Veritatis Splendor

“If Veritatis Splendor is not for Catholics only, neither is it a papal scolding of wayward, willful sinners.  John Paul II is too experienced a pastor to think that the polymorphous perversities of the late twentieth century are very original.  They aren’t, as a brisk reading of Genesis, concentrated on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, will readily attest.  There is something new in the late twentieth century, though---the inability of educated people to make moral sense to one another.”  Witness to Hope by George Weigel

JMJ

The realities of the present age reveal to all mankind of the consequences and effects of original sin innate in man the moment he is created.  The polymorphous perversities of this century is nothing new as the stories of the Old and New Testament reveal to all who read the history of Christianity.  We face a new challenge in our day in age that reflects the inability of man, even those who are educated in nature, to find morality among the circumstances of a society and culture that has based truth against its very self through the lies that compromise the very dignity of what he is created for.  The inability to reach the transcendence of a humanity beyond the commercialization and materialism of a mentality that seeks refuge in the idolism of a lost identity in the very dignity of Man made in the image and likeness of God.  A mentality that has disfigured the identity of Man as beings that lack the conscientious reality of what is good and what is evil; what is not of God and what is of His Divine and Most Glorious Hand of Redeeming Love.  There is the effort of Man to bring to reality the saving power of a Living God when he encounters in himself a morality that identifies him as an heir of the Kingdom of Eternal Redemption.  A morality that is based on the essential Truth of Man made in the image and likeness of an Omnipotent and Eternal Father lived in the fullness of a life created for what is Eternal through the daily and ordinary tasks of the day.  The divinization of what is common to the sight of man and yet extraordinary; as every detail of his existence is sanctified and redeemed through the merits of the Only Begotten Son, Christ, Redeemer and Savior of All Mankind.  The reality that all of humanity is made in the image and likeness of God is being challenged in a most profound way through the blindness of a western world that is misguided through a law system that compromises the dignity of man and eliminates the very essence of identity founded on the reality that there is good and there is evil.  The reality that distinguishes between what is right and what is wrong.  It has been compromised to the degree that the tranquility of Man found in God has been seized by a culture that inhibits the very nature of Man to reach the heights of the truest essence of Truth so that he may live the fullness of life made in the image and likeness of a God who loves him and created him into being.  The challenge facing our culture today reaches even those who are intellectually educated and fully capacitated to reason and yet unable to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.  The inability to see Truth as it is compromised through a culture that has been blinded from the true reality of himself made in the image and likeness of God.  

Eternal Word of the Father, Only Begotten Son of God, Christ, my Savior and Redeemer, the love You bestow on Man continues to be a source of refuge and strength in a culture and world that has forgotten and compromised the very essence and dignity of Man.  We face a new challenge in this age that is misguided and in need of Your Wisdom to form the very inner conscience of the soul towards a deeper knowledge of the essential truths created to distinguish the morality of what is good and what is evil.  A morality that is clearly defined through a well formed conscience founded in the Magisterium of the Church and the essential truths proclaimed in the Doctrine of the Faith.  Grant us the grace to proclaim these truths in our daily actions and our fidelity to Our Holy Mother Church so that the very Splendor of Truth may reign in every human heart created in the image of Your very likeness, O Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Three Divine Persons, One God.  O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions but in your mercy hear and answer me.  Amen. 

The ETERNAL WORD

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, sought to make “THE TABLE OF THE WORD” offer the TREASURES of SCRIPTURE more fully to the FAITHFUL.(9) Consequently they allowed the biblical readings of the liturgy to be PROCLAIMED in a LANGUAGE understood by ALL. It is CHRIST HIMSELF who SPEAKS when the HOLY SCRIPTURES are READ in the CHURCH.(10) The Council Fathers also urged the celebrant to treat the HOMILY as part of the liturgy, aimed at explaining the WORD OF GOD and DRAWING OUT its MEANING for the CHRISTIAN LIFE.(11) Forty years after the Council, the Year of the Eucharist can serve as an important opportunity for Christian communities to evaluate their progress in this area. It is not enough that the biblical passages are read in the vernacular, if they are not also PROCLAIMED with the care, preparation, devout attention and meditative silence that ENABLE the WORD OF GOD to TOUCH PEOPLE’S MINDS and HEARTS. Supreme Pontiff John Paul II (October 2004- October 2005) Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine.  Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

JMJ

PROCLAIMED with the MANIFESTATION of a GOD who is SO AWESOME IN HIS SPLENDOUR, the PRIEST speaks and SPRINGS FORTH A DRAWING of LIVING WATER from the LIFE of the LIVING GOD through the GOSPEL of CHRIST!  ENABLING the Word of God to penetrate deeply into the HEARTS of MAN in which a NEW HORIZON can ever more be fully brought to its FULFILLMENT a drawing forth of the meaning of SALVATION!  How are the FAITHFUL to ever know CHRIST unless it is SPOKEN from a HEART in LOVE WITH CHRIST!   DETERMINED with a MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST DIVINE LOVE, HE who speaks for CHRIST HIMSELF, SPEAKS for the ETERNAL GLORY of the TRIUNE GOD!   Hungering for the DIVINE, Man seeks His Salvation through the WORD OF GOD in proclamation through a SOUL who has been INEBRIATED by the BLOOD OF CHRIST; the TREASURES of the DIVINE WORD comes to FULL FLOW from a MOUTH PROCLAIMING TRUTH in ALL IT’S ESSENCE!   Here we find a GLORIFICATION that brings forth a NEW SALVATION for those in need of a HOPE that brings to LIFE what has been dead.  Created to KNOW HIM who is LOVE ITSELF, we the FAITHFUL SEEK REFUGE in the ETERNAL WORD made FLESH!  Seeking more to know HIM who is TRUTH, enables the HEART to be FULLY ALIVE by the SPOKEN WORD OF DIVINE LOVE!   Where can we FIND the LOVER OF ALL SOULS, but HERE IN THE WORD, the ETERNAL WORD, brought into flesh through the HEART OF THE LIVING GOD!  Beating with LOVE for CHRIST, she seeks HIM whom her HEART LOVES and HEARS her NAME from the very PERSON OF CHRIST, knowing that it is CHRIST ALONE, SPOKEN from the very mouths of the SACRED PRIESTHOOD that He will bring to FULL COMPLETION the DESIRES OF HER HEART! 

Divine Word made FLESH, the manifestation of your ETERNAL GOODNESS has no bound from a HEART TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY YOURS!  Has the MOTHER OF MY LORD not only come to me in Her GLORIOUS SPLENDOUR, but also gives to me HER DIVINE SON through the LIVING WORD OF GOD!  Spoken with the FIRE OF DIVINE LOVE, my HEART is INEBRIATED with the TRUTHS OF CHRIST HIMSELF and the TREASURES OF INFINITE GOODNESS IS OVERFLOWING WITH HIS DIVINE GRACE!  How GENEROUS HE IS TO COME TO ME, NOT only in WORD but in FLESH!  And to REMAIN here on EARTH through the Most HOLY and DIVINE EUCHARIST!  The MAGNANIMOSITY of the GRANDEUR of CHRIST has been ETERNALLY embedded into my HEART and I am brought to my KNEES in ADORATION of the MOST HOLY AND TRIUNE GOD! 

EVALUATE WELL, O PRIEST OF CHRIST, on the PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD through your own existence as a STEWARD of His DIVINE WORD!  For the judgment you have been commended to PROCLAIM with FULLNESS will be brought to LIGHT on the DAY OF SALVATION!  For the SOULS you have FED with your HOLINESS, is the HOLINESS of GOODNESS that is manifested through every WORD that HAS BEEN HEARD FROM the VERY MOUTHS OF THE SACRED PRIESTHOOD!  THE MEASURE OF YOUR HOLINESS, is the MEASURE OF GREATNESS THAT WILL SPRING FORTH IN THE MANY AND ABUNDANT HARVEST OF THE ETERNAL KINGDOM!  I bow in adoration to the SACRED PRIESTHOOD and WITH FULL GRATITUDE to YOUR CALL, I OFFER A LIFE FULLY CONSECRATED TO CHRIST.  May God’s Divine Grace fully MANIFEST HIS DIVINE SPLENDOUR through the GOODNESS He has bestowed on me through the SACRED PRIESTHOOD, DIVINE WORD PROCLAIMED IN ALL ITS FULLNESS!  Mother of the DIVINE EUCHARIST, enfold me in Your ARMS and PROTECT THE HEART OF YOUR CHILD!  For it is in you that I have found my SALVATION and the SPOUSE OF MY HEART!

Mary Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.  Amen.

The ROSARY

“The ROSARY, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has ALL the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.⁽2) It is an ECHO of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the DEPTHS of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive ABUNDANT GRACE, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer”. Supreme Pontiff John Paul II (2002) Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Libreria Editrice Vaticana

 

 

JMJ

 Redeemed by Christ, and ever more received through the Hands of Mary, children of the Living God have been embraced with INCONCEIVABLE GOODNESS by a God who is SO INFINITELY GOOD that He brings to LIFE the very DEPTHS of the GOSPEL MESSAGE through the SACRED and AWESOME compendium of the HOLY ROSARY!  At the very HEART of Mary, we see with a GLORIOUS DEPTH that the very essence of LIFE is an imitation and a reflection of the INCARNATE WORD made flesh!  We are here PRESENT and ever more fully ALIVE in the school of the HOLY ROSARY that reflects within the depths of the HEART of the ETERNAL FATHER the story of the Only Begotten Son of God!  A STORY that not only REECHOS the Heart of the Father, but also reechos within our own LIVES the Mysteries of the ordinary towards that which is EXTRAORDINARY!  EVERY ASPECT of LIFE in this journey towards the Kingdom, we realize that the Incarnate WORD continues to reflect within us another INCARNATION of GOODNESS that continues to reecho the GOSPEL of LIFE!  An incarnation that ELEVATES the SOUL towards a REDEMPTION that brings to CONTEMPLATION the LIVING CHRIST here present among us.  The very DEPTHS of Christ LOVE reiterates to Man that the very circumstances and concerns placed in the HEART of Mary are the very source that LEADS to an ABUNDANT REALIZATION of GRACE upon GRACE!

 Created in His Image and Likeness the REALITY of our own NATURE becomes elevated at every Hail Mary and BEAD of EXULTATION to the Mother of GOD!  Contemplating the LIFE OF CHRIST through the hand of the Mother of the REDEEMER, we are constantly being taught by the very hand of Mary and receive from her very HEART an abundance of DIVINE GRACE!  GRACE that elevates the soul towards what is ETERNAL seeing with FULL VISION that every aspect of LIFE in this journey of DIVINE LOVE, MAN becomes FULL in the NATURE of GRACE to realize that the ordinary is TRULY the SOURCE that LEADS towards something GREATER than HIMSELF!  For it is in NATURE that GRACE ABOUNDS ALL THE MORE!

 Reechoing the HEART of the FATHER, the love of HIS ETERNAL GOODNESS brings to LIFE a CONTEMPLATION of the WORD made FLESH in every Mystery that is PROCLAIMED in every DECADE of the HEART of CHRIST!  Resting at her BOSOM, the beat of the Immaculate HEART through every Hail Mary becomes a RHYTHM of DIVINE CHARITY transforming the VISION OF THIS JOURNEY towards that of ETERNAL PEACE!  Man is elevated towards a DIGNITY that reiterates and constantly reminds him of the AWESOME SPLENDOUR of HIS CALLING as a CHILD of the LIVING GOD!  There in this ACT of DIVINE FAITH, we bring to her HEART the very concerns we hold dear and place it at the throne of His Mercy and we are EVER MORE EMBRACED by the Mother of REDEMPTION!  Redeemed by His LOVE, the POWER of the HOLY ROSARY REECHOS the continual INTERVENTION of the Most Holy TRINITY in the life and journey of every Baptized CHRISTIAN!  O Mother of the Holy Rosary, how may EXPOUND OF the GRATITUDE I hold in this TOOL of DIVINE GRACE!  Your HAND is the HAND I hold as every BEAD exults your MOST IMMACULATE GOODNESS, Grace is handed to me and I know that I am not ALONE!  For you, O MOTHER, confidently entrust to me your Divine Son as I contemplate Him in every MYSTERY of the INCARNATE WORD!  Holding your HAND, O Divine Mother, I am led EVER DEEPER to the HEART of the ETERNAL FATHER and enfolded with a CONFIDENCE that all that is petitioned through the Most Holy Rosary is HEARD and embraced through the Immaculate HEART of His Mother!  Confident in your never ending embrace, I place this CAUSE in your HAND through the POWER and MAGNIFICENT SPLENDOUR of the Most Holy ROSARY!

 

 

The SACRED PRIESTHOOD



How AWESOME a BEAUTY, to be PRESENT at the Ordination of SIX NEW PRIESTS!  I stood amidst a crowd of BELIEVERS applauding and ENCOURAGED by this SACRED WITNESS of six men who have become a NEW CREATION for a world in GREAT NEED of the SACRAMENTS!  Consoled by the LOVE of GOD, the faithful are ever more ASSURED of the CONTINUED WORK of GOD'S REDEEMING LOVE!

 

KNEELING in ADORATION, invoked by the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT, all DREW ever NEARER to the INTIMACY of the DIVINE CREATOR and LOVER of SOULS!  FOR it is in His SACRED PRIESTHOOD, that we are FED and NOURISHED the GIFT and DIVINE GRACE of ETERNAL SALVATION. Love of ALL LOVES, draws the SOUL ever NEARER to the UNION of the MOST HOLY and DIVINE LOVER and creates ANEW a HOPE for what is to COME!

INVOKING His DIVINE NAME, LOVE of ALL LOVES has brought to the CHURCH a NEW DIMENSION of  HIS ULTIMATE SACRIFICE; for through the CALLING OF NEW PRIESTS, HE BRINGS FORTH a NEW BIRTH and a NEW BEGINNING!

The BEAUTY of the ANGELS

www.angelicwarfareconfraternity.org

Mary, Model of CONTEMPLATION

Mary, model of contemplation

The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son BELONGS to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the CONTEMPLATION of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger” (Lk2:7).

Thereafter MARY’S GAZE, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of DEEPLE UNDERSTANDING JESUS, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a GAZE RADIENT with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a GAZE AFIRE with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).  Saint Pope John Paul II

JMJ

How AWESOME a WONDER is the FACE of CHRIST seen through the EYES of MARY!  She is HIS MOTHER!  A MOTHER who KNOWS HER SON!  Through the EYES of the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, we are evermore embraced with a REFLECTION of HIS ETERNAL WISDOM when in the FACE of TRIAL we are at the GAZE of the ETERNAL FATHER AND ARE UNITED with the IMMACULATE MOTHER to ever KNOW the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON of the TRIUNE GOD!  How are we to ever KNOW the FACE of THE GOD OF WISDOM, unless we are ever brought to our KNEES in ADORATION, CONTEMPLATING through Mary the FACE of CHRIST, the BELOVED!  Brought to an EVER DEEPER KNOWLEDGE of HIS ETERNAL WISDOM, the Mother of my LORD speaks to the HEART of her CHILD and shares with her a DEPTH and KNOWLEDGE of GOD beyond BOUND!  Penetrating into HER HEART an INFINITE SPLENDOUR of LOVE that beholds the FACE of the SON of GOD! 

How Good is our GOD, so TENDERLY He looks upon HIS CHILD and in turn she RETURNS THE GAZE AFLAMED with THE DIVINE FIRE OF CHARITY so CONSUMED with LOVE FOR HIM that she is brought to an ETERNAL REDEMPTION of GOODNESS to ever KNOW of the JOY of the RESURRECTION!

A GAZE AFIRED and enflamed with LOVE for HIM, the CONSUMATION of HIS LOVE for her brings forth an ABUNDANCE of DIVINE GRACE towards ALL she wishes to embrace within the ETERNAL KINGDOM of REDEMPTION!  For it is in HIS BRIDE, through the Hands of HIS IMMACULATE MOTHER, that she is GRANTED A MERIT of DIVINE LOVE consumed for the LOVE of the INIFINITE and AWESOME OMNIPOTENT AND TRIUNE GOD!  O Eternal GAZE of the FATHER, you look upon your CHILD with such TENDERNESS and she is CONSUMED with LOVE for YOU and the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON!  She is CONSUMED with LOVE for the ETERNAL and TRIUNE GOD!  So CONSUMED that it is the LOVE of the FATHER that draws her ever nearer to the Son of the Father!  The Mother of my Lord, has come to me to REVEAL to me the HEART of Her SON!

How often I have looked and GAZED at YOUR ETERNAL BOSOM and I am FILLED with INFINITE GRATITUDE for YOUR ETERNAL GOODNESS to me!  The GAZE of YOUR ETERNAL SON has looked upon HIS BRIDE with FAVOR and she IS CONSUMED with LOVE!  So very CONSUMED and set AFLAME with LOVE for HIS ETERNAL GAZE!  O VISION of DIVINE LOVE, consume my HEART towards the INFINITE LOVE of YOUR ETERNAL GOODNESS!  So GOOD and INFINITELY HUMBLE is our Divine SAVIOR that HE HAS SEALED within HIS CHILD a REFLECTION of HIS MOST HUMBLE and RADIANT GAZE of GOODNESS!

O ETERNAL GAZE of the Father, LIFT up this child of YOUR INFINITE GOODNESS and bring forth an ABUNDANCE of DIVINE GRACE towards the many SOULS I have placed under the MATERNAL MANTLE of the IMMACULATE MOTHER!  Prepare her well for the ETERNAL GIFT of YOUR DIVINE GOODNESS, so that in ALL of HIS INFINITE SPLENDOUR she may be a GLORY and HONOR to YOUR ETERNAL NAME, MOST HIGH and INFINITE GOD, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  Three in ONE!  Divine and HOLY!  AWESOME and OMNIPOTENT!  TRIUNE and UNDIVIDED TRINITY!

Mother of the Most Holy Trinity, pray for me your child and RESPLENDANT BRIDE of the ETERNAL KING!

 

The JOYFUL Song of Mary

Mary lived with HER EYES FIXED ON CHRIST, treasuring his every word: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51). The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her HEART, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.

Even now, amid the JOYFUL SONGS OF THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM, the reasons for her THANKSGIVING and PRAISE remain unchanged. They inspire her maternal concern for the pilgrim Church, in which she continues to relate her personal account of the Gospel. Mary constantly sets before the faithful the “mysteries” of her Son, with the desire that the CONTEMPLATION of those mysteries will release all their SAVING POWER. In the recitation of the ROSARY, the Christian community enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary. Supreme Pontiff John Paul II (2002)  Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae.  Libreria Editrice Vaticana

JMJ

The SAVING POWER of GOD will forever RESOUND in the HEARTS of those who ponder the WORD of GOD, Eternal Begotten Son of the Father; for it is in this SAVING POWER that the JOYFUL SONG of MARY brings forth the abundant GLORY of the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM!  In Mary, we find the Maternal Care of a Mother who knows all and sees all that the Eternal Father has planned in the Eternal Salvation of Mankind.  For it is in her that the Gospel of Christ speaks to the hearts of children who SEEK the PRAISE and GLORY of the Most Omnipotent Creator of all the Earth!  For in the HEART of the IMMACULATE, we find the pondering of the ETERNAL WORD made Flesh and are ever more UNITED to the LIVING REALITY of HIS MEMORY recited uninterruptedly in the EXULTATION of the MOST HOLY ROSARY!  A contemplation of the Divine Gifts HIDDEN in the HEART of MARY who REJOICES in GOD her SAVIOR! 

REJOICE, O Virgin Mary, REJOICE!  For your SAVIOR has brought forth the ETERNAL SALVATION of those who have been elected to share in His ETERNAL GLORY!  For through You, O Mary, we FIND our REFUGE as the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION who bore the ETERNAL WORD made FLESH for all HUMANITY to adore and embrace with the HEART and FAITH of Your MOST CONTEMPLATIVE HEART!  A heart so UNITED to YOUR ETERNAL FATHER that the Most HOLY and OMNIPOTENT GOD dwelleth with thee in the womb of YOUR MATERNAL BOSOM contemplating the and gazing upon the FACE of CHRIST, the Only Begotten Son of the Father!

REJOICE, O Virgin Mary, REJOICE!  For the SAVING POWER of the Eternal Word made Flesh has been released upon those who reflect on the MYSTERIES of your Divine Son trusting with CONFIDENT HOPE, the exultation of the Most Holy Rosary brings forth a PRAISE and THANKSGIVING to the Eternal Father; a GLORIFICATION of the Most Holy and TRIUNE GOD!  A power that BRINGS FORTH an ABUNDANCE of DIVINE GRACE to heal the brokenhearted and grant hope to the downtrodden.  For the ETERNAL WORD, contemplated into being through the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost we are evermore UNITED to the JOYFUL SONGS of the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM!  For the JOY we find in CHRIST is a POWER that illuminates the HEART towards that of the ETERNAL GLORY made for the Sons of God!  Glory and Praise to the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

O Mother Immaculate, having CONTEMPLATED the mysteries of Your Divine Son we are more in the KNOWLEDGE of a GOD so humble and yet SO GRAND that no EYE can see and EAR can hear what God has planned for those who love HIM!  The JOY of the Heavenly Jerusalem beckons the hearts of your children ever UNITED to your Immaculate Heart through the GLORIOUS MYSTERIES of the Most Holy Rosary!  REJOICING in these Divine MYSTERIES we place the hopes of our longing HEARTS and contemplate ever more the pondering of your Immaculate Heart through the Power of the UNENDING RECITATION of the HAIL MARY!  FIXING our EYES on the Eternal Word made Flesh, we renew our LOVE for YOU, O Mary, for in you we find the INDWELLING of the Only Begotten Son, the SAVIOR and SALVATION of All Mankind.  REJOICE, O Virgin Mary, REJOICE!

Mother of the Eternal Word, pray for us who have recourse to thee.  Amen.