Our Lady of Beijing, pray for us!

It’s truly a great blessing to be an American. So many opportunities and privileges are afforded me as a US Citizen (natural born!). Unfortunately, some of those who wish to become US citizens are denied the possibility to do so… in direct contradiction to the following words placed on the lips of “Lady Liberty”

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoJR52yNP1U

It’s been awhile…

Hope my readers are doing well! I’ve had alot on plate lately. Most notably i just got a new power wheelchair and i’m still trying to work the kinks out of it. I’ll just keep it at that for now. Anxieties piled up but thankfully i had the opportunity to receive spiritual direction to help me deal with issues.

Been following the World Cup? I have. These quarterfinal matches have been crazy; Netherlands beat the Brazilian champs, Argentina lost to Germany without scoring a goal! Now the semifinals are coming up…i think the final will be Germany vs. Spain. I’m rooting for Spain!

That’s it for now!

pray for us!

Devotion to the Most Pure Heart of Blessed Virgin is necessary for the life of every priest…

Yes… the blog continues. It’s been a busy time during the last few weeks: my 2nd cousin just graduated high school (pray) and i’ve been working on slideshow on imovie for the occasion. So here i am with another post…

Today’s the last day of the Year for Priests. Have you been praying for your priests? They sure need our prayers! The latter months of this Year for Priests have seen scandals and attacks of the priesthood. But the Light continues to shine in the darkness. Pray for priests (I haven’t prayed nearly enough)!

Today is also the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This morning I realized that, thanks to the priesthood, I am able to partake in the very heart of God! Without the valid ministerial priesthood, there is no Holy Eucharist. And as St. Pio observed, “is easier for the world to exist without the sun than to exist without the Holy Eucharist.” How important it is to pray for priests! Let us continue to do so—because the graces of this year are sure to bear fruit for years to come.

Happy Birthday to the Church!

Jesus Christ did not leave his disciples to fend for themselves and figure things out on their own — he gave power to guide his Church into all truth. This power is God himself — the Holy Spirit — Fire from Heaven!

Watched the movie AD (miniseries from 1985 on DVD) yet again, this time w/ my nurse. It never ceases to move me, reminding me of the victory of the Father’s Love Incarnate through the spread of the Gospel. I try to watch the movie during the Easter Season right before Pentecost.

Every time, I am amazed by the conversion of St. Paul and how the same man, filled with the Holy Spirit, spread Jesus wherever he went. God raised up a zealous, well-educated Jew to teach the faith effectively; and a Roman citizen on top of that—a passport into the whole known world!

Rome was the capital of the world at the time; its empire streched into Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was fitting that God would use the Roman Empire to His advantage; Christianity spread into the far reaches of the Empire. In AD, St. Peter tells the man who would suceed him as Pope, Linus, that God led him to Rome: “it has to be here, in Rome.” This was where Sts. Peter and Paul built up the Church and were martyred.

The Light, Love, overtook the darkness and cast it out.

(to be continued…)

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima… the Pope went to visit the Shrine and offered Mass there. He said something to Our Lady that really struck me:

It is a profound consolation
to know that you are crowned
not only with the silver
and gold of our joys and hopes,
but also with the “bullet”
of our anxieties and sufferings.

This is something that we need to think about more often — Our Mother knows our sufferings; we are to offer them to her Immaculate Heart for reparation. The cross on her crown reminds us that without the cross there is no crown.

Here is the full text alter by Pope Benedict:

The Venerable Pope John Paul II,
who visited you three times here in Fatima
and thanked the “unseen hand”
that rescued him from death
in the assassination attempt on 13 May
in Saint Peter’s Square almost thirty years ago,
wanted to offer to the Shrine of Fatima
a bullet which gravely wounded him
and was placed in the crown of the Queen of Peace.
It is a profound consolation
to know that you are crowned
not only with the silver
and gold of our joys and hopes,
but also with the “bullet”
of our anxieties and sufferings.
I thank you, beloved Mother,
for the prayers and sacrifices
that the shepherd-children
of Fatima offered for the Pope,
led by the sentiments
that you inspired in them in the apparitions.
I also thank all those who,
every day,
pray for the Successor of Peter
and for his intentions,
that the Pope may be strong in faith,
bold in hope and zealous in love.