Corpus Christi 2018

Let The Most Holy Eucharist be the starting point of our meditations.

The Eucharist is the Focal Point, The Truths Of Our Holy Catholic Religion are the Rays.

Let us start from the Focus and Go to the Rays.

It is not difficult to find a relation between the Birth of Jesus Christ in the Stable and His Sacramental Birth on the Altar and in our Souls.

We Must Keep In Mind That The Holy Eucharist Is Jesus Christ, Past, Present, and Future.

The Eucharist is the Last Development of the Incarnation and Mortal Life Of Our Dear Savior.

In the Eucharist, Jesus Christ gives us every grace and all truths commence and end in the Eucharist.

Who does not see that the Hidden Life of Nazareth is continued in the Divine Host of the Tabernacle and that the Passion of the Man- God on Calvary is renewed in the Holy Sacrifice Of The Mass at every moment of the Day and Night all over this Universe.

Is Not Our Lord as Meek and Humble in His Holy Sacrament as during His Mortal Life ??

Is He not always The Good Shepherd, the Divine Consoler, and most importantly Our Best Friend in whom we can confide everything. 

The Rosary 2018 -- A Reflection

In our time, in which the Faith in many places seems like a light in danger of being snuffed out forever -- The Highest Priority is to make God visible in the world and to open to Humanity a way to God.

At Fatima, It is amazing to think how 3 Children entrusted themselves to the interior force which had set them on fire in the Apparitions of the Angel and of Our Heavenly Mother.

At Fatima, We are constantly requested to recite the Rosary -- Let us allow ourselves to be attracted by the Mysteries of Christ -- The Mysteries of Mary's Rosary.

The recitation of the Rosary allows us to fix our gaze and our hearts upon Jesus Christ, just like His Mother the supreme model of contemplation of the Son.

Meditating upon the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries as we pray our Hail Mary's Let us reflect upon the interior mystery of Jesus Christ from the Incarnation through the Cross to the glory of the Resurrection.

Let us contemplate the intimate participation of Mother Mary in the mystery of our life in Christ today a life which is also made up of Joy and Sorrow of Darkness and Light Of Fear and Hope.

Let us be True and Authentic Sons and Daughters of Mary.

Credits : A True Homeland Is a Place With a Window Open To God
               By His Holiness Pope Benedict 16
               Pages 18-19
               Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
               October 2010
               Vol -12, N0-6

The Assumption 2018 -- We have someone like us in Paradise

Our Promised Resurrection is hard to grasp and difficult to cling onto. It is Foreign to our personal experience and far outside it.

Who can imagine a truth so vast as the Resurrection of the Dead ??

The Church comes to our aid by giving us a concrete example, a truth on which we can fix our minds.

This is the truth of the Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Mother.

To say that Mother Mary is glorified in Heaven is to assert the power of Christ's Resurrection and to affirm God's promise of our resurrection by giving us a concrete example of it in Mary.

Pope Pius the Twelfth defined the dogma of Mary's Assumption on November 1, 1950. The Pope saw Mother Mary as the First and Greatest of the Saints and not an isolated figure.

In the Assumption of Mary, we are given a picture of the Resurrection for which we hope.

There is something right and fitting in Our Lord Jesus Christ choosing His Own Mother to be the one in whom He would show us the truth of our Resurrection.

She was close to him on earth, as His Mother and shared by Faith and Love in his Mission and in the Mission Of His Apostles.

She was the first to believe and hope in him. She is the first to be fully glorified in Him.

In Mary, assumed to glory we can see the power of the spirit to bring to heavenly glory all those who faithfully hear God's word and respond to it as Mary herself did at the Annunciation and continued to do throughout her life.

Credits : From Dust To Glory
              By Donal Flanagan
              Page 19
             Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
             August 2007
             Vol - 9, N0-4 

Sacred Heart Of Jesus 2018

The Blessed Sacrament is the Sacred Heart of Jesus living in our midst to fulfill a promise.

I myself will pasture my sheep. I myself will give them rest. The Lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, and the Injured and Sick I will bind up and heal.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is constantly calling out to us from the Tabernacle saying COME TO ME -- DO NOT BE AFRAID -- I WILL REFRESH YOU.

The Samaritan Woman encountered Jesus Christ at the well. When we meet the Sacred Heart of Jesus we meet him at the well of fresh graces, the font of unfathomable riches, the spring of salvation, where Our Saviour has drawn you to his Adorable Heart so that you may drink from the Rivers of Living Water -- the Endless Graces flowing with Divine Love and Infinite Compassion.

If You Lose all there is in the World but yet Possess Christ in the Eucharist then you possess everything. In fact, you have lost nothing at all and are infinitely rich with Divine Adoption.

In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, You have a Friend and a Saviour who is all powerful.

No matter how bad things may seem to be He alone can right them.

Catholic Christianity is a Daily Conversion.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Goldmine Of Spiritual Riches in more ways than one.

The Painting Of The Merciful Jesus Christ -- Divine Mercy Sunday 2018

This is an inside look at how the image of the  Merciful Jesus in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius was depicted by Artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski in secret under the supervision of Saint Faustina and Blessed Father Michael Sopocko. 

Born in Poland in 1905, Maria Faustina Kowalska belonged to the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. After the Polish Nun received the Message of Divine Mercy from the Lord on various occasions in the 1930s, she spearheaded this project.

Given that Jesus wanted everyone to have access to this “well” of mercy, as he communicated to Sister Faustina, the church is open 24/7 every day of the week and there is a webcam to access from the whole world. 

Here, we would like to share some details you may not have known about this image’s history.

Sr. Faustina went twice a week to the painter for six months. The painter’s workshop was under the living space of Father Sopocko (Sr. Faustina’s spiritual director) who lived in a house in the Visitation monastery because he was the chaplain there.

It was all done in secret, as who would have ever believed that Jesus had appeared to her and wanted to be really painted. However, Sr. Faustina’s first confessor confirmed to her that yes indeed, the Lord wished to be depicted. Sr. Faustina was always accompanied into the workshop by either a reliable parishioner or another sister.

Today, the painter’s workshop has been transformed into a chapel.

Still living in the house, at the Lord’s request, are the order of nuns founded by Fr. Sopocko. They are also taking care of the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Vilnius.

Jesus had told Sr. Faustina that what matters is that thanks to this picture, “everyone will come to receive my mercy.”

The brightest point in the picture is the heart. The light on the forehead signifies the presence of the Father.

The right hand is not raised in the painting as it is in Krakow: it is before the Lord, in a gesture of blessing.

The first time the painting was presented to the worship of the faithful was when the Jubilee of Redemption was to end (1933-1934): it was exposed in the chapel of the Madonna Porta dell’Aurora venerated by Lithuanians to the extent that the Soviets never dared to close it.

On that day, Fr. Sopocko gave a homily on Divine Mercy, as the Lord requested, and Sr. Faustina was there, very happy.

During the Soviet occupation, the image was hidden in Belarus.

Later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Cardinal Audrys Backis (Archbishop of Vilnius, now emeritus) restored and put it in the Church of the Trinity, where Fr. Sopocko was once a priest. The church was restored too.

On the Feast of the Divine Mercy, April 18, 2004, Cardinal Audrys Juozas Backis, Metropolitan of Vilnius, reconsecrated the renovated church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius into the Shrine of the Divine Mercy.

At the same time, he assigned a prayer service to be carried out by the Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus.

In September 2005, the first image of Merciful Jesus was placed in this Shrine.

The picture has generated “miracles” in people’s lives.

In 2000 at St. Peter’s in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina and officially proclaimed the Feast of Divine Mercy.

Credits : Zenit News from Rome 

The Eucharistic Love Of Saint Faustina

1. Jesus wanted to stay with us and opened His Heart of Mercy.

Jesus gave St. Faustina a clear love of the mystery of the Eucharist. She described it “as the wonderful gift of His presence on earth”. 

She wrote that during Mass, “I thanked the Lord Jesus for having redeemed us and for having given us the greatest of all gifts, the Holy Eucharist.” “You wanted to stay with us, and so you left us yourself in the Sacrament of the Altar, and you opened wide your mercy to us. You opened an inexhaustible spring of mercy for us, giving us your dearest possession, the Blood and Water, that gushed forth from Your Heart” (Diary 1747).

2. Love’s sacrifice was fully consummated at the consecration

During a Holy Hour, in a vision of the cenacle, Sr. Faustina saw the institution of the Holy Eucharist. She came to understand that, “At the moment of consecration…the sacrifice was fully consummated. 

Hereafter, only the external ceremony of death will be carried out. Never in my whole life had I understood this mystery so profoundly as during that hour of adoration” (Diary 684, 757, 832).

3. The Mercy that gushed from His Heart…

St. Faustina asked God to bring the world to understand more the mystery of Divine Mercy and the Eucharist. She said, “Who will ever conceive and understand the depth of mercy that gushed forth from His Heart? 

It is only in eternity that we shall know the great mystery given to us in Holy Communion. One day we will know what God is doing for us in each Mass, and what sort of gift He is preparing through it for us.”

4. Eucharist: Transform me into a living host to atone for sinners.

“All the tongues of men and angels united could not find words adequate to describe this mystery of Your love and mercy”. “Transform me in Yourself, 0 Jesus, that I may be a living sacrifice and pleasing to You. I desire to atone at each moment of my life for poor sinners.“ 

Jesus answered her prayers telling her: “You are a living host, pleasing to the Heavenly Father” (Diary 1826). Through our communion with Christ we grow in self-emptying love that desires to offer reparation for sinners. The Eucharist moves us to an ever-greater thirst for the salvation of souls.

5. I owe everything to Holy Communion.

St. Faustina said: “All the good that is in me is due to the Holy Communion. I owe everything to it.” She was transformed into a living host in imitation of her Lord; hidden, and broken like Jesus in His passion laying down His life for our redemption. 

St. Faustina’s union with God was increased during the Mass, Holy Communion and during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Eucharistic Life is transformative.

6. Love demands only one thing: Reciprocity.

Her union with the Lord was, in His words, as a bride: “Here, I am entirely yours, soul, body and divinity as Your Bridegroom. You know what love demands, one thing only, reciprocity”. (Diary 1770) 

What she experienced during Holy Communion was a complete union with the Holy Trinity, “At that moment, I was drawn into the bosom of the Most Holy Trinity, and I was immersed in the love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Diary 1670, 1121,1129)

7. “In the Host is the power…”

“These times of union are a taste of Eternity,” she said (Diary 969). St Faustina was strengthened and supported in the daily struggles of life by receiving Holy Communion. 

The Lord told her: “In the Host is the power; it will defend you always” (Diary 616). Eucharistic Love is infinitely powerful to defend us from all that is harmful to our salvation.

8. Rays of Mercy come from the Holy Eucharist covering the world.

During Holy Mass, many times St. Faustina experienced visions of the Lord and over sixty such visions are found in her spiritual diary. 

She often saw the Infant Jesus during Mass, but also, on occasion, saw the Blessed Mother, or Jesus during His passion, and sometimes, in His glorious majesty. 

She records seeing the rays of mercy as in the image of Divine Mercy coming from the Holy Eucharist, at times covering the world. (Diary 420, 441, 1046).

9. The Eucharist is closely associated with the vessels of mercy.

Holy Communion is the most important part of the celebration of the Feast of Divine Mercy. The Feast of Divine Mercy, the Image, the Chaplet, and the three o’clock prayer are all closely related to the Eucharist. 

On a number of occasions, St. Faustina saw the Eucharist radiate red and white rays, like in the Image of Divine Mercy. 

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is Eucharistic. It is an offering of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Father, in atonement for the sins of the world.

The Resurrection 2018 -- Do We Authentically and Really Believe It ??

When We are Baptized We are plunged into Christ's Paschal Mystery.

As, Saint Paul reminds us Romans ( 6: 3-4) We enter the Tomb with Christ imitating him in his death
so that we may rise like Christ to a new life.

Baptism initiates this mystery, Life unfolds its possibilities and crossing the threshold of death crowns our participation in Christ's victory over death.

Our Faith is nothing unless it is centred on the Paschal Mystery as its essential core.

Nature rehearses the miracle and mystery of the Resurrection around us in a myriad of ways if only we had the eyes of faith to see it and attend to these mini sacraments of an Eternal Truth.

Little Birds hatch from eggs carefully warmed by a Patient Thrush.

Magnificent Butterflies with colourful wings emerge from hidden cocoons where once active caterpillars went through a radical transformation.

Seeds planted in Autumn grow lush and lovely as new life emerges from these miniature treasure chests.

Jesus used the Image of the Dying Wheat Grain to explain this same mystery. His Own Sacred Passion and Death were comparable to the wheat grain apparently dying in the earth. The Green Blade of Grass which rises with Easter is a Symbol of His Own Victorious Resurrection.

This is a victory to be shared with us. Saint Paul, describes the Risen Christ as "The First Fruits of all who have fallen asleep.

The Golden Harvest of the Resurrection is only possible because of the prior death and rising of Christ, that precious grain of Wheat.

The Eucharist in Easter Tide :

In the Eucharist, The Church gathers to celebrate ceaselessly the awesome and amazing Paschal Mystery. Here Faith is nourished and strengthened as We Mortals Feast at the Table of God's Word and the Table of the Real Presence.

Jesus Christ assured his disciples and followers that anyone who eats His Flesh and drinks His Blood will be raised up on the last day.

He is most assuredly the "Living Bread" as much as the dying wheat grain each of which gives us the pledge of Resurrected Life.

It is therefore not surprising that One Of the Fathers of the Early Church namely Saint Ignatius of Antioch who spoke lovingly of the Holy Eucharist. He called it "The Medicine of Immortality".

Our Aim should be like that of Saint Paul who strove only to know Christ and the Glorious Power of His Resurrection. Faith is a much deeper reality than rational argument or intellectual proof.

We cannot and should not try to explain away the Resurrection.

Credits : Resurrection : Myth Or Reality
               By F. Clancy
               Pages 10-11
               Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
               April 2008
               Vol - 9, N0 - 12