Originally posted on February 24, 2011 (before Father John Corapi’s crisis occurred)

Why am I titling my post “Jesus as Servant” when the earth seems to be on fire with anger and chaos?  Shouldn’t I (and you) be up in arms over the moral outrage, violence and bloodshed that is spilling out into every corner of the world these days?  Why am I portraying Jesus as servant rather than as the great and almighty God Who must be furious with all of the despair and distress that humanity has brought upon itself?

Here we have earthquakes, riots, moral breakdown, bloodshed, death.  And yet I’m presenting an image of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples?  How un-debonair.

Jesus as Servant Practiced Humility

I would venture to guess that now more then ever Jesus is still washing the feet of all of His disciples, desiring that humility be practiced; asking that we turn our thoughts and hearts toward holiness and abandon the angry words and actions that are fueling the fire of disaster.  Jesus wants us to pursue our better selves, not give in to the temptation to be irked to the point where we lose control and also lose peace of heart and mind.

Those of you who are familiar with this blog know that I purposely try to refrain from writing about anything that would be considered political.  I guess I just feel that in the interest of this blog (and life in general) it’s important to pursue a path of peace, and it’s very difficult to do that when politics enter into discussions or frames of mind.  Nevertheless, no matter what side of the political fence one happens to be on, there is an all too obvious split in our country in this day and time.  The battle lines are clearly drawn, and no matter what political viewpoint you may or may not have about any given topic that is dominating the news these days, there is no denying the anger that is erupting from the mouths of people on TV, radio, blogs and in our own backyards; people are furious and they are allowing their weaker selves to take hold of their thoughts, words and actions.  Too bad, because that’s exactly what the Devil desires – that we give in to our weaker selves so that a state of chaos will replace serenity leaving him a ripe terrain of despair where he steps right in and takes the reigns.

A week or so ago I was listening to one of my favorite priest speakers, Father John Corapi.  He was talking to his audience about humility.  He explained that if we are to succeed in this spiritual war between good and evil, we must make the decision to come as a servant rather than expect to be served.  He reminded the audience that Jesus came into the world as a servant and not someone who expected to be served.  It sounds way too simple, doesn’t it?  And maybe a bit boring.  Maybe even a bit scary.  Strange how the most humble of actions often has the tendency to have the largest impact (positive or negative) on our conscience.

I found this interesting paragraph from a website titled The Anchor:

I often watch Father John Corapi on EWTN, and a certain episode was the inspiration for this column. The night before his ordination he prayed with his pastor. He admits he can’t remember much of what his pastor shared with him, except one thing: “Come as a servant.” Father Corapi has lived that advice since his ordination in 1991 by Pope John Paul II. He says that in order to serve you really need only one thing — humility. It is humility that leads to holiness. It is holiness that leads to heaven.

Jesus as Servant Came in Peace

Jesus as servant is not exactly an easy concept to grasp when we are seething with anger and are ready to explode on the next person who looks at us cross-eyed.  But take notice of the state of the world!  What good is all of the anger and violence and swearing and hateful, venomous criticism when all it’s doing is promoting a breeding ground for even more despair and distress than we already have?!  What ever happened to Jesus’ message of practicing peace and goodwill toward one another?

Jesus as servant is a peaceful, humble and faithful Jesus; not an arrogant, pompous, arguing Jesus.  Why then, if He came into this world as a peaceful, humble servant, is any less expected of us?  We are a grain of sand in the universe while Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  If He, in all of his glory preaches against every thing that is not holy and yet presents Himself as our humble servant Who came to do God’s will on earth so that we may be saved, how much more should we be expected to imitate His ways and strive to become the best that we can be in order to please the Heavenly Father and gain our salvation?  Where, then, in our quest for salvation is there room for anything less?

Jesus as Servant Calls Us to Serve

Jesus as servant is teaching us to be humble, holy people.  Whether it’s changing a diaper or sweeping the floor, whatever we do, we need to do it with our all; offering up every inconvenience, every task and problem to the Heavenly Father.  If only we would learn to abandon the harsh words and angry behavior and instead treat every person we encounter with respect and every situation we find ourselves in as an opportunity to serve the Lord, we would have the capacity to transform this world by our mere attitude alone.

The Devil hates goodwill and humility; instead he thrives on chaos and calamity.  If only we would learn to imitate Jesus as servant and humble ourselves in all that we think, say and do, we would have the capacity to bring down the evil that stems from pride.  If we would learn to serve others in the same way that we serve ourselves, then peace, conversions and all things good and fair would have a place in this world once again.  But it’s never going to happen (short of a miracle) until each and every one of us makes the decision to at least decide to be better.  We needn’t be perfect, but we at least need to try to be better.

Jesus as servant is calling us to wash the feet of humanity.  The Blessed Virgin Mary has been telling us this over and over and over again in her many messages and visitations throughout history.  No matter whom the person or people happened (or happen) to be, her message is always one of peace and humility; and that message is the same, century after century.  Come as a servant, and do the will of God.  At least make the decision to try.

A while ago I wrote a post called Spiritual Warfare Prayers – (2) and it was a follow-up to Spiritual Warfare Prayers.  Spiritual Warfare Prayers is a book I’ve talked about before, and yesterday I found a prayer in there that I decided to say.  Out loud.  In front of the Sacred Heart picture that hangs on my wall in my bedroom.  Can you believe I was almost nervous about saying the prayer because I didn’t want to instigate the whatever-it-is-entity that seems to have infused itself into every nook and cranny of this house!  I was actually finding myself distressed about the fact that there would possibly be some sort of spiritual blowback because the whatever-it-is-entity would hear me.  And then I thought: This is pathetic.  I’m actually stressing out about praying out loud??  To God??  Enough.

Binding Evil Spirits and Moving On

I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t live in this house anymore and thankfully, my father, who is a Realtor, is going to help me get the heck out of here by renting it while I will move into a rental that belongs to one of his clients.  We had lunch yesterday and put a plan together.  I’m hoping to be able to be in the new place by the end of March at the latest.  There will be a monetary loss in terms of the difference in rent I’ll be paying in the new place vs. the rent I’ll be charging for my place, and there will be moving expenses that will ultimately be involved, as well as other possible expenses I haven’t even yet thought of.  But my parents and I agree that it will be WELL WORTH IT for the PEACE OF MIND I will hopefully have once I’m out of this freak house.

At the request of the exorcist priest who came here in December, I’m going to be emailing him a list of the disturbances in my house that have taken place over the last year or so.  In fact, maybe I’ll try to include the list in an upcoming post for anyone who might want to take a look.  But for now, I really just wanted to post the prayer I said yesterday which is about binding evil spirits, found in the book mentioned above.  Lately I’ve been suffering from abnormal fears and phobias, and anxiety seems to have had a stronger hold on me in recent weeks (and months) than it ever had before.  I found a bunch of things in the prayer I’m about to post that looked so familiar to me, including anxiety-related conditions and so on.

During the prayer, I heard the ceiling and/or walls (one never can tell around here what is what) crack loudly a few times.  But when you’ve had enough, you’ve had enough.  I realized that Jesus is far more powerful than any evil spirit.  And for those who have ever doubted that this entity is evil, my most recent *house incident* happened a couple of nights ago when my Scapular was tossed onto the floor, minutes after I set in on my dresser.  Mess with the Scapular. . . . .you’re done.

Binding Evil Spirits Prayer

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Word, and the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I bind the evil spirits of pride, ignorance, unforgiveness, gossip, envy, competitiveness, criticism, impatience, resentment, haughtiness, rebellion, stubbornness, deceitfulness, defiance, disobedience, strife, violence, divorce, laziness, accusation, confusion, procrastination, self-hatred, suicide, shame, depression, oppression, rejection, poor self image, anger, schizophrenia, manipulation, anxiety, timidity, jealously, greed, revenge, covetousness, fear, possessiveness, control, division, retaliation, distrust, selfishness, loneliness, isolation, ostracism, lack, paranoia, nervousness, passivity, indecision, doubt, deception, dishonesty, unbelief, withdrawal, betrayal, escape, infirmity, nerve disorder, lung disorder, brain disorder or dysfunction, AIDS, cancer, hypochondria, fatigue, anorexia, bulimia, addictions, gluttony, perfectionism, alcoholism, workaholism, nicotine, self-abuse, sexual addictions, sexual impurities and sexual perversion, seduction, lust, incest, pedophilia, lesbianism, homosexuality, pornography, adultery, masturbation, homophobia, frigidity, impotency, immorality, witchcraft, enticing spirits, deaf, dumb, blind mute and sleeping spirits, hyperactivity, new-age spirits, occult spirits, religious spirits, antichrist spirits, and any other spirits of death and darkness all in the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I call forth and ask the Holy Spirit to fill me with the gifts of peace, patience, love, joy, charity, humility, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, discipline, relinquishment, freedom from shame, good self image, prosperity, obedience, a sound mind, order, fulfillment in Christ, truth, acceptance of self, acceptance of others, trust, self control, freedom from addictions, freedom of having-to-control, wholeness, wellness, heath, and the light and life of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

 

Selin is one of our readers from El Salvador who also occasionally writes for this blog.  I really enjoyed reading this piece, and I hope you do as well. 

What are you looking for?

According to the Gospel of John, that was the first question Jesus asked to his first two disciples.  One of them was Andrew, the brother of Simon, who became St. Peter the first Pope.  Upon hearing how John the Baptist spoke like fire about Jesus when he saw him pass, they followed Him.  When Jesus saw them He asked that question: What are you looking for?  So that’s John the Evangelist tells it in his first chapter.

I just watched Moneyball this movie where Brad Pitt plays something like the CEO of a small team of Major League Baseball, the Oakland Athletics.  He is Billy Beane, the “failed” baseball player who became the boss of a humble team.  Also I just watched one more time the interesting comment Father Robert Barron made many months ago on this movie.  In fact, I watched Moneyball motivated by his comments.  This interesting film, based on a true story, is about the former baseball player who is still looking for his game, he’s motivated by the victory.  He still believes in himself, and still keeps fighting.  Doesn’t look like a failure.  It reminds me what St. Paul told to the Corinthians in his second letter: “We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians, 4:8-9)

Seeing clearly

There is a key moment in the plot.  Billy aims to build a winning team, competitive, but with everything against him.  Without a big budget, no major players, with the press against, contrary to the coach, against his own sports advisors, suffering loss of important players.  Against all odds.  But he thinks he can achieve his goal, his dream.  By listening to his advisors (solutions) they offer a crucial meeting, he blurts out that they are wrong, they are not seeing the problem clearly.  They are doing things like everyone does.  What’s the problem?, Billy asked them several times.  And he explains the point.  He explains the problem.  And although they don’t understand him, he goes forward.  To him is quite clear.

I think it’s the same with us: we want to solve our problems, our sorrows, financial problems, unemployment, relationship problems, frustrations, without having clear what’s the real problem, which actually has us paralyzed.  Why don’t we see clear?  Because we live life according to the world.  And the world doesn’t gives us real solutions.  The world runs too quickly, and in the middle of the confusion is almost impossible to see clearly.  So we need to stop thinking, change of pace, stop, move away.

Where do you live?

That was the response from Andrew and his companion to Jesus, and He invited them to go and see.  That He invited them to be with Him.  That’s it.  We have to be with Him.  For He does have answers, he has words of eternal life (John 6:68).

In the film we don’t see Brad Pitt visiting the Blessed Sacrament, or praying the Rosary or flipping through the Bible, we don’t see him coming out of Mass or the confessional.  But we do see him thinking, meditating, away from the noise, looking quietly at the empty field, talking to players, weighing their ideas, listening to his little daughter and listening to the revolutionary ideas of his top aide.  We see him taking a bold way, different.  And he is sure of his decision, no doubt.  That’s the point.  We have to believe, no doubt, no hesitation.  “These people cannot expect anything from the Lord, are people divided and its existence is unstable” (James 1:7-8).  Don’t simply follow the currents of the world, but rather must change our thinking, to change our way of life. (Romans 12:2).  I am sure Jesus is not in doubt, but in the certainty of faith.

We often wonder where Jesus is, where He lives… and He respond to you and to me: “Come and see”, (John 1:39). Jesus lives in faith.  Easy?  No, but He himself does give faith to you if you ask with ardency, with fire, with conviction.  And Mary takes you to His side, She takes you to the foot of His beloved Son.  Maybe you feel struck down, but you’re not destroyed… Christ never leaves you alone.  Cheer up!

Lately there have been several requests for prayers to be said for various people dealing with various afflictions.  Some of the requests are showing up in the form of comments, and others as emails.  I thought that maybe this would be a good time to post a Saint Anthony prayer called St. Anthony – Saint of Miracles, which you will find below.  Please refer to this Wikipedia link to read about Saint Anthony of Padua’s life and patronage, etc.

On another note, Selin, one of our readers, has written a piece called What are you looking for? that I think you will enjoy reading, and I will be posting it by the end of this week.  Also, I’m working on an update to my latest post, Spiritual Warfare – (2), which should be ready by some time next week.  There will be some other posts in the coming weeks on the Virgin Mary and spiritual warfare.  Also, I’m going to be writing about the many spiritual challenges of the 21st Century that have created various problems and even serious dangers in the form of immorality, substance abuse, the loss of innocence in children, the straying from the Catholic faith, scandals in the Church, the abuse of technology, and so much more.

St. Anthony – Saint of Miracles

O Holy St. Anthony, reach down from heaven and take hold of my hand.  Assure me that I am not alone.  You are known to possess miraculous powers and to be ever ready to speak for those in trouble.  Loving and Gentle St. Anthony, reach down from heaven I implore you and assist me in my hour of need.  Obtain for me (mention your request here).  Dearest St. Anthony, reach down from heaven and guide me with thy strength.  Plead for me in my needs.  And teach me to be humbly thankful as you were for all the bountiful blessings I am to receive.  Amen. 

 

On February 11th, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous.  This apparition was the first of a series that followed.  On March 25th of that year, there was an apparition in which the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”  You can read more about Our Lady of Lourdes here.

Today we remember Our Lady of Lourdes, and invoke her aid for all of the people we know who are suffering from bodily ills.  We should also remember that St. Bernadette of Lourdes is the patron saint of bodily ills, and we can always turn to her when we need prayers for a sick loved one or for anyone suffering from any type of bodily ailment, including sickness in general.  She is also the patron saint of poor people and people ridiculed for their piety.

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comforter of the afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings; look with mercy on me.

By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors; and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.

I come, therefore, with complete confidence to implore your maternal intercession.  Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests.  Through gratitude for your favors, I will endeavor to imitate your virtues, that I may one day share your glory.  Amen.

 

I was looking over past entries from a year ago when I came across this one.  As I read through the post, I saw the part where I was quoting Father Corapi who was discussing the attack on the priesthood and related matters.  It’s so strange now looking back and realizing that this post was written only months before Father Corapi had his crisis.  Only a matter of several weeks later, unbeknownst to me or any of us at the time, his life would be turned upside down and he would become the focus of the very subject he frequently spoke about.

Originally posted on February 5, 2011

In this dark era of chaotic change and moral breakdown, we are urged to pray for priests, bishops and of course, our Pope.  I had originally planned on writing a follow-up post to my latest post which discusses diabolic infestation, but then realized that I wanted to take this in a slightly different direction.

Yesterday I read some very sad news: Father Thomas Euteneuer’s resignation as president of Human Life International was due to violations of chastity.  You can read about it here.  This priest has been heavily involved in not only the Pro-Life Movement, but also in the exorcism ministry.  I’ve referred to him a number of times in this blog in my posts concerning demonic affliction and have admired his efforts through the months.  I even planned on purchasing his book called Exorcism and the Church Militant. A few months ago my mother and I were talking about the fact that the book was suddenly out of print and unavailable for purchase.  Well, if you click on the link you will see that there are now only a handful of copies available, and at astronomical prices.

The Pope Asks Us to Pray for Priests

There is a growing need for us, as Catholics, to continually pray for priests and really all members of the clergy, as we are finding ourselves facing a multitude of spiritual challenges that are a direct result of the war between good and evil.  Pope Benedict XVI said that “the priesthood is a gift from the heart of Christ, a gift for the Church and for the world.”  He also said that we should continue “to remember all priests in our prayers, thanking Christ for this great gift of His love and asking Him to keep them in His grace as faithful friends and ministers.”  This was from a June 14th, 2010 article from Catholic News Service which outlined the Pope’s Angelus address on June 13th, 2010.

Pray for Priests Facing Spiritual Conflict

Regarding Father Tom Euteneuer’s situation, it is of course, only my opinion, but I firmly believe that his work as an exorcist may have brought about the temptation which caused him to cross a moral boundary.  I think that he was spiritually vulnerable, as he was casting out demons and speaking out against abortion.  He wasn’t your ordinary priest, by any means, and the fact that he was doing such good for people probably made him even more of a target for the evil one than he would’ve been if he weren’t in the spotlight.  After all, he was pretty well-known in the Catholic circuit and beyond, so why wouldn’t that be all the more of a challenge for Satan to strike out against him in order to bring him down and ruin his good name and spiritual reputation?

We need to pray for priests because they are spiritually vulnerable as they are doing the work of God and promoting the peace of Christ.  Just because they are priests, that does not mean that they are insulated against the wickedness of the world and the traps of Satan.  If anything, they are even more vulnerable because of their position in the Church and their close relationship with the Lord.  And when we pray for priests, we must remember to include the ones who have already been targeted, such as Father Tom Euteneuer and several others who have fallen prey to the snares of the enemy.  I read the paragraph below about Father John Corapi’s perspective on the matter:

The Priesthood of Jesus Christ

Father Corapi gives this timely exposition on two absolutely interrelated sacraments: Holy Orders and the holy Eucharist.  The contemporary crisis can be stated very simply: No priest, no Eucharist.  There is an attack on the priesthood in order to remove the Eucharist, which is the source, center, and summit of the Church’s life.  The only tactician evil enough or intelligent enough to orchestrate this strategy of evil is Satan himself, “the father of lies and murderer from the beginning.”

Pray for Priests and for Vocations to the Priesthood

On April 22, 2010, I received a letter from my parish priest in response to a letter I wrote to him.  (I also sent a copy to the Bishop.)  In my letter I expressed my concern that on Divine Mercy weekend, the priest that was supposedly going to be hearing Confessions had instead announced that he “couldn’t be in two places at the same time” and proceeded to prepare for the Saturday evening Mass, leaving myself and three other parishioners stranded at the Confessional.  This is another good example of why there is a serious need for us Catholics to not only pray for priests, but to pray for vocations to the priesthood as well.

Here is the letter (with my name misspelled):

Dear Marge:

I received your letter on my return from being out of town for 10 days.  I apologize for your unfortunate experience here at Cathedral.

Unfortunately having lost my associate and having two parishes has created some scheduling conflicts.

I left for my first vacation in a year on that Saturday afternoon.  Since there is a 4PM Mass at St. John’s that went longer than expected the priest was unable to get back for confessions in time.

I appreciate your sending a copy of this letter to the Bishop.  Perhaps he will understand that I cannot pastor two parishes without help and that more occurrences like this one will happen as the shortage of priests continues.

Please accept my apologies for this most unfortunate incident.  Let us both pray that God will intervene and there will be more vocations so that your spiritual needs can be met.

Please introduce yourself to me the next time you are at Mass.

Sincerely,

to be continued..

I’m sure by now all of you are aware that President Obama’s health care reform law is forcing Catholic universities, hospitals, and charities to provide insurance for their employees covering contraception, in spite of the fact that it is in direct violation of the Church’s teachings.  You can read about it here.

I found this prayer that entrusts the Church to Mary and I thought that this would be the perfect time to post it.  Part of the problem with the way the world is going is that there are too many complacent people just sitting back and allowing things to happen rather than standing for something, and speaking up against injustice and wrongdoing.  And even if you don’t have the gift of speech, you certainly have the gift of prayer.  Jesus told us that if man has faith the size of a mustard seed he can move mountains.  Anyway, here’s the prayer:

Prayer of Entrusting the Church to Mary, Mother of God

O Mother of all peoples; you  know all their sufferings and their hopes.  You maternally feel all their struggles between good and evil, between the light and the darkness which shake the world.  Receive our cry, directed in the Holy Spirit straight to your Heart and, with the love of the Mother and Handmaid of the Lord, embrace the individuals and peoples which most look for this embrace, together with the individuals and peoples to whose trust you attend in a particular way.  Take the entire human family under your maternal protection.  With outflows of affection, O Mother, we entrust it to you.  May the time of peace and liberty approach for all, the time of truth, justice and hope.  Amen.

Originally posted on January 16, 2011

In our daily struggle to maintain a strong faith and love for our neighbor, it is very easy to accidentally slip into a state of false compassion.  It seems that we often find ourselves more bothered and preoccupied by the suffering of someone that we know and love rather than by our own suffering.  Why is that?  Why do we risk losing our peace of mind and heart over the problems of someone else?  Is it because we are truly saddened by the other person’s suffering or is it because that person’s suffering is inflicting us with the fear of suffering ourselves?

Compassion for our fellow human beings is a necessary virtue in order to advance toward our salvation.  As Christians, we are all called to prayer and works of charity; we’re all called to love one another as ourselves.  But when this true compassion is mistaken for false compassion and fear and anxiety replace the trust we are supposed to have in the Lord, we can be sure that something has gone quite wrong.  We risk losing our interior peace when we worry about a loved one’s woes to the extent that we forget to place our confidence in God and abandon ourselves into His care.  After all, doesn’t He love our loved ones infinitely more and better than we do or ever will?

False Compassion Causes Fear and Anxiety

Excessive anxiety can occur when false compassion replaces trust in God.  For instance, a family struggling with issues concerning poor health, unemployment, depression, etc. or a parent’s despair over problems concerning his/her child will often result in total loss of interior peace within the family.  And when peace is lost, fear and anxiety swiftly step in to take its place.  Though the distress we feel concerning our loved ones is legitimate and understandable, it is often disturbed and anxious; partly because of this lack of trust in God, and partly because it is of a selfish nature.  Though certainly not intentional, much of our worry and stress over another person is really just a reflection of our own lives and the fear of what could happen if, God forbid, the same misery that has inflicted our loved one ends up inflicting us, as well.

A few years ago I was going through a very difficult time.  I remember reaching out to various family members and friends because I was hurting and I needed verbal consolation or even just a listening ear – someone to tell me that it will all work itself out in time.  But what I discovered through that miserable era was that some of my loved ones and friends were reacting to my adverse situation out of sheer relief that it wasn’t happening to them.  It wasn’t as if they didn’t care that I was hurting, but I could sense an undertone of Thank God I’m not going through that ordeal which, unfortunately, caused me to withdraw from wanting to continue confiding in them.  I was uncomfortable knowing that their real concern stemmed from fear for themselves and their own lives rather than for sincere compassion for me and what I was going through.  But, on the flip side, the people who sincerely cared and hurt because I was hurting could’ve pierced the clouds and reached all the way to Heaven with their many words of comfort and hours of time spent on making sure that I knew that they were there for me.

False Compassion Is Transparent

When I was in my distressed state, I knew when a person reaching out to me was being sincere vs. insincere; it was just a “gut” feeling that I had.  False compassion can be one of the most transparent flaws in a person’s nature.  No one wants to go around being that obvious – having his/her family and friends able to see through the phony facade.  But to be fair, in many cases it isn’t a facade because the person doesn’t realize how obvious he/she is being.

I have a friend who, along with her husband, went on a biking trip this past summer/fall along the East Coast Greenway.  They had been planning this trip for at least a year and were absolutely thrilled when it came down to the day of departure.  As it turns out, their trip was filled with wonderful adventures, happy reunions with old friends, good food, lots of laughter and tons of fun.  The weather was perfect most of those many weeks and in fact, as I recall my friend telling me, it only rained once.  They even had a blog detailing each and every adventure from Maine to Florida!

The only negative part about the whole trip was that one night my friend ate something that didn’t agree with her and she spent the night feeling ill and not getting much sleep.  However, she still managed to get up on her bike the following morning and continue on with the journey, in spite of her stomach ailments from eating the bad food.  When she told one of her friends about the trip, rather than comment on the happy, positive aspects of it, her friend instead decided to dwell on the one negative part – the food intolerance night.  Over and over again this friend kept saying something like I can’t believe you were sick!  That’s so terrible!  You must’ve felt awful! And the false compassion this friend exhibited was so blatantly obvious that my friend felt the need to tell me about it!  Granted, this could be a bit of a separate issue from what I’ve been talking about so far.  In fact, it actually sounds to me more like a classic case of envy/jealousy than anything else.  But still, the point is well made that the compassion for my friend’s food illness was anything but sincere, and instead, was motivated by negative feelings rather than positive ones.  And look at the adverse ripple effect it had: I’m actually now writing about it in my blog!

False Compassion Is Useless

We all need to remember that our words and body language have lasting effects on our friends and loved ones.  We need to learn to discern and think twice before we react out of love of self instead of true love for others.  None of us are perfect, but we at least have to admit that there is much room for growth and positive change.  Instead of overdoing the OOHS and OH NOS!  and HOW TERRIBLES! that are the prime verbal culprits in false compassion,  maybe instead we need to take a step back and think about how we truly feel about our loved one’s misery.  Are we sincerely sorry for that person’s pain or are we reacting out of some self-oriented motive?  There is no room for false compassion in our journey of faith.  It is absolutely useless.

There are two prayer requests this week.  The first one is from Jeff who is asking for feedback/suggestions on the type of prayer that will help him find work, similar to the one he found 32 years ago.  The second request is from Sonia, and she’s specifically asking for prayers at 1:00 pm tomorrow, London time.  The category on the sidebar titled Prayer Requests will link you back to any of the previous ones you may have missed.  Thank you for your prayers and for sharing your time.

Prayer Request from Jeff:

Hi,
 years ago (32) i was jobless after high school and had a relationship breakup .  so one day i stopped by the church and had a talk with father Hawes.  after confession he said a prayer for me to help with the job situation and b4 i left he said by the time i get home i would have a job .  so after a 1/2 mile drive i got home only to find out a call was waiting for me .  it was a job .:)  so 32 yrs later jobless again i find myself going back to that day .  do you know of any prayers like that ,cuz i have been jobless for 2 yrs now plz tell me something or where to search for this prayer .  thank you from my heart Jeff R

Prayer Request from Sonia:

Hi

I would like you to pray for me especially tomorrow at 1 PM lONDON TIME

After an abusive marriage where my husband stole all my savings , I was left peniless and resorted to not very right ways of making money .  I could make my parents and selfish brother happy with the money , sometime last year I stopped all the not very right activities and started living with whatever I could but looks like when I started following the right path everything is going wrong , my brother hardly speaks to me cause I no longer have money for him to lavishly waste , I lost my job to a girl who I felt sorry for and recruited inspite of her not even speaking the language correctly , and I have now been called my the police for an audition tomorow with regards to my previous employement along with my ex boss ….I m not sure what it is about but I just hope it s not about my previous activities …….. i NEED A MIRICLE ; I need my past to be forgiven and forgotten , I have a newborn premature baby and I really don t need this stress now I have been praying the rosary for the past few days and I feel at peace I am not as anxious as I normally would be when faced with such an issue ….yet I wish to start a fresh and I need this grace I need my past to be forgiven and forgotten and would mlove it if nothing hinders my future ambitions .

This is the twelfth in a series of posts titled True Devotion to Mary which I started in a hopeful effort to promote the prophetic message of Saint Louis De Montfort in his book titled True Devotion to Mary.  Please refer back to this post which will link you back to the previous ones.  Everything written in burgundy font is quoted directly from Saint Louis De Montfort’s book.

What I’ve done in all the past True Devotion posts is add my own personal remarks and insights below De Montfort’s words.  However, I thought it might be interesting this time to see what other people have to say.  Please feel free to leave your comments below or, if you prefer, send me something via a private email and I’ll read it and then add it to this post either giving you credit, or keeping your name anonymous, whichever you prefer.

-THIRD TRUTH-

We Need Mary in Order to Die to Ourselves

78. Our best actions are ordinarily stained and corrupted by our corrupt nature.  When we put clean, clear water into a vessel which has a foul and evil smell, or wine into a cask the inside of which has been tainted by another wine which has been in it, the clear water and the good wine are spoilt, and readily take on the bad odor.  In like manner, when God puts into the vessel of our soul, spoilt by original and actual sin, His graces and heavenly dews, or the delicious wine of His love, His gifts are ordinarily spoilt and corrupted by the bad leaven and the evil which sin has left within us.  Our actions, even the most sublime and virtuous, feel the effects of it.  It is therefore of great importance in the acquiring of perfection – which, it must be remembered, is only acquired by union with Jesus Christ – to rid ourselves of everything that is bad within us; otherwise our Lord, who is infinitely pure and hates infinitely the least stain upon our souls, will not unite Himself to us, and will cast us out from His presence.

79. To rid ourselves of self we must:

          1. Thoroughly recognize, by the light of the Holy Ghost, our inward corruption, our incapacity for every good thing useful for salvation, our weakness in all things, our inconstancy at all times, our unworthiness of every grace, and our iniquity in every position.  The sin of our first father has spoilt us all, soured us, puffed us up and corrupted us, as the leaven sours, puffs up and corrupts the dough into which it is put.  The actual sins which we have committed, whether mortal or venial, pardoned though they may be, have nevertheless increased our concupiscence, our weakness, our inconstancy and our corruption, and have left evil remains in our souls.  

           Our bodies are so corrupted that they are called by the Holy Ghost bodies of sin (Rom. 6:6), conceived in sin (Ps. 50:7), nourished in sin, and capable of all sin – bodies subject to thousands of maladies, which go on corrupting from day to day, and which engender nothing but disease, vermin and corruption.

           Our soul, united to our body, has become so carnal that it is called flesh: “All flesh having corrupted its way.” (Gen. 6:12).  We have nothing for our portion but pride and blindness of spirit, hardness of heart, weakness and inconstancy of soul, concupiscence, revolted passions, and sicknesses in the body.  We are naturally prouder than peacocks, more groveling than toads, more vile than unclean animals, more envious than serpents, more gluttonous than hogs, more furious than tigers, lazier than tortoises, weaker than reeds, and more capricious than weathercocks.  We have within ourselves nothing but nothingness and sin, and we deserve nothing but the anger of God and everlasting Hell. 

80. After this, ought we to be astonished if Our Lord has said that whoever wishes to follow Him must renounce himself and hate his own life, and that whosoever shall love his own life shall lose it, and whosoever shall hate it, shall save it? (Jn. 12:25).  He who is infinite Wisdom does not give commandments without reason, and He has commanded us to hate ourselves only because we so richly deserve to be hated.  Nothing is worthier of love than God, and nothing is worthier of hatred than ourselves.

81.    2. In order to rid ourselves of self, we must die to ourselves daily.  That is to say, we must renounce the operations of the powers of our soul and of the senses of our body.  We must see as if we saw not, understand as if we understood not, and make use of the things of this world as if we made no use of them at all. (1 Cor. 7:29-31).  This is what St. Paul calls dying daily. (1 Cor. 15:31).  “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone,” and bringeth forth no good fruit. (Jn. 12:24-25).  If we do not die to ourselves, and if our holiest devotions do not incline us to this necessary and useful death, we shall bring forth no fruit worth anything, and our devotions will become useless.  All our good works will be stained by self-love and our own will; and this will cause God to hold in abomination the greatest sacrifices we can make and the best actions we can do; so that at our death we shall find our hands empty of virtues and of merits and we shall not have one spark of pure love, which is only communicated to souls dead to themselves, souls whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God. (Col. 3:3).

82.    3. We must choose, therefore, among all the devotions to the Blessed Virgin, the one which draws us most toward this death to ourselves, inasmuch as it will be the best and the most sanctifying.  For we must not think that all that shines is gold, that all that tastes sweet is honey, or that all that is easy to do and is done by the greatest number is the most sanctifying.  As there are secrets of nature by which natural operations are performed more easily, in a short time and at little cost, so also are there secrets in the order of grace by which supernatural operations, such as ridding ourselves of self, filling ourselves with God, and becoming perfect, are performed more easily.

           The practice which I am about to disclose is one of these secrets of grace, unknown to the greater number of Christians, known even to few of the devout, and practiced and relished by a lesser number still.  But by way of beginning the explanation of this practice, let us consider a fourth truth which is a consequence of the third.

(to be continued…)