Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues

As you may know, I like to review books for the The Catholic Company as part of their reviewer program. This time, however, I have been blessed and privileged to review Father Robert Barron’s DVD and Study Guide/Workbook, Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues.

Father Barron’s DVD and the accompanying workbook have been wonderful gifts for me. I would recommend them highly to anyone who seeks more than simple facts and general knowledge, but who also yearns for deeper understanding and introspection.

The DVD is exactly what you would expect of Father Barron --- insightful, interesting and powerful in its ability to give me pause to know more about my faith, my God, my Church and myself. He brings clarity and humor to the virtues and sins, relating all to Dante’s Inferno. I am a regular participant in the graces and healing that come from sacramental confession, and with this DVD, I found a new understanding of my own frailties and sin that I need to work on, a real blessing for my soul, and a blessing for anyone who would listen with a heart open to God and continuing conversion.

The Study Guide/Workbook is the best I have seen of this genre. Unlike other workbooks that accompany DVDs I have owned, this book does not simply get you to regurgitate facts from the DVD, to ensure rote memory. Father Barron, in his great wisdom, inspires you to think beyond what he has taught, and to help you to go deeper into your understanding with assignments to read scripture and relevant passages from the catechism --- LOVE IT!

This set would be great for personal study or as a group. There are so many paths your discussion could take you, I dare say you could do this workbook over and over again, and still find new things to delve into…..A DVD and workbook that would continue to provide new insights as you grow in faith and love with the Lord and His Church. Thank you, Fr. Barron!

***This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. You can visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues CD Bundle . They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

Unfathomable, Divine Mercy . . . There just for the askin'

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. 
I implore Your pardon for those who
do not believe, do not adore,
do not hope, and do not love You. 
Amen.

~ Fatima Pardon Prayer

Thank you, Blessed John Paul II

It was a wonderful Divine Mercy weekend.  The sun was out, the homilies were inspired, the friendships were blessed and peaceful and fun.  There was and continues to be, much to be thankful for in this life.  And although my Mom continues to suffer from her Parkinson's disease, grace abounds. 

Don't get me wrong---I am not saint.  I want my Mom to be healed.  I long for her to be healed, and I continue to beg for her to be healed.  But what can we do?  God, in His mercy, has answered our prayers and His answer, at least for now, is no.  I pray that it is no, not now......but soon.  But who knows?  His plan is greater than we can imagine, and suffering can be powerfully redemptive.  So while we are disappointed, we know that He has our best interest at heart, and He would not permit this suffering if He did not intend to bring a greater good out of it.

Sooo.....Thank you, Bl. John Paul.  I am sure your prayers and ours are bringing about conversions of heart and healing in so many more ways than we can imagine.  And thank you to all who have read about my Mom and prayed for her.  We are blessed by your prayers and generous spirits.

 Fiat ~ Totus Tuus

Blessed Mother: Pure Love, Pure Mercy

I experienced a great grace this weekend, being able to attend a powerful retreat on Forgiveness with Rwandan holocaust survivor, Immulee Ilibagiza and Monsignor John Esseff.  Thankfully, and by the grace of God, forgiveness has not been a big issue for me, but I was so moved by Immaculee's story of survival and forgiveness, living 91 days in a 3' X 4' bathroom with 7 other women, only to emerge to find her family had been murdered, that I could not pass up this opportunity to hear her great witness to forgiveness and the love our Beloved Savior has for all of us.

 
I also longed to know more about Our Lady of Kibeho, (church approved apparitions which occurred prior to the Rwandan holocaust), and was happy to learn much from Immaculee about her own experiences with the visionaries and what the messages meant to her, to Rwanda and to the entire world.  My love for our Blessed Mother has grown ever stronger after understanding more and more the great gift we have been given by Mary's unfathomably merciful, Divine Son.

I am only now starting to process some of the fruits of this wonderful retreat experience, but clearly for me, one of the greatest gifts of this retreat came from Monsignor Esseff, when he told us that God, in His mercy, gave us Mary -- pure love, and pure mercy -- as our Mother.  Jesus, on the other hand, is also pure love and pure mercy, but additionally He is pure justice.  Mary sees us, her children, with the eyes of love and mercy, no judgment.  Justice is not her domain.  Jesus, as the just judge, can deny his Mother nothing, as she is perfect and immaculate in every way.  He is powerless against her intercession.  (See The Wedding at Cana).  Of course her intercession is pure and always for our own good as a perfect Mother, and her will is perfectly aligned to that of the Divine, but it is becoming clearer and clearer to me, how going through Mary to Jesus is a far quicker and efficient way to getting to the center of His Sacred Heart than to go directly to Him.  She makes a clear, straight, easy path for us without judgment and opens the way to Him, just as she did when she cleared a path to Him from heaven to earth when He was born.  She cleans us up and presents us to Him in a way that we are unable to present ourselves.  Her only desire is to bring us close to Jesus so that we too may have complete union with Him for eternity.  In her love, she wants us to know Him as she knows Him, and from her perspective, she can obtain that for us far better than we can obtain it for ourselves. 

Pure love.

Pure mercy.

Would that every mother on earth could be called the same!

fiat.

Begging for the Intercession of John Paul II

My mother has Parkinson's Disease.  It is difficult to see her body increasingly betray her, although she has the best attitude for dealing with the constant changes, and keeps giving it all to God.  She accepts God's will for healing as well as she does for His reasons for not healing her -- His will be done.  But I am a beggar, and I do not plan to stop asking Jesus to give her this great gift of a miraculous healing.

I have recently felt inspired to ask the constant intercession of Pope John Paul II to obtain from Jesus, a complete healing for my Mom.  I have absolute faith that He can heal her, and I pray that it is His will to heal her with a miracle that will give tangible witness to the mercy, power and love of our Beloved Savior.  Of course, His mercy may permit her to continue to suffer for reasons only known to Him.  But we pray, and we hope.

Please join me in praying the prayer I have asked my entire family to pray, every day, at least through May 1st, which is Divine Mercy Sunday, and the day our Pope John Paul the Great will be named Blessed......

Dear Pope John Paul the Great,
Through the Immaculate Heart of our Beloved Mother, Mary,
We beg you to intercede for us,
Pleading with He whom you were known as His Vicar on Earth.
We beseech you to beg Him for a miracle,
That on the day you are raised to the altar and declared Blessed,
That He will grant a complete healing to my Mother,
His beloved daughter, Patricia Ann.

As you, yourself know first-hand the suffering endured
By those who suffer from Parkinson’s disease,
We beg you to obtain from Jesus,
That my Mother be completely healed from this terrible illness.

Oh, Holy Father!
Can Jesus Himself ignore the pleas of His Beloved Vicar?
We implore you, pray unceasingly to our Beloved Savior,
That He will look with favor on us and grant what we request,
Through your humble and holy intercession.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
One God, forever and ever.
Amen.

FIAT

The Annunciation - Happy Feast Day!

This video is veeeerrrrry POWERFUL.
Thank you, Blessed Mother.  Thank you for saying YES.

Let it be done according to Your Word.

Fiat!

JOY not OY! :-)

Peace.  Pax.  Pacem.  No matter what you call it, I am feelin' it and sooooo happy to have a respite from the struggle!

I was on team for the Diocese of Scranton Women's Cursillo last weekend and it was absolutely a gift from God for me.  The very moment I arrived at St Gabriel's monastery, I could feel the tangible presence of Christ.  I went immediately to the chapel to say hello to Him and spend some time in front of the tabernacle before the weekend festivities began, and I was instantly filled with an intense peace and feeling of great love.  It was clearly a gift of divine grace, as I had been so stressed that I did not think I would have anything at all to offer to the team and candidates. 

God gave me respite.  He gave me strength.  He gave me everything I needed to be able to do His will for the weekend.  Isn't He just like that?  Always giving us exactly what we need?  The key is to trust and to conform my will to His will.

He gives me whatever I want, because I want whatever He gives. 
                   ~ St. Therese 

Persevere. 
Trust. 
Decrease so that He may increase.

Fiat! 

The Power of the Sacraments by Sister Briege

I just finished reading a little book by Sister Briege McKenna called The Power of the Sacraments.  It is only 64 pages long and not really meant for someone who has an understanding of the sacraments already.  The length of it precludes any in depth theological discourse.  It is, however, perfect for someone who may be sitting in the pews, unaware of the basic meanings and power that the sacraments have in the lives of those who receive them with faith.

Sr. Briege devotes a few pages to each and every sacrament, sharing common insights and a few of her own thoughts.  She shares stories of her own encouters with people in the sacraments and the healing they bring.  The story she told in the chapter on marriage was especially poignant and brought me to tears, thankful for the tremendous grace God continues to shower on His children through these supernatural treasures.

I think that people who don't even know what they are missing are not likely to pick up a regular book on a topic such as sacraments, but if given a little one like this, might be more apt to take a peek. 

I think I will put this little book somewhere it will get picked up and peeked at.  My hope is that this little taste of the truth will inspire a greater desire for more knowledge and further study.

P.S.  As many of you know, I enjoy reviewing books for The Catholic Company in exchange for free books.  They have asked me to share with you that Catholic Company is also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.  If you are interested in signing up for the reviewer program, let me know, and I will give you the information.

Padre Pio to Padre Agostino

I am oppressed by the uncertainty of my future, but I cherish the lively hope of seeing my dreams fulfilled, because the Lord cannot place thoughts and desires in a person's soul if he does not really intend to fulfill them, to gratify these longings, which he alone has caused.

~ Letter to P. Agostino from P. Pio

October 4, 1915

Oh, how I pray that this is true!

oy.  fiat.