Through the chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will

[Diary 1731] 

Today I was awakened by a great storm. The wind was raging, and it was raining in torrents, thunderbolts striking again and again. I began to pray that the storm would do no harm, when I heard the words: Say the chaplet I have taught you, and the storm will cease. I began immediately to say the chaplet and hadn't even finished it when the storm suddenly ceased, and I heard the words: Through the chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will.

Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry [January 27, 2013]

The Sunday Gospel [January 27, 2013]

Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

1Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, 3I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 15He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.16He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” 20Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Reflection

“Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” ~ v. 21

Returning to his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus was invited to speak in the synagogue. His reputation as a wonder worker and powerful preacher had preceded him, and the people hung on his every word. This was not the first time that they had heard this passage – it was part of their regular cycle of Scripture readings. But this time it was different. Jesus spoke with unmistakable authority and their hearts were stirred.

What made the difference? The Spirit of anointing rested on Jesus just as he had filled the prophet who spoke these words. The words came alive as Jesus declared, “He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives.” You can just imagine some of the people seeing themselves in those words for the first time – and sensing that their own deliverance was at hand!

How can we have this same experience? What will make the Scriptures leap off their page for us? The Spirit of anointing! When you read the Bible, invite the Holy Spirit to help you. Ask him to open your eyes to his truths in a deeper, more personal way. Read the passage carefully, and make sure you understand what it is saying. Use a commentary or a good study Bible, but don’t stop there. Prayerfully ponder what you have read. Let the words echo in your mind and heart. If a particular verse or even a word strikes you, stay with it and see what happens. Give it time, and don’t worry about the rest of the passage. Maybe the Lord wants to say something to you personally right then and there.

Finally, make sure you write down whatever sense you receive as you ponder the word of God. Keep a prayer journal so that you can review it now and then to see how much the Lord is doing in your life. He wants to talk with you! He wants you to learn how to hear his voice!

Prayer Response

Lord, open my eyes to your wonders in the Scriptures.

Reflection Credits: the WORD among us

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).

Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands

[Diary 1728] 

Write: I am Thrice Holy, and I detest the smallest sin. I cannot love a soul which is stained with sin; but when it repents, there is no limit to My generosity toward it. My mercy embraces and justifies it. With My mercy, I pursue sinners along all their paths, and My Heart rejoices when they return to Me. I forget the bitterness with which they fed My Heart and rejoice at their return. Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... when will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want.

Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Feast of the Sto. Nino [January 20, 2013]

The Sunday Gospel [Feast of the Sto. Nino - January 20, 2013]

Luke 2:41-52

41Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, 42and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. 43After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, 47and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” 49And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50But they did not understand what he said to them. 51He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

Reflection

Ferdinand Magellan is credited with bringing the devotion to the Santo Nino in the Philippines. When he came to the country in 1521, he had with him an image of the  Child Jesus. Magellan gave this to Queen Juana of Cebu when she was baptized. In 1565 Spanish troops led by Miguel Lopez Legazpi returned to retake the country and Cebu. The troops razed Cebu to the ground. In one large house that was gutted, the soldiers found the image of the Child Jesus that Ferdinand Magellan had given to Queen Juana. For some reason, the image was miraculously spared from the fire. Our devotion to the Santo Nino began with this miracle.

According to the 1981 paper of National Artist Nick Joaquin, the Santo Nino has become a symbol of Philippine history “because it came with Magellan, became a native pagan idol, was reestablished as a Christian icon by Legazpi, and has become so Filipino that native legends annul its European origin by declaring it to have arisen in this land and to have been of this land since time immemorial.”

Today, Cebuanos continue to lead the devotion to the Santo Nino. At the Basilica in Cebu City, which houses the image of the Santo Nino, devotees venerate the image day and night. Hundreds of miracles have been attributed to the Santo Nino. A voluminous book would be required to record all these miracles.

Like Queen Juana and our ancestors, our Mother Mary and her husband Joseph, let us love the Child Jesus. Let us also love all children. Let us also learn to appreciate the humility, and the genuine and unconditional love of children.

Love all children. Love the Child Jesus. Love the Lord Jesus, and you will be richly blessed.

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).

All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion

[Diary 1392]

All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion. I owe everything to it. I feel that this holy fire has transformed me completely. Oh, how happy I am to be a dwelling place for You, O Lord! My heart is a temple in which You dwell continually...

+ J.M.J.

Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

Baptism of the Lord [January 13, 2013]

The Sunday Gospel [January 13, 2013]

Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

15Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. 16John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

21After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened 22and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Reflection

“You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased.”

Last year, before the London summer Olympics, the 1981 film Chariots of Fire was released for the big screen. It’s a stirring true story about British runners at the 1924 Olympics – one of them the Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell. The movie accurately depicts Liddell as a devout Christian. And though it shows him explaining his athletic motivation in words he probably never spoke – “When I run, I feel his pleasure” – the line is a window into how Liddell related to God in real life.

When I run I feel his pleasure. Think about that statement for a minute. Are there times when you experience God’s delight in you? How would fill in this blank? “I feel God’s pleasure when I _______________.”

Do you rest secure in the knowledge that your Father loves and affirms you? Or do you feel overlooked or rejected by a God who finds you wanting? If you oscillate between these two poles, as many of us do, you’ll find an important message in Jesus’ baptism.

Why do you think, did the sinless Son of God embrace a baptism of repentance? One simple answer is this: so that each of us could hear our Father say, “You are my beloved child. With you, I am well pleased”! This isn’t wishful thinking. When you were baptized, you were united to Jesus and drawn into his relationship with the Father. That means that as you seek it out, you really can experience the Father’s love for you!

Do you believe that God rejoices in you? If you are living in that reality, ask him for whatever you need to restore that baptismal flow of love – insight, healing, a spirit of repentance. Then not only when you’re running, praying, or working, but at all times, you can rejoice in your identity as a beloved child who makes your Father smile.

Prayer Response

Jesus, with a thankful heart, I stand with you in the Jordan today. Let nothing separate me from you. Father, show me your love.

Reflection Credits: the WORD among us

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).

There are souls with whom I can do nothing

[Diary 1717]

Today, I was talking with the Lord, and He said to me, There are souls with whom I can do nothing. They are souls that are continuously observing others, but know nothing of what is going on within their own selves. They talk about others continually, even during times of grand silence, which is reserved for speaking only with Me. Poor souls, they do not hear My words; their interior remains empty. They do not look for Me within their own hearts, but in idle talk, where I am never to be found. They sense their emptiness, but they do not recognize their own guilt, while souls in whom I reign completely are a constant source of remorse to them. Instead of correcting themselves, their hearts swell with envy, and if they do not come to their senses, they plunge in even deeper. A heart, which thus far is envious, now begins to be filled with hate. And they are already at the edge of the precipice. They are jealous of my gifts in other souls, but they themselves are unable '' and unwilling to accept them.

Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".

The Visit of the Magi [January 6, 2013 - Solemnity of the Epiphany]

The Sunday Gospel [January 6, 2013 - Solemnity of the Epiphany]

Matthew 2:1-12

1When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:

6‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” 9After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 10They were overjoyed at seeing the star,11and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

Reflection

[Wise men said,] “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” ~ v. 2

Henry Van Dyke wrote a story about an imaginary fourth wise man, Artaban. He was to go with the other three to search for the newborn king. Artaban had a pouch of precious gems as a gift for the baby king. On his way to join the other three, he stopped to help a needy person. The delay was just enough to cause him to miss the other three wise men. He never did catch them; he kept helping people and giving away all his gems. Artaban ended up as a beggar in a faraway city called Jerusalem. One day he saw a criminal being marched off to be executed. He felt close to this man and was sad that he couldn’t help him. As the criminal drew near, he turned to Artaban and said, “Be not sad, you’ve been helping me all your life.”

How do I imagine Artaban felt when Jesus said this to him?

Reflection Credits: Fr. Mark Link, SJ, Daily Homilies

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).

O sweet Mother of God

[Diary 1232]

O sweet Mother of God,
I model my life on You;
You are for me the bright dawn;
In You I lose myself, enraptured.

O Mother, Immaculate Virgin,
In You the divine ray is reflected,
Midst storms, 'tis You who teach me to love the Lord,
O my shield and defense from the foe.

Cracow, August 10, 1937.

Source: DIARY, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul © 1987 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.  Stockbridge, MA 01263.  All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

Note: If you like my post then consider buying the Book "Divine Mercy in my Soul" from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception website. The owner of this blog have no other intention but to spread and proclaim the "Divine Mercy".