Confession

Why do we as Catholics take for granted the healing of forgiveness that can be received from going to Confession?  Why do we devoutly follow everything we are supposed to, except for that?  Why do we not encourage our children to go to confession so it becomes a normal practice as they get older?

I admit, I fell into the category of being lax in the confession category myself.  I never had a bad experience or had a tough Priest give me a hard time, but it was not something I ever really embraced until about 10 years ago.  I hadn't been in AGES and was so afraid to go.  But I gathered up my courage and went to a wonderful Msgr. who I just adore.  Instead of asking why I waited so long to go, or give me a hard time about being away from Confession for so long, he was encouraging and supportive. 

I then started going about twice a year, but still didn't fully understand the powerful healing that comes from forgiveness until listening to a Priest's homily one day at daily Mass.  He gave the example of writing all your sins out and then ripping up the paper into shreds.  That is basically what God does when we confess our sins. They are gone, never to be thought of again.  We should no longer beat ourselves up over them or give them a second thought.  God doesn't.

After that homily I vowed that I would start going to confession more frequently.  I made up a little template in very tiny font in Word with what I need to say and the Act of Contrition that I can take in with me.  Now that I go every couple of weeks, I will say, the hesitation and scariness is gone.  I actually look forward to going and feeling God's healing power.

I encourage any Catholic who has been nervous about going and hasn't been in a while, to take the time to go. Do a good examination of conscience and ask for God's forgiveness.  It will heal you in ways you can not imagine. 

   

Divine Mercy Chaplet

I attended a service for a young man who was attending the Seminary and died suddenly.  Instead of the rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet was sung.  I had never heard it before and it was beautiful.  I immediately fell in love with the beautiful words.  Below is taken from http://thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/chaplethistory.php which gives the best instruction on praying the chaplet as well as a wonderful explanation of the history behind it. 

The History of the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy

Sister Faustina was a young, uneducated, nun in a convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Cracow, Poland during the 1930's. She came from a very poor family that struggled on their little farm during the years of World War I. She had only three years of very simple education, so hers were the humblest tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or garden. However, she received extraordinary revelations or messages from Our Lord Jesus. Jesus asked Sr. Faustina to record these experiences, which she compiled in notebooks. These notebooks are known today as the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and the words contained within are God's loving message of Divine Mercy.

In 1935, St. Faustina received a vision of an angel sent by God to chastise a certain city. She began to pray for mercy, but her prayers were powerless. Suddenly she saw the Holy Trinity and felt the power of Jesus’ grace within her. At the same time she found herself pleading with God for mercy with words she heard interiorly:

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us. (Diary, 475)

As she continued saying this inspired prayer, the angel became helpless and could not carry out the deserved punishment (see 474). The next day, as she was entering the chapel, she again heard this interior voice, instructing her how to recite the prayer that our Lord later called "the Chaplet." This time, after "have mercy on us" were added the words "and on the whole world" (476). From then on, she recited this form of prayer almost constantly, offering it especially for the dying.

In subsequent revelations, the Lord made it clear that the Chaplet was not just for her, but for the whole world. He also attached extraordinary promises to its recitation.

Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you (1541). Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death (687). When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the Merciful Savior (1541). Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this Chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy (687). I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy (687). Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will. (1731)

Prayed on ordinary rosary beads, The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is an intercessory prayer that extends the offering of the Eucharist, so it is especially appropriate to use it after having received Holy Communion at Holy Mass. It may be said at any time, but our Lord specifically told St. Faustina to recite it during the nine days before the Feast of Mercy (the first Sunday after Easter). He then added: "By this Novena, [of Chaplets] I will grant every possible grace to souls." (796)

It is likewise appropriate to pray the Chaplet during the "Hour of Great Mercy" — three o'clock each afternoon (recalling the time of Christ’s death on the cross). In His revelations to St. Faustina, Our Lord asked for a special remembrance of His Passion at that hour.

heroes

I used to love to read, back when my life was my own and I had tons of leisure time.  Then I went back to college for 3 years and I only had time to read textbooks.  No time to read for pleasure and I got out of the habit of reading books I enjoyed.  Two years after I graduated, I finally started to read for myself again.  Unfortunately since I am so limited on reading time (15 min in the locked bathroom, 10 min in the car waiting for a kid) I have to read books that can be picked up and put down easily.  Short chapters work the best. 

I love books that have a positive message or are inspirational.  There is a set of books I just love.  It's called Coffee with Nonna and More Coffee with Nonna by Vincent Iezzi.  They seem very simplistic; stories of this author's Italian Grandmother (Nonna in Italian).  And while that doesn't sound particularly inspiring, they are amazing.  His grandmother may not have been the most educated, but she had a worldly knowledge that came from experience.  Like Jesus, she taught lessons in stories.  I've met only a few people in my life that had the beautiful ability to weave a life lesson in what seemed like an innocent story.

 
While sometimes later in life it is realized the stories may not have necessarily been entirely factual in nature, they always had the perfect moral lesson.  There are so many that I enjoyed reading.  Stories of how the birds used to be all white, but as they helped Jesus, they earned colors.  How certain animals were selected to be there at the birth of Jesus as they represented various stages of our Savior's life.  And how the Magi were each told a special secret by an angel to share with the Infant Child when he was born.  The secrets were discovered and told to King Herod who laughed at what he thought was the silliness of them.  But it turns out they were to represent the areas that Jesus would travel to teach and ultimately die. 

But perhaps my favorite is Nonna's thoughts on heroes.  This is one I will share in more detail.  

Vinnie was young and had a rather large comic book collection.  Mind you this was during the war.  As he listened to the stories of what was going on in the war he wished his super heroes from his comics would come to the rescue and win the war.  So he proceeded to write his favorite superhero and waited in quiet anticipation for him to win the war.  Much to his disappointment nothing happened.  So one day when they were collecting paper for the war efforts, he dumped all his comic books into the heap.  His Nonna was very proud of his sacrifice but was confused when she discovered why he did it. 

She went on to explain that sometimes people are hero's in life only once.  It's not their destiny that they should always do heroic things.  Perhaps there was one moment in time that they did something self sacrificing and became a hero for someone.  Reminded me of the story of the starfish.  The little boy kept throwing them back in the water and a passerby remarked that it was a pointless waste of time and wouldn't make a difference as there were so many strewn along the beach.  The little boy proudly replies, "It made a difference to that one".

But back to Nonna's story.  She explained that each person on this Earth is charged with being a hero once in their lifetime.  And for her grandson, his generous donation of paper was his. 

I do believe that.  We can aspire to be like a hero, a priest, a saint, or beloved relative.  Oftentimes we put these people on pedestals and our standards are so high; they are unattainable.  But if we think about a hero as Nonna did, we don't have to be perfect, saving the world every day.  Even what we may deem as insignificant can be monumental to that person at that time.  We can just do something nice for someone once, and be a hero in their eyes.  

That's all God asks.  Not that we be perfect all the time.  But that we love our neighbor and help our fellow man. 

March for life

Today was the ProLife March in Tulsa and while I was unable to attend, I loved looking at the beautiful pictures on Facebook.  It is amazing to see people of all faiths coming together to support the right to life.  Everyone deserves the right to the life that God has provided.  Not one of us has the right to take away someone's life, especially from the most fragile, innocent, beautiful babies.  These are gifts from God and
should be celebrated, not exterminated. 



I repeat again, we all have the right to live.  Children are not inconveniences to careers, school, and busy lifestyles; they are extraordinary miracles.  While our timing may be off, His is not.  He has perfect timing and each one of us is here today because someone believed in His timing and chose life.  Could you  imagine if your mother chose her career, school, or lifestyle rather than giving birth to you?  


Of these lost lives, we have lost part of our future.  We've lost great leaders, scientists, teachers, Priests, Nuns, mothers, and fathers.  Think of diseases that could have possibly been cured by one of these lost souls who could have become an amazing scientist.  Wars that may have been avoided because we lost a great peacemaker.

  

There are other alternatives to abortion; one being adoption.  A friend of mine brought her 3 adopted children to the march and asked if they wanted to make a sign.  They got to choose what was on the sign and they wanted them to say "I'm adopted".  It was heartwarming to see their smiling faces holding their home made signs made with paper and marker.  These 3 beautiful children are here because their natural mothers chose to have them and give them up rather than take their lives.  Their sacrifices formed a beautiful family that may not have been here otherwise.