December 31, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, December 31
SEVENTH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
Sylvester I

Another year has ended. Time to assess how we have spent it and it we are better or worse than this time last year. If it were our last year, how would we spend it?

December 30, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, December 30
SIXTH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
1 Jn 2: 12-17
Lk 2: 3: 36-40

Blessed is the society that has good mothers; it will have honest and hard-working citizens (DA).

And lets not forget the fathers--nobody can really substitute them as they many broken homes testify.

December 29, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, December 29
FIFTH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
St. Thomas Beckett, Bishop and Martyr
1 Jn 2: 3-11
Lk 2: 22-35

Women who truly love God are also good mothers, loving spouses and promoters of parish projects through their example and work (DA 240).

That sounds like a description of an ideal HFI member...how do you measure up?

December 28, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, December 28
THE HOLY INNOCENTS
1 Jn 1: 5-2: 2
Mt 2: 13-18

Mothers make a deep impression on their children when their word and attitude reflect the soul, eternity, salvation (DA 133).

True. But this requires that they exercise a strict control on the children's use of TV and the Internet. Otherwise they will be perhaps listened to, but secretly classified as belonging to another and irrelevant age.

December 27, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, December 27
JOHN, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST
1 Jn 1: 1-4
Jn 20: 2-8

In the Commandments and the Constitutions (=Statute) we find the way to holiness and apostolic effectiveness: obedience (VMC 478)

The whole life of the Divine Master is a life of obedience. "Obedience" from the Latin "ob--audire" means precisely "listen". And that was the message on the Mount of the Transfiguration: "Listen to my Beloved Son."

December 26, 2010 Feast of the Holy Family

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as you should in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be sharp with them. Children, be obedient to your parents always, because that is what will please the Lord. Parents, do not irritate your children or they will lose heart. ~ Col 3:18-21


Wise words to live by. Happy Feast of the Holy Family everybody.

December 24-26, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Merry Christmas, everyone!



I decided I'd better post the next three days' thoughts now, or they might not get posted at all. :o)



Sunday, December 26
THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY and JOSEPH
Sir 3: 2-7
Col 3: 12-21
Matt 2: 13-15, 19-23


Which is more wonderful: the two creatures--mary adn Joseph--commanded the Son of God, or that the Son of God obeyed His creatures? (VMC 477)


That is precisely the mystery: God Who is EVERYTHING never stops trying to come down to our level=NOTHING. ONly a divine love can explain it.



Saturday, December 25
THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD
Mass Reading at the choice of the Celebrant


Around the cradle of the Infant are a number of "young" Saints: St. Stephen, first martyr, St. John, the beloved of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Innocents...


Perhaps we cannot imitate the innocence of these famous people but we can reporduce their zeal and make up somewhat for lost ground.




Friday, December 24
ADVENT WEEKDAY
2 Sam 7: 1-5, 8-12, 14, 16
Lk 1: 67-69



Who is the baby in the manger scene in the arms of Mary...and who is He Who waits for us in the tabernacle? It is the same Jesus, always the incarnate Son of God (AAP 1957, 550).


And this is what every baby is destined to be: an adopted son of God, brother of Jesus Christ. Once baptized, it is already on earth swept into the termendouw infinity of the exhcange of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwelling in that tiny life. THAT'S the Good News we are called on to spread!

December 23, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, December 23
ADVENT WEEKDAY
St. John of Kanty, priest
Mal 3: 1-4, 23-24
Lk 1: 57-66

The house at Nazareth was a house of recollection, of work and of prayer (FSP 43).

Can we make our houses like that? No, nor need we even try. Our house is a house of work in various senses, but for recollection and prayer we substitute the practice of constant invocations: a cry for the Lord's help for us or for the kids; a cry for strength when we are being pulled five different ways; a cry for patience when someone is being impossible, etc. This is authentic family prayer in the usual noisy atmosphere.

1 Corinthians 13: A Christmas Version

*I Corinthians 13—a Christmas Version* . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . Source Unknown (recevied via e-mail)


If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure.

Merry Christmas

December 22, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, December 22
ADVENT WEEKDAY
St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, virgin
1 Sam 1: 24-28
Lk 1: 46-55

Paulines are not called to be leaders in the latest thinking on theology or morality and this is so as to avoid giving doubtful teaching. Let us leave aside the possibles and the probables and give what is useful for ordinary people (VMC 406).

And we could apply this to ourselves by noting that we are not called to practice the latest devotions but rather to concentrate on Scripture and our Pauline spirituality.

Gabriel's Message [the nativity story]

December 21, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Tuesday, December 21
ADVENT WEEKDAY
St. Peter Canisius, priest and doctor
Sg 2: 8-14 (Zep 4: 14-14)
Lk 1: 39-45

The house at Nazareth is a house of work and so when we work well we resemble the Son of God just as much--and perhaps more--as when we pray or study (FSP 43).

The Paulines are workers first of all--though that includes study which most find more burdensome than manual work. St. Paul was self-supporting as much as he could. That is our example.

Mary Did You Know

December 20, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, December 20
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Is 10: 10-14
Lk 1: 26-38

When someone comes into the bookstore, see that person in a certain light: not what he or she looks like, but what are his or her spiritual needs, how you can help (VMC 1181).

Not a bad piece of advice for EVERYONE we meet..! Once we meet them, we must at once ask ourselves: can we extend the spiritual benefits of the Institute to him or her? The meeting hasn't been by chance and we must try to be always ready.

It Wasn't His Child-Anne Marie Harpen

December 19, 2010 With Anonymous

Are you able?

Able to suffer without complaining,

To be misunderstood without explaining?

Able to endure without breaking.

To be forsaken without forsaking?

Able to give without receiving,

Able to ask without commanding.

To love despite misunderstanding?

Able to turn to the Lord for guarding;

Able to wait for His own rewarding?

~Anonymous

December 19, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, December 19
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Is 7: 10-14
Rm 1: 1-7
Mt 1: 18-24

We need the "preventative" method. Better not sin at all than sin and then be repentant. Better avoid illness than curing it. Better to sow good grain only than have to waste time eliminating the weeds (VMC 1177).

No doubt. But in practical life we have to take the "field" the Lord assigns us and accept the weeds we find there. There are also merits to be earned in eliminating the weeds or even turning them into good grain! After all, good grain is simply a weed that has come on in the world!

December 18, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, December 18
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Jer. 23: 5-8
Mt. 1: 18-24

Don't waste time trying to drive away the darkness by pushing it out of the way...just add light and the problem is solved.

Darkness, of course, does not "exist"--it is simply an absence of light. Sin, on the other hand, is an absence of grade, i.e. of the presence of God, but it is also something positive: evil put to wrong use.

December 17, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, December 17
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Gen 49: 2, 8-10
Mt 1: 1-17

The apostolate of good example is obligatory, first because we must live well even if no one sees us, but also because we must be an open book for whoever wants to read (VMC 1168)

That's easy to understand, but...how difficult to put into practice! Every day we make good resolutions and ...every day we fail to keep one or other. Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!

December 16, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and WithFather Tom

Thursday, December 16
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Is 54: 1-10
Lk 7: 24-30

The Pauline Family has people who are suffering either physically or internally in some way. Let us all put our suffering at the service of God and offer it in union with the Sacrifice of the Mass (VMC).

This hardly needs comment except possibly to say there are also those who suffer but prefer not to have their intentions published. As they wish...both publishing and not publishing are ok as long as the suffering is well used.

December 15, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Wednesday, December 15
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Is 45: 6-8, 18, 21-25
Lk 7: 19-23

Never lose heart! Continue to believe and hope as Jesus did in spite of calumnies, persecutions and--finally--the cross (VMC 1147).

"To try...is to succeed." That motto may not strike us as very realistic, but we are never talking in our apostolate about visible secular results. We simply do what we can and put all of it in the hands of God and of our Queen of Apostles--they'll make the best use of it. But first...TRY!

December 14, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and with Father Tom

Tuesday, December 14
ST JOHN OF THE CROSS, Priest, Doctor
Zep 3: 102 9-13
Mt 21: 28-32

Besides loving God, the soul consecrated to the Lord loves all souls just as Mary has concern for everyone on earth (AA58, p 19).

And among these souls--especially in our time--are those dying unprepared, people like you and me who have been tempted beyond their strength and now run a terrible risk. Every moment of the day and when you wake during the night pray for them.

Benedict XVI: Christian Radical

Benedict XVI: Christian Radical

December 13, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, December 13
ST. LUCY, VIRGIN & MARTYR
Num 24: 2-7, 15-17
Mt 21: 23-27

Every generation has a youth/old-age divide--never more so than in ours . We will stay with the Church's truth. If you marry a trend...you'll soon be a widow (VMC 378).

The last sentence is a paraphrase of the Founder's thought and attributed to Bishop Sheen. Strange that HE wasn't called to found the Pauline Family! But the Lord's choices are almost always mysterious.

December 12, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, December 12
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Is 35: 1-6, 8, 10
Jn 5: 7-1-
Mt 11: 2-11

We can make reparation every day for the countless sins committed by the media as in some way we use these same media for good (VMC 1141).

This involves at the very least that we Paulines AVOID using these media for recreation unless we are talking of good, educational or religious programs. And what about spending some of our spare time in PRAYER for those harmed by the media?

December 11, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione

"The priest who is learned is esteemed. The priest who it powerful is feared. The priest who speaks well is listened to. But only the priest steeped in great charity is loved."

~Blessed James Alberione

December 11, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, December 11
OF THE DAY
St. Damasus 1, Pope, Martyr
Sir 48: 1-4, 9-11
Matt 17: 10-13

Not only action to reach out to others in some way, but also prayer that those reached may have the benefit of our action (VMC 1139).

The actual moment when our work in some way reaches others is simply the last in a series of actions and prayers by different people. Thus the Pauline who gets visible results is not necessarily the cause of the results which may be the fruit of the prayer and sacrifice of someone else in the process of reaching out.

December 10, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, December 10
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Is 48: 17-19
Mt 11: 16-19

Among the apostolates, the simplest and easiest is the apostolate of prayer (VMC 1137).

True, but we must never limit our apostolate to prayer only. The Founder prayed for 5, 6, and maybe even 7 hours on some days, but he slept five hours at the most and so...he worked for 12! How are the proportions in my life...and in yours? Action without prayer...much ado about nothing. Prayer without action...can be a copout.

December 7-9, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

I apologize for the delay in posting. I've been having some Internet issues.

God bless...


Wednesday, December 9
ADVENT WEEKDAY
St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
Is 41: 13-20
Mt 11: 1-15

Ninety percent of books on spirituality do not lead to a true spiritual life. We have to get back to the words and actions of our Divine Master in the Gospel (VMC 693).

Strong condemnation! Perhaps what is meant is that some spiritual reading makes you FEEL good, but that’s about all they do and so can mislead rather than lead. Jesus in the Gospels sets the right tone.


Tuesday, December 8
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Gen. 3: 9-15
Eph 1: 3-6. 11-12
Lk 1 26-38

Among all the women of the world, Mary is the blessed one, the favored one, the strong woman who gave Jesus to the world (MCS p. 181).

And it is commonly understood that her degree of holiness—the presence of the Divine in her life—is greater than that of all the Saints and angels combined. What a great model for all women! What a great friend to have during life and at death!


Tuesday, December 7
ST. AMBROSE, Bishop and Doctor
First Tuesday of the month—the Souls in Purgatory
Is 40: 1-11
Matt 18: 12-14

Receive the graces of the Eucharistic Jesus through the Immaculate One. Live in Jesus through the Immaculate One. (VMC 12)

Theology expresses this thought in concise Latin: Per Marium, ad Jesum.—Through Mary, to Jesus. Devotion to the Divine Master which is not linked closely to devotion to his Mother will not grow properly or at all. This is the way He came to us and this is the way we go back to Him!

December 6, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Monday, December 6
ADVENT WEEKDAY
St. Nicholas, Bishop
First Monday of the month--St. Paul
Is 35: 1-10
Lk 5: 17-26

Every day the divine light helps us to understand better that always and in everything we must seek God, be with God, depend on God as little children of our kindly heavenly father (701).

Well, that seems to say it all...and yet we are constantly looking out for something else--usually our own self-interest even in spiritual things. Examination...

December 5, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Sunday, December 5
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
First Sunday of the month--the Divine Master, Way, Truth and Life
Is 11: 1-10
Rm 15: 4-9
Matt 3: 1-12

Your predominant passion should be holiness. Your predominant through should be sanctity (VMC 692).

The reference, of course, is to life in the convent or monastery. And yet we must try to get our priorities right even in the stress and strain of everyday living. A helpful thought might be that "sanctity" basically means doing the right thing in the right way at the right time--whatever the "thing" might be. No need of anything extraordinary.

Beginning the Day at the Master's Feet

I was reading my most recent copy of the Pauline Cooperator and came across a wonderful article about praying with Sacred Scripture (or other appropriate text, such as the lives of the saints). I have always wanted to better understand this, so I was very excited to see it. The article can be found in its entirety in the 2010 Pauline Cooperator Magazine, Vol X, No. 2. The article is titled: The Visit: A Journey of Prayer and can be found on pp. 19-23. I'm going to post the Pauline Method of praying in this manner below. I hope many will find it helpful.


1. Reading (Truth)

What does the text say?

Read the text slowly, attentively; then re-read it, pausing on certain phrases, seeking to deepen our understanding of it.

2. Meditation (Way)

What does the text say to me?

I ponder the text, trying to assimilate it. I look at my life through the perspective of the text, and I make practical applications to my life.

3. Prayer (Life)

What does the text lead me to say to God?

I make acts of adoration, thanksgiving and petition.

December 4, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Saturday, December 4
ADVENT WEEKDAY
St. John Damascene, priest and doctor
First Saturday of the month--Mary Queen of Apostles
Is 30: 19-21, 23-26
Matt 9: 35-10:1, 5-8

Give God everything! That's holiness (VMC 690).

As the year comes to an end we can usefully ask ourselves what MORE could I do for God in a reasonable, but precise way.

December 3, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Friday, December 4
ST FRANCIS XAVIER, Priest
First Friday of the Month--the Sacred Heart
Is 29: 17-24
Mt 9: 27-32

Don't say: "When my health improves, when I get a change of work, when I have more energy... I will begin to be holy." No. Begin today! (VMC 692)

Have you read the Statute lately to be sure that you are corresponding as well as you can with the basics--including daily Mass when it is reasonably available?

December 2, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

Thursday, December 2
ADVENT WEEKDAY
First Thursday of the month--The Angel Guardians
Is 26: 1-6
Matt. 7: 21-28

There is a natural motherhood where people enter into the married state and there is a more sublime motherhood, that of the virgins who give Jesus Christ to souls (MCS p. 183).

In our relationships with our own Sisters and others we have to avoid making comparisons or deciding one state is more pleasing to God than another. ALL states are pleasing to Him as long as each state is being lived perfectly.

December 1, 2010 With Blessed Father Alberione and With Father Tom

I found this image on the Internet a very long time ago. If anyone knows who took it, I will gladly give credit to him or her.


Wednesday, December 1
ADVENT WEEKDAY
Is 25: 6-10
Mt 15: 29-37
First Wednesday of the Month--St. Joseph

MONTHLY INTENTION

In praise of women as mothers, as sisters, as apostles where they exercise an effective, cultural and spiritual motherhood.

Motherhood is the natural vocation for women, be it material or spiritual. They have a special grace and graciousness which we men will never have.