is that as Catholics we have a rich storehouse of prayers at our disposal to help train our weak prayer muscles. The Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, the Divine Mercy chaplet, the Angelus, etc., are all tailor-made for developing a sustaining ritual of prayer throughout the day. There's also no shortage of wonderful devotional books with daily readings to jump-start your prayer and focus your heart in the right place. My favorite right now is the In Conversation with God series by Francis Fernandez. (It's easy to find on Amazon and most Catholic bookstores.)

Whether the prayers spill out of a full heart and roll off the tongue or whether it feels like schlepping through mud or as dull as watching paint dry, it's all good. The hardest part may be just showing up and doing it. It takes repetition, time, determination, and humility. It's a struggle I don't think is going to go away anytime soon. But fidelity through the hard times is the evidence of love; faithfulness when it's easier to give up is the mark of devotion.

So there is only one thing to do - pray. If it doesn't come easily, pray all the more. And be assured that by doing so your heart will be strengthened, your faith increased whether you can immediately perceive it or not. The struggle is not there to frustrate you or discourage you but to condition your soul for the battle.

Just do it. And remember you're not alone. I'm schlepping right along with you.