My Catholic Devotions

We are all called to emulate the Mercy of Christ by showing each other mercy here on earth. The Catholic Church teaches that there are many works of mercy that we may perform, both corporal and spiritual.
While these works of mercy are excellent ways to atone for sin, they are better performed out of brotherly love and compassion, expanding the virtue of charity to its fullest sense. Please
read more about the Works of Mercy, and consider adopting them as a way of life, mirroring the Mercy of God toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.

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10/20/09

DEDICATED TO MY BROTHER, SGT DEGOH



This is Dedicated to Our Brother, Son, Father...(Sgt Degoh) and   
All The Men and Women in Military service


Prayers for the Military

Thank You, Lord, for the men and women of our armed forces. Protect them as they protect us. Defend them as they defend us. Encourage and strengthen their spirit, soul, and body in the execution of their duties and responsibilities. May they be mentally and physically strong when required to face the challenges of combat. Undergird them with Your Holy Spirit and might when they are called upon to endure the hardships of battle.I pray that nothing would take them by surprise, but that they would be aware of all potential aggression. Enable them to curtail hostile actions before they start. Reveal to military leaders the strategies and plots that enemies would wage. Give leaders wisdom and insight in all decisions. May response to any aggression by enemies of this nation be swift, accurate, and effective.Father, give our military favor with the governmental agencies of this country. I pray that our Congress would appropriate sufficient funds to keep our nation's military preeminent and strong in the world.Thank You, Lord, for providing America with the best trained, equipped, and lead military force in the world today. Fill them with Your saving grace and the gospel of peace that they may be shining witnesses of Your heavenly love. Enrich them spiritually that they may cope with life and death situations on the field of battle. When their military brothers and sisters fall in action, give them the strength to continue the good fight. Relieve any feelings of guilt that they may experience if they have to kill another of Your children, in every situation. Help them to realize that they are called to perform at capacity, and unfortunately killing others may sometimes be required of them. Instill in them Your love, showing them mercy and forgiveness when they must break the fifth commandment out of necessity. Whenever possible, guide them to find more humane ways to achieve their goals, keeping the number of casualties at a minimum.
In Jesus' Holy Name, I humbly pray. Amen.








To the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary 
Queen of the Holy Rosary, we implore you to
 bless our military forces at home and abroad. 





Guide their steps into the way of peace. Amen.
 
For Our Men and Women in Military Service
O Prince of Peace, we humbly ask Your protection for all our men and women in military service. Give them unflinching courage to defend with honor, dignity, and devotion the rights of all who are imperiled by injustice and evil. Guard our churches, our homes, our schools, our hospitals, our factories, our buildings, and all those within from harm and peril. Protect our land and its peoples from enemies from within and without. Grant an early peace with victory founded upon justice. Instill in the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere a firm purpose to live forever in peace and good will toward all.
 Amen.
Prayer for the Families of Our Military
In the Holy Name of Jesus, I lift up to You, Father, the families of our military. I pray that all will feel Your love and mercy while they are concerned for their loved ones who are away serving our great nation. May they know abundance, being well provided for and well taken care of until their loved ones return home safely. Give them the courage of warriors. May the peace that passes understanding sustain them in seasons of separation. Comfort them with Your Word, that they might have faith to see their sons, daughters, husbands, and wives returned to them in wholeness and safety. Amen.







For our Veterans
O Lord, today I thank You for our veterans, for their willingness to risk all so that our nation might dwell in peace and safety. May they find the honor and recognition they truly deserve. I pray that You will heal the physical, spiritual, and psychological wounds some of these veterans have suffered. Bring a lasting peace to those who mourn the loss of comrades. Help them to find Your love and mercy, so that they may cope with the actions they may have had to take while they served our country. Make them realize that the rules of engagement in war do not always follow the laws of Christianity, but give them solace by Your scripture passages that show them that sometimes battle is necessary for the common good. Amen.










Prisoners of War 
Father, in the Holy Name of Jesus, I pray for those who have been taken captive in war. Give them courage to persevere and also the knowledge that they have not been forgotten. May our nation find ways to rescue them safely and quickly, so that their suffering is not prolonged. I pray that they will not be used as pawns to the advantage of our enemies. Enter the hearts of their captors, that they may be merciful. Do not let the Evil One control their hearts and minds, tempting them to be cruel and torture their captives. Shine Your Light of Love upon all involved in military prisons. Remind them of Your commandment to love one another, as You love us all. Amen.

For Those Missing in Action
O my God, may we find more efficient ways of tracing and identifying those who are missing in action. Let them not be forgotten. Fill them with the hope of freedom and knowledge that their loved ones and comrades anxiously await their safe return. I fervently pray that the truth would come to light quickly so that the living may be rescued, and the families of the deceased may find timely closure. For those whom You have received into the next life, grant them eternal rest, O Lord. Let perpetual Light shine upon them. By Your mercy, may they rest in peace. Amen.
 
During Time of War or Conflict
Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of our Lord Jesus, to lift up in prayer this present military action. Father, I pray that there might be a quick resolution to this action, and that the truth and righteousness would prevail. May You guide, bless, and protect all those engaged in this conflict. Heal the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds that may be inflicted. Let all our soldiers, both home and abroad, turn to You for guidance, courage, and hope. Amen.



For Our Deceased Service Men and Women
You are all-powerful, God, and live forever in light and joy. Look with pity and love, we beg You, on those men and women who bravely fought and gallantly died for their country. By laying down their lives, they showed supreme love for others.
Accept, we ask You, their sacrifice and their belief in the justice of the cause they died for. Let their offering not be in vain. Please forgive any sins and faults they may have committed. Speedily, we implore You, bring them into Your Presence where fear, sadness, mourning, and death cannot exist.
Have pity in Your loving kindness on those they leave behind. In Your own unsearchable ways, make good for their absence, and lavishly bestow Your love and consolations on those deprived of their presence. This we ask in the Name of Christ, our Victor King. Amen.







10/1/09

THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY

                                             1. THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES

1. The Annunciation
Picture the scene of the Annunciation. God proposes the mystery of the Incarnation which He will accomplish in the Virgin Mary—but not until she has given her consent. The accomplishment of the mystery is held in suspense awaiting the free acceptance of Mary. At this moment Mary represents all of us in her own person; it is as if God is waiting for the response of the humanity to which He longs to unite Himself. What a solemn moment this is! For upon this moment depends the decision of the most vital mystery of Christianity.
But see how Mary gives her answer. Full of faith and confidence in the heavenly message and entirely submissive to the Divine Will, the Virgin Mary replies in a spirit of complete and absolute abandonment: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy word." This "Fiat" is Mary's consent to the Divine Plan of Redemption. It is like an echo of the "Fiat" of the creation of the world. But this is a new world, a world infinitely superior, a world of grace, which God will cause to arise in consequence of Mary's consent, for at that moment the Divine Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, becomes Man in Mary: "And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us


2. The Visitation

See how the Holy Spirit greets the Virgin Mary through the mouth of Elizabeth: "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoke to thee by the Lord."


Blessed indeed, for by this faith in the word of God the Virgin Mary became the Mother of Christ.


What finite creature has ever received honor such as this from the Infinite Being?


Mary gives all the glory to the Lord for the marvelous things which are accomplished in her. From the moment of the Incarnation the Virgin Mother sings in her heart a canticle full of love and gratitude.


In the presence of her cousin Elizabeth she allows the most profound sentiments of her heart to break forth in song; she intones the "Magnificat" which, in the course of centuries, her children will repeat with her to praise God for having chosen her among all women:


"My soul magnifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid...
Because He Who is mighty has done great things for me
And holy is His name."


3. The Birth of Jesus



The Virgin Mary sees in the Infant that she has given to the world, a child in appearance like all other children, the very Son of God. Mary's soul was filled with an immense faith which welled up in her and surpassed the faith of all the just men of the Old Testament; this is why she recognized her God in her own Son.
This faith manifests itself externally by an act of adoration. From her very first glance at Jesus, the Virgin prostrated herself interiorly in a spirit of adoration so profound that we can never fathom its depth.
In the heart of Mary are joined in perfect harmony a creature's adoration of her God and a Mother's love for her only Son.


How inconceivably great the joy in the soul of Jesus must have been as He experienced this boundless love of His Mother! Between these two souls took place ceaseless exchanges of love which brought them into ever closer unity. O wonderful exchange: to Mary Jesus gives the greatest gifts and graces, and to Jesus Mary gives her fullest cooperation: after the union of the Divine Persons in the Blessed Trinity and the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in the Incarnation, no more glorious or more profound union can be conceived than the union between Jesus and Mary.


4. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple



On the day of the Presentation God received infinitely more glory than He had hitherto received in the temple from all the sacrifices and all the holocausts of the Old Testament. On this day it is His own Son Jesus Who is offered to Him, and Who offers to the Father the infinite homage of adoration, thanksgiving, expiation and supplication.

This is indeed a gift worthy of God.


And it is from the hands of the Virgin, full of grace, that this offering, so pleasing to God, is received. Mary's faith is perfect. Filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, she has a clear understanding of the value of the offering which she is making to God at this moment; by His inspirations the Holy Spirit brings her soul into harmony with the interior dispositions of the heart of her Divine Son.
Just as Mary had given her consent in the name of all humanity when the angel announced to her the mystery of the Incarnation, so also on this day Mary offers Jesus to the Father in the name of the whole human race. For she knows that her Son is "the King of Glory, the new light enkindled before the dawn, the Master of life and death."


5. Jesus is Found in the Temple



"How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" This is the answer that Jesus gave to His Mother when, after three days' search she had the joy of finding Him in the Temple.


These are the first words coming from the lips of the Word Incarnate to be recorded in the Gospel.


In these words Jesus sums up His whole person, His whole life, His whole mission. They reveal His Divine Sonship; they testify to His supernatural mission. Christ's whole life will only be a clarifying and magnificent exposition of the meaning of these words.
St. Luke goes on to tell us that Mary "did not understand the word that He spoke." But even if Mary did not grasp the full significance of these words, she did not doubt that Jesus was the Son of God. This is why she submitted in silence to that Divine Will which had demanded such a sacrifice of her love.


"Mary kept these words of Jesus carefully in her heart." She kept them in her heart, for there was the tabernacle in which she adored the mystery concealed in the words of he Son, waiting until the full light of understanding would be granted her


II. THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES




1. The Agony in the Garden



It is for the love of His Father above all else that Jesus willed to undergo His Passion.


Behold Jesus Christ in His agony. For three long hours weariness, grief, fear and anguish sweep in upon His soul like a torrent; the pressure of this interior agony is so immense that blood bursts forth from His sacred veins. What an abyss of suffering is reached in this agony! And what does Jesus say to His Father? "Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me." Can it be that Jesus no longer accepts the Will of His Father? Oh! certainly He does. But this prayer is the cry of the sensitive emotions of poor human nature, crushed by ignominy and suffering. Now is Jesus truly a "Man of Sorrows." Our Savior feels the terrible weight of His agony bearing down upon His shoulders. He wants us to realize this; that is why He utters such a prayer.


But listen to what He immediately adds: "Nevertheless, Father, not My will but Thine be done." Here is the triumph of love. Because He loves His Father, He places the Will of His Father above everything else and accepts every possible suffering in order to redeem us.


2. The Scourging





Christ substituted Himself voluntarily for us as a sacrificial victim without blemish in order to pay our debt, and, by the expiation and the satisfaction which He made for us, to restore the Divine life to us. This was the mission which Christ came to fulfill, the course which He had to run. "God has placed upon Him"—a man like unto ourselves, of the race of Adam, but entirely just and innocent and without sin—"the iniquity of us all."
Since Christ has become, so to speak, a sharer in our nature and taken upon Himself the debt of our sin, He has merited for us a share in His justice and holiness. In the forceful words of St. Paul, God, "by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin-offering, has condemned sin in the flesh." And with an impact still more stunning, the Apostle writes: "For our sakes He (God) made Him (Christ) to be sin who knew nothing of sin." How startling this expression is: "made Him to be sin"! The Apostle does not say "sinner," but—what is still more striking—"sin"!


Let us never forget that "we have been redeemed at great price by the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."


3. The Crowning with Thorns


Christ Jesus becomes an object of derision and insults at the hands of the temple servants. Behold Him, the all-powerful God, struck by sharp blows; His adorable face, the joy of the saints, is covered with spittle; a crown of thorns is forced down upon His head; a purple robe is placed upon His shoulders as a mock of derision; a reed is thrust into His hand; the servants genuflect insolently before Him in mockery. What an abyss of ignominy! What humiliation and disgrace for One before Whom the angels tremble!


The cowardly Roman governor imagines that the hatred of the Jews will be satisfied by the sight of Christ in this pitiful state. He shows Him to the crowd: "Ecce Homo—Behold the Man!"


Let us contemplate our Divine Master at this moment, plunged into the abyss of suffering and ignominy, and let us realize that the Father also presents Him to us and says to us: "Behold My Son, the splendor of My glory—but bruised for the sins of My people."


4. Jesus Carries the Cross


Let us meditate upon Jesus Christ on the way to Calvary laden with His cross. He falls under the weight of this burden. To expiate sin, He wills to experience in His own flesh the oppression of sin. Fearing that Jesus will not reach the place of crucifixion alive, the Jews force Simon of Cyrene to help Christ to carry His cross, and Jesus accepts this assistance.
In this Simon represents all of us. As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we should all help Jesus to carry His Cross. This is the one sure sign that we belong to Christ—if we carry our cross with Him.


But while Jesus carried His cross, He merited for us the strength to bear our trials with generosity. He has placed in His cross a sweetness which makes ours bearable, for when we carry our cross it is really His that we receive. For Christ unites with His own the sufferings, sorrows, pains and burdens which we accept with love from His hand, and by this union He gives them an inestimable value, and they become a source of great merit for us.


It is above all His love for His Father which impels Christ to accept the sufferings of His Passion, but it is also the love which He bears us.


5. Jesus Dies on the Cross


At the Last Supper, when the hour had come to complete His oblation of self, what did Christ say to His Apostles who were gathered around Him? "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And this is the love, surpassing all loves, which Jesus shows us; for, as St. Paul says, "It is for us all that He is delivered up." What greater proof of love could He have given us? None.


Hence the Apostle declares without ceasing that "because He loved us, Christ delivered Himself up for us," and "because of the love He bears for me, He gave Himself up for me."

"Delivered," "given"—to what extent? Even to the death on the cross!
What enhances this love immeasurably is the sovereign liberty with which Christ delivered Himself up: "He offered Himself because He willed it." These words tell us how spontaneously Jesus accepted His Passion. This freedom with which Jesus delivered Himself up to death for us is one of the aspects of His sacrifice which touch our human hearts most profoundly.


III. THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES


1. The Resurrection of Christ


On the day of His Resurrection Jesus Christ left in the tomb the shroud which is the symbol of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our imperfections. Christ comes from the tomb triumphant—completely free of earthly limitation; He is animated with a life that is intense and perfect, and which vibrates in every fibre of His being. In Him everything that is mortal has been absorbed by His glorified life.




Here is the first element of the sanctity represented in the risen Christ: the elimination of everything that is corruptible, everything that is earthly and created; freedom from all defects, all infirmities, all capacity for suffering.


But there is also another element of sanctity: union with God, self- oblation and consecration to God. Only in heaven shall we be able to understand how completely Jesus lived for His Father during these blessed days. The life of the risen Christ became an infinite source of glory for His Father. Not a single effect of His sufferings was left in Him, for now everything in Him shone with brilliance and beauty and possessed strength and life; every atom of His being sang an unceasing canticle of praise. His holy humanity offered itself in a new manner to the glory of the Father.

2. The Ascension of Our Lord

Our Lord said to His Apostles before He departed from them: "If you loved Me, you would indeed rejoice that I am going to the Father." To us also Christ repeats these words. If we love Him, we shall rejoice in His glorification; we shall rejoice with Him that, after completing His course on earth, He ascends to the right hand of His Father, there to be exalted above all the heavens in infinite glory.

But Jesus goes only to precede us; He does not separate Himself from us, nor does He separate us from Himself. If He enters into His glorious kingdom, it is to prepare a place for us there. He promises to return one day to take us with Him so that, as He says, where He is we also may be. True, we are already there in the glory and happiness of Christ, by our title as His heirs; but we shall one day be there in reality. Has not Christ asked this of His Father? "Father, I will that where I am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me."

Let us then say to Christ Jesus: "Draw us into Your triumphal march, O glorious and all-powerful Conqueror! Make us live in heaven by faith and hope and love. Help us to detach ourselves from the fleeting things of earth in order that we may seek the true and lasting goods of heaven!"


3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles


The Holy Spirit appeared under the form of tongues of fire in order to fill the Apostles with truth and to prepare them to bear witness to Jesus. He also come to fill their hearts with love.


He is the Person of Love in the life of God. He is also like a breath, an aspiration of infinite Love, from which we draw the breath of life.

On the day of Pentecost the Divine Spirit communicated such an abundance of life to the whole Church that to symbolize it "there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they (the Apostles) were sitting."


But it is also for us that the Holy Spirit has come, for the group in the Cenacle represented the whole Church. The Holy Spirit came to remain with the Church forever. This is the promise of Jesus Himself. He dwells in the Church permanently and unfailingly, performing in it without ceasing, His action of life-giving and sanctification. He establishes the Church infallibly in the truth. It is He Who makes the Church blossom forth with a marvelous supernatural fruitfulness, for He brings to life and full fruition in Virgins, Martyrs, Confessors, those heroic virtues which are one of the marks of true sanctity.






4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

If Christ Jesus wishes us to love all the members of His Mystical Body, should we not love above all others her who gave Him the very nature by which He became our Head, the same nature which He uses to communicate His grace to us? We cannot doubt but that the love which we show to his Mother is extremely pleasing to Christ.


We shall manifest our love by extolling the sublime privileges which Jesus has bestowed on His Mother, among which the Assumption is one of the most glorious. If we wish to please our Lord very much, we shall admire the wonderful gifts with which He has lovingly adorned the soul of His Mother. He wishes that we should sing the praises of the Virgin, who was chosen among all women to give the Savior to the world.


"Yes, we shall sing your praises, for you alone have delighted the heart of your God. May you be blessed, for you have believed the word of God, and in you the eternal promises have been fulfilled."


5. The Coronation of Mary in Heaven


What is the purpose of all the mysteries of Christ? To be the pattern of our supernatural life, the means of our sanctification, the source of all our holiness. To create an eternal and glorious society of brethren who will be like unto Him. For this reason Christ, the new Adam, has associated with Himself Mary, as the new Eve. But she is, much more than Eve, "the Mother of all the living," the Mother of those who live in the grace of her Son.


And since here below Mary was associated so intimately with all the mysteries of our salvation, at her Assumption into heaven Jesus crowned her not only with glory but also with power; He has placed His Mother on His right hand and has given her the power, in virtue of her unique title of Mother of God, to distribute the treasures of eternal life.


Let us then, full of confidence, pray with the Church: "Show yourself a Mother: Mother of Jesus, by your complete faith in Him, our Mother, by your mercy towards us; ask Christ, Who was born of you, to give us life; and Who willed to be your Son, to receive our prayers through you."











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