A Daily plan of Life
Friends in Christ, today, after the long beautiful Christmas season we return to Ordinary time.
We see today how Our Lord calls his first disciples; “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Those disciples were eager to follow Christ, but they had to learn how to do it, how to keep going and not lose their focus or get off track. They did get off track a lot, but eventually they figured it out and became saints.
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Now Mother Church has figured out, through the centuries – by the experiences of holy men and women – that in order to live the Christian life well, we need to have what we can call a Daily Plan of Life. What does this mean?
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We might think it means to write down a plan of the things we have to do today – and that actually is a good idea. But the Plan of Life we speak of, consists of the pious actions and activities that we wish to habitually do, which will help us keep the Lord in mind all day, and thereby do everything for God’s glory.
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Our Plan of Life could include:
First, upon rising, we kneel down and make a Morning Offering. This is a prayer in which we offer everything we do for God’s glory, asking for the Lord’s help, and I would say, telling Jesus that we love him with our whole heart, speaking a word to Our Father in heaven, and the Holy Spirit.
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We pray before each meal: Bless us O Lord.
We might say the Angelus at noon.
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So we are punctuating our day with prayer.
And before we go to bed, we kneel down and make a brief examination of conscience, an Act of Contrition. And a ‘good night to Mary’, before sleep.
This frames out our day.
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But added to this, we would like some time to meditate, or what we would call mental prayer – to just ‘think’, and speak to the Lord.
We also try to fit in the Rosary – it only takes 20 minutes.
10 minutes of spiritual reading, from a good Catholic book.
5 minutes from the Holy Scriptures.
And if we can, stop by the Church or chapel to make a Visit to Jesus, even if just to say, ‘I believe, I love you.’
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Now through the day, we try to make little ‘Aspirations:’ ‘Jesus I love you. ‘Help me O Holy Spirit. ‘Mary, help me to know your love. ‘My Guardian angel, guide me.
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All of these acts of piety help us to live daily, Our Christian Life; and if you ask the saints, they will tell you that it really works to keep you on the path to heaven.
Catechesis on Baptism
Baptism of the Lord
Beloved in Jesus Christ,[i] when we enter a Church, the 1st thing we do is bless ourselves with Holy Water. Why? Well, holy water does bring us protection and wards off the demons. But Holy Water is also a sign: A sign of our Baptism. Just as we sign ourselves with water before physically entering the Church, so does the sacrament of baptism allow us supernaturally to enter the Church. Baptism is the door to the Church, it is the door to salvation.
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Today we celebrate the Baptism of The Lord. Jesus Christ, who is perfect God and perfect Man, did not need to be baptized.[ii] In fact, John said, it is you who really should be baptizing me ! But Jesus does this as an example for us.
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The Son of God was born into the world, he took on our life. Jesus was born, he grew up, he worked, he suffered, and died. Then he rose in his glorified Body and ascended to Paradise. Well, we follow him – we are followers of Christ. We grow and work and suffer in our life, we will die and be buried – and we will rise in our glorified bodies and ascend to Paradise. What happens to Jesus is supposed to happen to us.
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But how can we do this, how can we live this Divine Life? We need supernatural power. As Christ came into this world to share our human nature, we humans must share in his Divine nature. So the Lord gives us baptism, that we may enter into the Divine Life of God.
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What happens in baptism? really 3 things. Firstly, Original sin is washed away. We came into the world lacking grace, this is the state of Original Sin. But washed in baptism, we are cleansed of original sin, and brought into the family of God. We are ‘regenerated.’
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We in baptism, become sons and daughters of God by adoption. Adoption is real, and can never be undone. You can never be ‘unbaptized.’ You can leave your family, reject your family, but you can never stop being a member of the family of God.
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Perhaps the most wonderful thing that happens in baptism, is that the Holy Spirit takes up his life in our soul. We become a living temple of the Holy Spirit. And here is the beginning of greatness, of growth in holiness.
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Our protestant friends make a grave mistake when they say that baptism is merely a sign of faith. This is false. Baptism actually produces a supernatural change in our soul, elevates us to the supernatural organism. The apostles and the first Christians believed this, just as we do to this very day, and that is why Jesus says that baptism is necessary for salvation.[iii] ‘Unless you are born again in water and the Spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.’[iv] When the people had repented of their sins, they asked St. Peter, what shall we do? ‘Be baptized every one of you, he said. Save yourselves from this evil generation.[v]
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Baptism is so essential for salvation, that the Church urges us to baptize our children promptly; canon law says: ‘parents are obliged to have infants baptized in the first few weeks.’ Can 867 Therefore, we must never play fast and loose with our children’s salvation; we must never delay baptism for months and months, in order to arrange a party or wait for relatives.
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Some say, ‘we’ll allow our child to decide when he grows up to be baptized. But baptism is not a decision to join a club or an organization, it’s adoption. If we adopt a baby, we don’t leave it in the yard until it decides whether to join our family, it would die. We don’t let our kids wait until they grow up to decide for themselves whether to go to school. In baptism, they are adopted into God’s family, and given Life.
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Now as a baby, that Divine Life at baptism is a seed, waiting to grow. But when the child gets to be about 7 years old, the age of reason, he starts to make decisions of right and wrong. This child can begin to cooperate with God’s grace, or not. If that child, each step of the way, tries to do what he is prompted to do by grace, trying to be good – he or she will grow up to become great – to become a saint who will shine in this world. If the person at some point chooses serious sin instead – then they lose the Divine Life in their soul. They lose sanctifying grace.
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Does God give up on those who fall into serious sin? No. He has given us the rescue sacrament: Confession. Confessing serious sins to the priest restores the Divine Life and allows that Christian to be happy again and grow in holiness.
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Some people say they want to be ‘born-again’ Christians, and leave their sins behind. Well, that is what Confession is for heaven’s sake! That is how we are ‘born-again,’ we begin again.
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Now the normal minister of baptism is the priest or deacon. But because baptism is so essential for salvation, in an emergency anyone can baptize. If there is an emergency – if you are at the mall and a person collapses, and they are dying, and they say: I want to be baptized – what do you do? What if a baby is dying and there’s no time for a priest, what do you do? You get some water – it does not have to be holy water, and pour it on their head – and say: I baptized you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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What if a person wants to be baptized but cannot? They receive baptism by desire. If a person is in RCIA, preparing to be baptized at Easter, and they die before they can, they have received baptism by desire.[vi]
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What is baptism by blood? When a person gives their life for Christ as a martyr – even if not baptized, they have been baptized in their own blood for Christ.[vii]
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Jesus leads the way; he shows us that we must be baptized, and then follow in his way, as a disciple.
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We ask the dear Blessed Virgin to help us be great disciples; help us Mary, to follow Jesus in his way; because if we do, we will follow him, right up to heaven.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of Venerable Mother Maria Kaupas]
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[i] This homily had to be shortened due to a speaker at Mass.
[ii] St. Maximus says, says that Jesus was baptized, not to become holy,
but to make water holy, so that we may come to share in his Divine Life. Brev I, p. 613.
[iii] Mark 16:16
[iv] John 3:5; He who believes and is baptized will be saved: Acts 2:37
[vi] This is like the person is serious sin on his way to confession,
who gets hit by a car – his intention to confess is accepted by God.
[vii] By the way, why should we take the name of a saint at baptism?
So that saint will pray for and help us,
and ever be a friend and example for us.
Christian Families
Latin Mass: Feast of the Holy Family
Beloved in the Lord , today in the Tridentine calendar, it is the feast of the Holy Family.
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When we look at the lives of the saints, we find that most of the saints learned how to be great disciples of Christ by the example of their parents. We know that the image of God that a child develops – the way that he sees God – is often a reflection of how he sees his parents growing up. If a child has a harsh, condemning image of God, it can be because his parents were very harsh. If a child believes that God is strong, kind, forgiving, and loving; it can be because his parents were this way.
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But this should be no surprise to us; in Ephesians chapter 5, St Paul explains that the love of husband and wife is an image of Christ’s love for his Bride, the Church. And we have said here before, that the love within the Holy Trinity Itself, of the Persons, is imaged in the family. This leads to the fearful conclusion, that parents REALLy need to love each other, not only for their sake, but for their children.
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Kids take it for granted that their parents will love them; what they are sometimes not sure of, is if mom will love dad, with all his defects, or that dad will love mom, with all her defects. This is what children need to know. This is why hatred between parents and divorce is devastating. Because their love is a sign of God’s love. Actually, they have no right to stop loving each other, no right, because God commands it. ‘Husbands, love your wives.’ (Eph 5) That’s a command. And this is something we have to learn to do. St. Paul says that the young women should be TAUGHT to love their husbands. ‘Older women, he says, must train the younger women to love their husbands.’ Titus 2:4
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Love is not a feeling, it is a decision. And for a Christian, it is not an option.
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With these synods on the family going on in Rome last October and the next, there is a lot of discussion about the family. In this regard, Cardinal Muller of the CDF, wrote a little book that I’ve been reading, ‘The Hope of the Family.’ He says, ‘Young people from the first moment of their lives have the right to experience the things that only the family can offer: the confidence that comes from being accepted and welcomed unconditionally by parents. ‘There is no better way,’ he says, of laying the groundwork for true hope in young people.’ p. 20
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Being unconditionally loved – this is the foundation that is so needed in the formation of the next generation. But the more marriages break down, the more difficult it is to believe in God’s love. p. 32
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We see the Holy Family today in this journey to the temple; with what solicitude Mary and Joseph search for the lost Child. They are not bickering with each other over how this happened, in fact, when they find Jesus, Mary says ‘Son, your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ So even though Mary knew that Jesus’ real father is in heaven, and that she herself is superior in grace, out of respect she names Joseph first: ‘Your father and I have been searching for you.’
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In the coarse society of today, in which words are loud and blunt and without decorum, how much more must parents show the gentle respect necessary to illumine the home with charity?
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You know, we Americans are very big on ‘results.’ We might say, ‘the proof is in the pudding;’ Jesus himself says that things should be judged by their fruits. So let us ask: Over the past 50 years, what are the ‘fruits’ of the modern ideas about marriage? Millions of orphans of divorce, disoriented young people unsure of any stability in life; deep wounds, women in poverty; the ‘hook-up’ culture in which girls and boys learn to use each other; dangerously low birthrates which is altering entire cultures. Here are the fruits of this experiment.
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There has been much talk in the Church in the last 15 years about the ‘New Evangelization.’ A ‘re-evangelization’ of the world, re-introducing Christ to today’s society. There are many different kinds of efforts and programs and encyclicals and movements to that end, all good. But I’d like to return to Cardinal Muller’s book; they asked him this question, and his answer was that holy Christian marriage is the best way to evangelize.
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Young people today get married in this hedonistic society, believing what every one has told them: that this world is all there is; they have lost confidence in the future, convinced that their only goal in life is to maximize pleasure and acquire comforts and wealth, and look forward to the next vacation. Marriage is reduced to egotism for two.
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This false ideology has destroyed families and poisoned the joy of having children. If we are living only for comfort, then difficulties that come will require walking away from commitments.
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Evangelizing the world requires teaching the truth to families. We received life through the love of parents, we were happy when we were loved with such generosity. So when WE give ourselves in this way, we will be happy. ‘Give, and you will receive.’
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If I am made to see that this life is an arena for glorifying God, and that the New world lies ahead, well – I can cope with sickness, anger, loneliness, rejection, challenges of raising children, and all the rest. When things are hard, we ask ourselves, ‘Why am I doing this? What motivates my life? If I am doing all for the glory of God in this short life, I can patiently embrace all crosses.
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One reason it is so difficult for Christians to live out the truth of marriage today, is that they are trying to do it in isolation: ‘us against the world.’ But this is not the best way. Families need to be living this life along with other families.[i] New communities of Catholic families need to form, to help each other, compare notes on parenting, and allow friendship and shared values to blossom. In his famous book After Virtue, Alisdair MacIntyre says[ii] the way to recover a life of virtue has to be in community; virtues must be learned, lived, and reinforced in a community. That is why Catholic families must become friends, so that they and their children can grow up in Christian friendship.
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Some want to water-down the truth of marriage; but Christ did not come into the world to give a few ideas about going along with the status quo. He preached conversion of life, and this is why the Christian life is so demanding; demanding, but beautiful.
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We have to change course; the Church’s doctrine on marriage is the remedy.
May our Mother pray for Christian families. The world needs them and Jesus wants them.
Mary help us, to build happy and confident lives for our children, within the love of our family.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of Venerable Mother Maria Kaupas]
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[i] The Hope of the family, p. 37: families cannot live ‘atomistically’
[ii] After Virtue, p. 263.
The Bridegroom has come
Friends in Christ, an ancient tradition of the Church says, that 3 events in the life of Christ occurred on the same day of the year. It is believed that the Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord, and the Wedding miracle at Cana all happened on the same day of the year. Not the same year, but the same day. For those who pray the liturgy of the hours, or have read the ancient fathers, you know that this is so.
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Why are these three events linked in this way? Well, let’s review them briefly. At the Epiphany, the Lord is presented to the world, and the wise men bring their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At the Baptism of the Lord, Christ is baptized at the Jordan river by John. And at Cana, where Jesus turns water into wine, there is a wedding.
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Well, there is a theme running through these three feasts. First we think back to a Jewish wedding in those days. In those days, at the time of the engagement, gifts are exchanged. A dowry. Notice that at the Epiphany, the 3 wise men, representing humanity – the Church – bring gifts to Jesus. A dowry is presented to the Divine Bridegroom.
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We might also recall, that before an ancient Jewish wedding, there is a washing in water, the Mikvah, the sacred ceremonial bath – and so we have the baptism of the Lord. In fact Christian baptism is a fulfillment of that ancient Mikvah.
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Noticing these nuptial, marriage themes, we see that Jesus first miracle will be at a wedding. At the wedding at Cana, we find Jesus and the Church – that is, Mary and the disciples represent the Church.
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In light of this, we recall that the long tradition of the prophets framed the relationship between God and his people as a nuptial relationship. God’s people were described as his Bride, he would come for them, and the coming of Christ into the world at that first Christmas really was God coming for his Bride, the Church. This reality is therefore hidden in the mysteries of Epiphany, The Baptism, and the Wedding at Cana.
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At the time of Our Lord, the Best Man was an important figure in a marriage. The Best Man was the one who got the two together, sort of a matchmaker, who prepared the way. Today, John the Baptist is called the Best Man. He says: ‘You can testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete.
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As we conclude the Christmas season tomorrow, we continue to rejoice, because the Bridegroom has come.
Stop telling Lies
Friends in Christ, yesterday in the first reading, St. John told us ‘if anyone says, “I love God but hates his brother, he is a LIAR; today, he says, if we do not accept what God has said about his Son, we make him a LIAR.
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The Holy scriptures speak loudly and clearly about the sin of lying, yet it is one of the most common sins confessed. Studies show that the average person lies several times a day. Some will say, ‘Oh, it was only a white lie.’ A lie is a deception and an affront to God.
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For children, it is normal to go through a phase of telling untruths; they may tell stories that are only the product of their imagination. A child should not be punished severely for this but rather taught the right thing.
At a later age, a child may tell stories in order to put his parents to a test. This has to be dealt with appropriately. But the first real lie a child tells is because of fear, usually to escape punishment.
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A child in our school once said, ‘Father, I always tell the truth unless I’m going to get in trouble!’ Well – We laugh, but this is how adults act as well. We lie to avoid undesirable consequences. We lie so that our boss does not catch us, or so that we don’t look bad in front of peers.
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It is a scandal to see in the news how easily a lie falls from the lips of even important people: professors, journalists, and senators.
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Our foremost rule is, which the world does not accept at all, is: ‘You may not do evil as a means of achieving good.’ We may not do a bad thing like tell a lie, in order to obtain a good thing such as avoiding embarrassment. The ends don’t justify the means.
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It is certainly permissible to avoid speaking about something, or make an evasive answer if it can help someone – but not a lie.
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People with low self-esteem are more prone to lying; in fear, they wish to protect their self-image.
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Pride also produces lies; the person wishes to show off, and exaggerate accomplishments to impress others.
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The more intelligent person lies with delicate subtlety; he shrewdly mixes exaggerations with truth and this is more devilish.
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The jocose lie is a lie told in order to be funny. Often these are not lies at all, because they do not really deceive. But they can easily result in sins of mockery or cruelty.
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Liars are not taken seriously or respected; but if we are honest, our words will be received with respect.
The Messiah came to save sinners
Friends in Christ, since the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and the wandering state of humanity ever since –
through the centuries, mankind awaited the Messiah who would come.
Today’s gospel presents us with the stirring scene in the synagogue in Nazareth.
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To the people, it was an ordinary day, when Jesus stood up to read. But breaking through the ordinariness, the words they heard were striking. Jesus reads the prophecy about the coming Savior, and then he says: ‘Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing it.’ The people were stunned. Effectively, he has just claimed to be the Messiah.
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Why did the Messiah come? He read it from the scroll:
‘To bring Good News to the poor.
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to let the oppressed go free.’
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He has come to set sinners free from their bondage, from their guilt, from their depression and despair and hopelessness – to bring Good News – ‘you are forgiven, you are free, and you will even conquer death in the resurrection.’
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This is the tender compassion that God has for sinners![i] This is what makes Jesus say that he is a shepherd, seeking the lost sheep. This is what makes him say, that he stands at the door of our heart, and knocks; although driven away from the soul by sin, the Lord does not abandon us, but places himself outside the door of the heart and knocks, awaiting admittance.
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But Christ has a clear motive in forgiving, especially very bad sinners, because once freed from their despair and bondage, they are ever-grateful, and fall in love with God more than could otherwise ever have happened.
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The moment she repented he forgave Mary Magdalene, and changed her into a saint. St. Paul, who was murdering Christians, when forgiven, he poured out his life for Christ. Mary of Egypt, a prostitute, upon meeting the mercy of God, served the Lord with all her heart. Margaret of Cortona who spent many years in sin – his mercy changed her.
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St. Margaret of Cortona one day said, ‘Lord, how is it that you lavish so many graces on me? Have you forgotten the sins I have committed? And God answered: ‘Margaret, do you not know what I told you? When a person repents of their faults and follows me, I no longer remember any sins.’
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Our past sins do not prevent us from becoming saints. Jesus came to bring Good News to we poor sinners, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year of favor of the Lord.
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[i] See also ‘Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ, St. Alphonsus, p. 67-71
St. Andre Bessette
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. André Bessette.
André was born near Montreal, Canada in 1845. He was so frail at birth, that the priest immediately baptized him. His father died early, and when he was 12 he lost his mother. Later he would say, “I rarely prayed FOR my mother, more often I prayed to her.
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He was sent to live with his uncle, who helped him find some work, but the boy’s frail health made this difficult. For 13 years he went from job to job, his health always hindering him. He became a farmhand, he tried being a shoemaker, then a baker, a tin-smith, a factory worker, a blacksmith, a wagon-driver – all failures. He was barely able to write his name or read his prayer book.
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But the Pastor of his parish saw goodness in him. So he presented him to the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He wrote to the superior: “In this young man, I am sending you a saint.”
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After a year in the novitiate however, they found out the same thing as everyone else: his health did not permit him to do much work. But the bishop intervened, and they accepted Andre.
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He was given the humble job of being the doorkeeper. Later, he would jokingly say: “When I joined this community, they showed me the door!’
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For forty years, he worked just there – at the door. His other duties were also simple: washing floors and windows, laundry worker, and cleaning lamps. In his little room near the door, he spent much of the night on his knees praying. On his windowsill was a statue of Saint Joseph, to whom he had a great devotion since childhood.
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When he heard someone was ill, he visited, to cheer them up and to pray with the sick person. Healings began to happen. Many people began to go to Brother Andre. But he kept saying, “I do not cure anyone, it is St. Joseph who cures.” In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the 80,000 letters he received each year.
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Some say, ‘A Monsignor is high up in the Church, or a Cardinal is a very high person in the Church. But this is not God’s thinking. Greatness in the Church is measured by holiness. For this reason, a simple doorkeeper like André Bessette, who did the simple things of life, totally for Christ – such as these are the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
St. John Neumann
Friends in Christ, today in these days of Epiphany, Mother Church gives us the feast day of a special, American saint, St. John Neumann.
St. John was born in present-day Czechoslovakia; he was a quiet, shy boy who was kind of a bookworm. His hobbies were botany and astronomy, and he hoped to become a scientist. At 20 years old, he was torn between the idea of becoming a doctor, and the thought that God was calling him to be a priest. His mother suggested he give the priesthood a try.
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In the seminary, John had a knack for learning languages, he learned six languages, including English. By the time of his ordination, the bishop became quite ill, and so his ordination was put off indefinitely. Now John knew of the great need of the immigrants in America for priests, and so he wrote letters to bishops offering his assistance; finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him.
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He left his home forever and traveled across the ocean to a new land. He was sent to a parish of 900 square miles in western New York full of mosquito infested swamp land; he had to travel on foot 10 to 20 miles per day, carrying his Mass kit and offering Mass wherever he could.
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He had a special love for children, and kept his pockets full of candy which he used to induce children to learn their catechism. Once he was almost hanged by some bandits, he was shot at by a drunken mule skinner, and was once so exhausted that he passed out in the woods.
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At age 31, needing the friendship of other priests and community life, he joined the Redemptorists, and after 11 years, he was made Bishop of Philadelphia. By this time he knew 12 languages, which helped him to hear many confessions of people among the immigrant population. An old Irish lady went to confession to him and confessed in Gaelic. She left confession exclaiming, ‘We finally have an Irish bishop!’
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John’s passion however, was education, and it was St. John Neumann who mapped out a plan for Catholic education for the United States. When he was named bishop, there were only 2 Catholic schools in his diocese; 8 years later there were one hundred. Having done so much, John Neumann died at only the age of 48.
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We can learn from his example, a simple faith and trust in God, which can carry us along to do things we would never have dreamed of. St. John Neumann used to day: ‘Nothing is going to happen to me today Lord, that you and I together can’t handle.’
Let us Adore and Praise Him
Epiphany
Beloved in the Lord Jesus, today we celebrate Epiphany.
We read today of these 3 Kings, or Magi. They had made a long journey, coming from the East; they were pagans, Gentiles – they did not follow or even know the teachings of Moses, or Abraham, or the Old Testament – nothing.
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Yet they were given, by means of a Star, a certain gift of Faith; and so they traveled a long way, to Bethlehem – for what purpose?
Well, it says what their purpose was; when they arrived they said: ‘We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’ So their entire purpose in this journey, was to adore the Newborn Savior, to do him homage. And so this is our subject today, adoration.
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The life of modern man, we may say, has in many ways become distant from God, but thankfully, Jesus Christ still has faithful followers such as ourselves. We pray every day, we know this is critical to being a disciple – We pray upon rising, asking God’s help, and before bed. We pray for our family members, for the sick, for the world, the Pope, our bishop, the Church – many intentions, and our own needs and health as well.
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But I dare say that one thing we do not do enough of, is to adore the Lord, to extol him, to glorify Christ Jesus, and praise him. I think we are lacking in this, this spirit of adoration. But this is why the Magi traveled so very far, to adore Him.
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God has put into the heart of man a need to adore our Creator, the need to praise and worship God; the NEED – to adore. This is part of the natural need of a human being. And yet for us sinners, how can we not adore, this Jesus who has fastened all our sins to the cross with is own hands?
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In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 5, there is that famous scene where Christ encounters the woman at the well. She is going to the well because she is thirsty for water, but Jesus is there because he is thirsty for hearts. He says to her: ‘God is seeking adorers, who will worship in spirit and in truth.’
God looks down from heaven, and looks for adorers, he is seeking for them. Jesus, present in our tabernacle, at Mass, in our chapel – is seeking adorers.
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Now there is no doubt that we adore the Lord Jesus, we praise him, in the prayers at Holy Mass; we adore the Lord implicitly in our devotions; and if we are doing our work for Christ, we are praising and adoring him even by the actions of life.
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But the Lord desires – and we need – to bring more into our life EXPLICIT expressions of adoration and praise, on our lips. These we call ‘Aspirations,’ which the saints made hundreds of times a day.
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Jesus is seeking adorers. It’s not as if he needs our worship, no – it is because WE need it.
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Let’s speak today of 3 reasons that we need to be, like the Magi, adorers of the Lord.
1. The first reason is that adoration of God helps me keep my perspective. We have problems in life, we worry, our problems seem sometimes insoluble. If we become consumed with our problem, it seems enormous.
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But notice, the more that we adore and praise God, the smaller our problem seems. Making aspirations, saying: ‘Lord, I praise you, I love you, I adore you. You are all-powerful, you have created the universe and the great planets and you made me and I exult you, I bless you, I glorify you! And you made heaven, that waits for me. Well…..
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If we remind ourself of the kind of Lord we have, our problem shrinks. Psalm 46: God is my refuge and my strength, he is an ever-present help in distress…. ‘Cease striving,’ he says, ‘and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.’
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So when our problems seem too big, glorify God: ‘You are the Lord, there is no other.’ Adore the Lord on our walk, in our car, and in the kitchen. Praise God on our lips, with our words, in whispers: ‘Lord, you are greater than my problem, you are greater than this disappointment.’ So that is reason number 1 to praise and adore the Lord, it helps me keep my perspective.
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2. The 2nd reason to adore and glorify God, is to maintain a spirit of gratitude. There are times when we forget who made us, how we got here; we are unhappy and ungrateful, because we did not get what we wanted for Christmas, or the job we sought; he did not ask me to marry him.
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But when we praise God, adore him, and bless him, for his mercy, for our life, for all that we are, there is a change that happens inside of us. The darkness turns to light.
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It is easy to fall into sadness and ingratitude, but if we praise God, we will enter his presence. The Holy Scriptures say: ‘Enter his gates with thanksgiving.’ Are we to enter the presence of God as an ungrateful curmudgeon? no, we are to enter his gates with thanksgiving. St. Paul says, ‘Give thanks in all circumstances, this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ – 1 Thess 5:18
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So we are adorers of the Lord because:
1. It helps us keep our problems in perspective.
2. It maintains in us a spirit of gratitude.
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The 3rd reason to adore, to extol the Lord, is that if we do, Jesus Christ will mobilize his army of angels to fight for us.
In case after case in the scriptures, we see that when the People of God worshipped and honored him, the Lord mobilized his army to fight for them. Against all odds, God’s people were victorious against the Midianites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, the Greeks, and so many others, because in praising and glorifying God – in trusting in Him rather than in their own power – the Lord would fight for them and they would succeed.
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Yes, those things were written about worldly battles and successes, but they are symbolic of spiritual and personal struggles.
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We see those simple Magi, who put their trust in Jesus, who came for one purpose: to adore him – the Lord protected them from Herod who had sought to kill them, and guided them to return by a safer route.
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Let us adore, and praise, and exult the Lord every day of our life. If we do, it will
1. Help us keep our perspective, so that our problems do not overwhelm us.
2. It will help us to maintain a spirit of gratitude.
3. The Lord will mobilize his army to assist us in our needs.
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May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for us every day, that on our lips will always be the praise and adoration of Our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. John of God]
