Reflection: I AM...

So Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The One who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone because I always do what is pleasing to Him. John 8:28-29

Jesus spoke these words to the Pharisees. They did not understand what He was speaking of. He was telling them that He is God. but they kept asking Him who He was. Jesus is speaking to us about doing what is pleasing to God. Jesus always does the Will of the Father.

Turn away from sin, do good, seek the Father's Will in all our actions. Jesus is teaching us to prepare our hearts for Him. How often do we listen? How often do we sit with Him in silence? This is how we can hear Him. Jesus is teaching us to be patient, to wait and, if He delays in answering, He has a reason. Jesus is teaching us to be faithful and to trust in Him. How can we do this? Turn to our Blessed Mother Mary. She teaches us the way. She did not understand so many things, but she placed her trust in God. Mary helps us prepare our hearts through prayer, silence, sacrifice and receiving the Sacraments frequently. Mary is the Seat of Wisdom and she teaches us to trust totally in God. She teaches us how to be obedient and to trust in Him even when we do not understand. Mary always leads us to her Beloved Son Jesus.  

Do what ever He tells you. John 2:5  

Today's Reading Genesis 17, "When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him." When we humble ourselves and come before God like a child, we will hear Him speak. He will speak words of truth and love and we will know His voice.

In Exodus 3:14, God replied to Moses, I am who I am. Then He added: This is what you will tell the Israelites, I AM has sent me to you.

The Old Testament was fulfilled in the New Testament.  God told Moses to tell the Israelites that He is I AM.  Jesus told the Jews that He is I AM.  The Father and the Son are One.  Jesus came only to do the Will of the Father.

Today's Gospel John 8, Jesus answered the Jews, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is worth nothing; but it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' You do not know Him but I know Him...Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."

I AM

Reflection: Jesus wept...

Have you suffered a loss?  Have you lost a friend or loved one? Ask Jesus to come with you and go back to that time of loss. Ask Jesus to hold you as you feel the pain. Jesus will weep with you and He will heal you. When you allow Jesus to accompany you into the pain, He will bring goodness and light out of your pain and suffering. When you turn to Him in your loss, He will show you the Glory of God.

So the sisters Martha and Mary sent word about Lazarus to Jesus saying,  “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this He said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  John 11:3-4

When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Jesus was Divine and fully human. Martha and Mary were heartbroken.  Martha spoke to Jesus from her heart when He arrived four days after Lazarus died. She asked Jesus why he did not come when Lazarus was ill.  Have you ever been angry with Jesus, asking Him why something bad happened? Where was He? Talk to Jesus about how you felt.  Ask Him where He was.  He will show you He was with you and He is with you now.

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.  Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.”  Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  She said to him, “Yes, Lord.  I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?”  They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”  And Jesus wept. John 11:17-35

Jesus needed friends and He loved his friend Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary.  Jesus showed us how we need friends to walk with us on our pilgrimage of life.  Do you have friends to share your joys and sorrows with?  If not, ask Jesus to send you trustworthy friends and thank Him when they come into your life.

Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure.  Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth.  Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; and those who fear the Lord will find them.  Sirach 6:14-16

The saints are our friends. God has given us the Communion of Saints to pray to and to intercede for us.  Saint Irenaeus, Father of the Church, is a friend of this prayer ministry. He wrote five books titled, Against Heresies, to rebuke the heresies that were harming the early church. He wrote about the Glory of God. "The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation already brings life to all living beings on the earth, how much more will the manifestation of the Father by the Word bring life to those who see God."  

Jesus allowed His friend Lazarus to die so that he could be raised from the dead. Jesus performed this miracle so that people would come to believe. In this way, Jesus showed God's glory.  Jesus is our friend. When we experience sadness and loss, Jesus is with us. Offer your suffering to Him.  Jesus will use your suffering for God's Glory. Jesus will give you faithful friends to help you along the way. Turn to Jesus and trust in Him in all things. Jesus will never abandon you. He knows the pain of being abandoned by His friends and He knows the joy of true friendship.

Jesus is with us always. Turn to Him.  He will perform miracles in your midst. He gave His Blessed Mother Mary to accompany us and to intercede for us. She is our Mother and she always walks with us. She knows sorrow and suffering.  She loves us and holds us under her beautiful mantle of protection and peace.

I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father. John 15:15

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

"Saint Joseph was a just man, a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care. May he always guard, protect and enlighten families."  Saint Pope John Paul II

Today we celebrate the solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Virgin Mary, patron of the universal Church and the patron saint of fathers, families, those in need, workers, travelers, the persecuted, the poor, the aged and the dying. The discretion with which Joseph carried out the role entrusted to him by God highlights his faith even more, which consisted in always listening to the Lord, seeking to understand His Will and to obey it with his whole heart and strength. This is why the Gospel describes him as a "just" man Matthew 1, 19. The just man is the person who prays, lives by faith, and seeks to do good in every concrete circumstance of life.

Saint Joseph and fathers
Faith nourished by prayer: this is the most precious treasure that Saint Joseph transmits to us. Generations of fathers have followed in his footsteps who, with the example of a simple and laborious life, imprinted on their children's souls the inestimable value of faith. He is a model for fathers to live their mission in the family and society in an exemplary way.

According to ancient tradition, Saint Joseph watches over and protects the Church. He is considered the model of perfect Christian life and the patron of a happy death. His patronage extends over the Mystical Body of Christ, over the Christian family and schools, carpenters, fathers, laborers, and all individuals who appeal to his charity and intercession, especially in the hour of death. Joseph, when dying, received the loving ministry of his foster Son, Jesus, and his spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary, so it is believed that his intercession may well obtain the mercy of God and the grace of a peaceful and holy death.

As the Bible tells us, Saint Joseph was descended from the royal house of David. A village carpenter of Nazareth, he was chosen among all men to be the husband and protector of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ. To his loving care was entrusted the childhood and youth of the Redeemer of the world. He reveals to us the perfect model of Christianity through his purity of heart, patience, and fortitude. Poor in worldly possessions, he was rich in grace.

Parent's Prayer to Saint Joseph
O glorious Saint Joseph, to you God committed the care of His only begotten Son amid the many dangers of this world. We come to you and ask you to take under your special protection the children God has given us. Through holy baptism they became children of God and members of His holy Church. We consecrate them to you today, that through this consecration they may become your foster children. Guard them, guide their steps in life, form their hearts after the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Diary of Saint Faustina 1203
"Saint Joseph urged me to have a constant devotion to him. He himself told me to recite three prayers (Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be) and the Memorare once a day. He looked at me with great kindness and gave me to know how much he is supporting this work (of mercy). He has promised me this special help and protection. I recited the requested prayers every day and felt his special protection."

The memorare is a prayer that is said by the whole Congregation of Saint Faustina's religious community.

Memorare to Saint Joseph
Remember, O most pure spouse of Mary, and my dearly beloved guardian, St. Joseph, that never was it known that anyone who invoked your care and requested your help was left without consolation.

Inspired with this confidence, I come to you, and with all the ardor of my spirit I commend myself to you. Do not reject my prayer, O Foster Father of the Savior, but graciously receive and answer it. Amen.

Saint Joseph, intercede for us and for all families.

Pope Francis: A Jubilee Year of Mercy

Pope Francis announces Jubilee Year of Mercy: Open Wide the Doors to Mercy 

"Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought about how the Church might make clear its mission of being a witness to mercy. It is journey that begins with a spiritual conversion. For this reason, I have decided to call an extraordinary Jubilee that is to have the mercy of God at its center. It shall be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live this Year in the light of the Lord's words: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Luke 6:36

This Holy Year will begin on this coming Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception December 8, 2015 and will end on November 20, 2016, the Sunday dedicated to Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – and living face of the Father’s mercy. I entrust the organization of this Jubilee to the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization, that [the dicastery] might animate it as a new stage in the journey of the Church on its mission to bring to every person the Gospel of mercy.

I am convinced that the whole Church will find in this Jubilee the joy needed to rediscover and make fruitful the mercy of God, with which all of us are called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time. From this moment, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey."

Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 126I, 1160  I saw the Lord Jesus, like a king in great majesty, looking down upon our earth with great severity; but because of His Mother’s intercession He prolonged the time of His mercy. 

Hosea 6:1-3  Today's Reading  Come, let us return to the Lord, it is He who has rent, but He will heal us; He has struck us, but He will bind our wounds.  He will revive us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, to live in His Presence.  Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is His coming, 

O Mary, Mother of Mercy, draw us close to your Immaculate Heart and lead us to the Sacred Heart of your Beloved Son where we will find rest.  Jesus we trust in You.

24 Hours for the Lord

24 Hours for the Lord March 13-14, 2015

Go to Eucharistic Adoration, sit with Jesus and let Him love you. This is your invitation. He is calling you by name. Go to the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus is waiting for you to come to Him where He will pour out His love and mercy upon you.  

As individuals, we are tempted by indifference. Flooded with news reports and troubling images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help. What can we do to avoid being caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness? First, we can pray in communion with the Church on earth and in heaven. Let us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer! The 24 Hours for the Lord initiative, which I hope will be observed on March 13-14 throughout the Church, also at the diocesan level, is meant to be a sign of this need for prayer. Pope Francis March 12th, 2015

The Church and the world have great need of Eucharistic adoration. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and contemplation full of faith. And let us be ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease. Saint Pope John Paul II

God rich in mercy. Ephesians 2:4

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-10

Reflection: Psalm 139...

Listen carefully. There is a mother who is embroidering on a small weaving frame. Her young son is seated in front of her on a small low stool watching the work of his mother. But as he’s watching, he sees only the reverse side of the weaving frame, from underneath. And so he says, “But mother, what are you doing? The embroidery is not at all clear."  Then the mother lowers the weaving frame and shows the good part of her work.  Each color is in its place and the variety of threads form a harmonious design. We are seeing the reverse side of the embroidery; we are sitting on the low stool. Saint Padre Pio

Psalm 139 Song by Martin Doman
You search me, you know me; see my every move.  There's nothing I could ever do to hide myself from You.  You know my thoughts, my fears and hurts, my weaknesses and pride. You know what I am going through and how I feel inside.  Even though You know, You will always love me, even though You know, You'll never let me go. I don't deserve Your love, but You gave it freely.  You will always love me, even though You know.    

A Meditation dedicated to my dear friend KC and her work with God's precious little ones: 

Place yourself in the hands of God and meditate on the words of this psalm as He speaks words of love to you:

Psalm 139:1-2, 13-18
Lord, You have probed me, You know me; You know when I sit and stand; You understand my thoughts from afar.  Father God, You know me and You search my heart.  You know my every move and my every thought and You love me as I am.

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.   O God, You are my Creator.  You know everything about me.  As an embroidery is carefully knit, so to You made me perfectly in the womb of my mother.

I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!  Father, I praise You for the gift of life, for the wonders of Your works, for the blessings You bestow upon me.  Your works are everlasting.   

My very self you know.  My bones are not hidden from you,  Loving God, You know me intimately.  I can not hide from You.  You know me better than I know myself.  No matter where I go, You are there, always with me.   

When I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.  Loving Father, You knew me and formed me secretly in the womb.  My name is written in Your book of life. You know all the days of my life. 

How precious to me are Your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sands; when I complete them, still you are with me.  O God, You are my God! The work of Your hands are precious. Your plans and designs are more than I can imagine and greater than I can comprehend. God, my Father, You are always with me.



For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. Ephesians 2:10

The Angelus

The word Angelus means Angel. It is a prayer coming from the Bible calling to mind the Incarnation of Jesus.

Luke 1:26-38 “The angel of the Lord announced unto Mary.”

In Latin it is “Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ.” The naming of the prayer and ring of the bell is called Angelus.

In the development of the custom of three rings of the Angelus, the first development was to ring the Angelus at the evening. This ringing was focused on the Incarnation of Jesus which happened in the evening. Later the custom developed to ring the Angelus also in the morning. Here the focus was on Jesus’ resurrection which happened in the morning. As time continued, a third ringing at noon was added. This third ringing was focused on Jesus’ death which happened around noon. During the year the Angelus is said. During Easter time the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) is said.

O Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us and for all the names we receive through this prayer ministry.

Reflection: Confession and the Image of The Divine Mercy...

During this season of Lent, set aside time to go to confession and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you live in the Boston area, you know that there has been a record breaking amount of snow this winter. When the snow first falls, it is so beautiful, pristine and lovely to look at. Then the snow becomes dirty from the layers of sand and salt used to treat the roads. The beauty of the snow is gone and it becomes quite an eyesore and ugly.  

This is what happens to our souls. When we stay away from confession, sin makes our soul dirty. The longer we stay away, the more the layers of sin pile up.  The enemy will tell you that you are too far gone and will discourage you from going. Ask Our Lady to accompany you and ask her to give you the words you need to say. Run to the Sacrament of Mercy. The priest will welcome you home. Jesus will forgive your sins. You will know you are loved. Jesus will pour out His mercy upon you and His sanctifying grace into your heart which gives you strength and peace. Look at the image of the priest hearing confession and see the Divine light pouring out. After you go to confession this Lent, promise Our Lady you will go frequently and ask her to help you keep your promise.  

God is so good that He shows us His wonderful mercy. God sees beyond our sin and brings us His peace and mercy. Jesus speaks beautifully to Saint Faustina about confession. He calls confession “this fountain of My mercy”. He said to Saint Faustina, 

“Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls.”  Diary of Saint Faustina 1602

Look at the image of Divine Mercy. During confession, Jesus is standing over you and the rays of blood and water are pouring out upon you.

The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.  Diary of Saint Faustina 299

By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works.  Diary of Saint Faustina 742

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.  Jesus I trust in You.

The Transfiguration

Jesus was preparing  the apostles for the trauma they would suffer through and the horror of His crucifixion.  To give them hope, Jesus brought them to the mountaintop and appeared to them in a vision.  On Mount Tabor, He appeared as He really would be in His risen glory. 

Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves and He was transfigured before them, and His clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.  Mark 9:2-3

Jesus appeared to them as the Light of the World in dazzling white.   On either side of Him, Moses and Elijah appeared.  The Father’s voice spoke that this was His Beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.  The Holy Spirit appeared as a cloud of glory.  The Transfiguration was an experience that did not last forever.  It was not given to them so they could erect tents and stay there.  Jesus gave them this experience to build up their hope so that they would be sustained for the sufferings to come. The path called the Via Dolorosa lay before Him and before them, as well.  The Transfiguration was to show them that the Way of the Cross was not a road to death but a road through death to a new life.  

Jesus, may our hearts remain faithful to You and may You begin Your transforming work in us.  Keep us mindful that with You, Lord, nothing is impossible.  Without You, Lord, we can do nothing.  Glory be to You forever and ever. Blessed Mother Mary, help us walk the Way of the Cross by your side and be our refuge and our strength.