Thursday, March 5, 2009

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Sts. Perpetua and Felicity

From Saint and Thought For Every Day,
by Blessed James Alberione
Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, two young mothers, were arrested during the persecution of Severus. They prayed for the grace of being martyrs and were filled with joy when their prayers were answered. First they were exposed to the fury of an angry cow, then they were killed by the sword in 203.
Let us imitate these young mothers by loving God above all things.
Mary in the Passion
Let us look at Jesus. He sacrificed Himself on the cross: the first and the greatest prayer. Let us look at Mary: she shared Christ's mission and passion with Him. The essence of the redemption is there on Calvary - there where Jesus offers Himself; there where Mary offers herself and her Son, whom she loved more than herself. Jesus is the Redeemer; Mary, the Co-Redemptrix.
From A Year With Blessed James Alberione,
Compiled by J. Maurus
All should contribute for the common good
All citizens should participate and contribute to public life, everyone according to his abilities and positions.
All should contribute to the common good by practicing an open profession of their faith; by the example of their conduct, by contributing towards the common expenses like defence, civic duties, following the example of Jesus who was an ideal citizen.
Besides, each one has the obligation to vote to elect such canditates who guarantee the practice and the defence of religion, justice, the well-being of the nation.
In particular each one has responsibilities as teachers or employees, magistrates or labourers.
What Strikes Me Most Today
What strikes me most today is the title of Mary as Co-Redemptrix. I have to admit, the first time I heard this title, I was not 100% comfortable with it. At first, it gave me the impression of taking away from Christ's work of Salvation. But I now realize that without Mary's "yes" to God, there would have been no Christ to save us. How can we not call her Co-Redemptrix?
What strikes you most today?
Click on "COMMENTS" below to share your thoughts.
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"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

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Be Not Afraid

Be Not Afraid
"Fear not, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Atone for sin."

Daughters of St. Paul

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Why?

Why a blog? Why St. Paul? Why do I think I have any business doing this?
We are all on a spiritual journey. We all want that journey to lead us to heaven, to eternity with God. For this journey, we need one another.
The journey so far has led me to read and learn about so many forms of authentic Catholic spirituality - Ignatian, Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican, Franciscan, etc. My biggest problem was that I came to love each one tremendously. I began reading more and more, spending more and more time at the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore on Watson Road here in St. Louis. Who would have thought my greatest conversion story would take place in a bookstore? Mine was not quite as sudden or dramatic as St. Paul on the road to Damascus, but getting to know the Daughters of St. Paul affected me no less significantly.
The sisters are Eucharistic by nature. The first time I entered the chapel in their bookstore, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and one of the sisters was on her knees, gazing at Christ, with an indescribably beautiful smile on her face. I had a glimpse of heaven. I knelt at one of the other kneelers and noticed on the wall behind the monstrance the words: "Fear not, I am with you. From here I want to enlighten. Atone for sin." I had that brief moment of absolute certainty that I was on the right path.
Over the last several years I have worked my way through as many books, CD's, DVD's and conversations with the Daughters of St. Paul that time has allowed. Time is at such a premium for all of us. Years ago we were told that with advances in technology we would have much more free time on our hands. We all know this has not been the case. Our lives are busier and more hectic than ever. Even if we are unable to find time to read good books, see enlightening movies or attend lectures and discussions, maybe we could all spend a little time on the internet supporting one another on our faith journeys. Many of you know more about many aspects of Catholic spirituality than I do.
Pope John Paul the Great called us all to a New Evangelization, to share the Gospel with the world. I am hoping we can all be St. Paul in this blog space by sharing Christ with one another and with others. St. Paul travelled to many foreign and often hostile regions to evangelize the world; we are fortunate to be able to use the internet to reach even farther and more quickly.
The idea of using today's means of social communication to spread the Gospel was given to Blessed James Alberione on the night between the centuries (December 31, 1900 - January 1, 1901). He was a 16 year-old seminary student adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament when a special light came to him from the Host. Following this, Blessed James Alberione became the founder of the Society of St. Paul priests, the Daughters of St. Paul, the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Sisters of the Queen of Apostles, and numerous institutes that are also part of the Pauline family.
So what is Pauline spirituality? In my experience, Pauline spirituality encompasses all the teachings of Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and love of all the other spiritualities and Saints of the Church. It is the members of the Pauline family who are the happiest people I know! It is loving God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit with all our hearts and souls, through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, and St. Paul.
So why St. Paul? I can relate to St. Paul. We first meet him in the New Testament as a sinner. He has a thorn in his side that God decides is best not to take away. I sometimes wish I knew what that thorn was, but it's probably better I don't know. I like to pretend it is one of my many weaknesses or faults. If St. Paul could go from persecuting Christ and His Church to becoming the person responsible for spreading the Gospel and establishing the Church in foreign lands, the least I can do is start a blog. I have been especially inspired by my two favorite bloggers, Sr. Margaret Charles Kerry, fsp, and a Pauline Cooperator named Rae Stabosz. I believe Sr. Margaret and Rae are doing just what St. Paul and Blessed James Alberione would be doing with the internet.
In future blogs (which will be shorter than this first post!), I would like to share writings of St. Paul, Blessed James Alberione, and many others. I look forward to others sharing writings from other Catholic spiritualities and writers. An especially Pauline way of sharing is to point out to one another what aspects particularly speak to each of us.
Another Pauline trait is to pray for one another. My prayer is that we support one another on our path to holiness. Our goal is to glorify God in all that we do - so let's do it!