This excerpt from the Gospel for today’s Mass of Tuesday, the First Week of Lent has a rather troubling condition for people: Matthew 6:14-15: “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.“ This is, of course, the …
Tomorrow begins Lent, a 40 day period of personal interior conversion and renewal. It is also a time to examine our relationships with other people and perhaps repair them. As Christians we are a community, members of the Body of Christ. If our relations with other people are in a shambles, then our attempts at …
The First Reading from the Mass for today is an exhortation against holding resentments. Leviticus 19:1-2,17-18: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy. ‘You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Though you …
There is a relatively new Saint whose Feast day today (February 8th) is. Her name is Saint Josephine Bakhita. Although she is not at all connected to alcoholism and addiction, those of us who suffer from them can do well to pay attention to her. Those of us who are haunted by our past and …
Continue reading ‘A Saint for those who are Prisoners of their Past’ »
I have probably blogged about this Scripture passage before, but it bears mentioning again. The Gospel reading for today’s Mass (Saturday of the First Week of Ordinary Time) tells us that Jesus came here for the broken and wounded of humanity: Mark 2:16-17: “Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners …
Continue reading ‘The well do not need a physician, the sick do’ »
Spirit Daily has an article posted yesterday (or today) entitled: LET IT PASS AND IT WILL PASS. It is on the spiritual and sacramental benefits of Confession. In Twelve Step movements we usually hear a lot about cleaning up the past, and this in important in 4th and 5th Step work. Past hurts, resentment and …
The Gospel Reading for the Mass for Friday of the Second Week of Advent is the one in which Jesus is called a “glutton and a drunkard.” Matthew 11:16-19: “‘To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, …
Pray daily: O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for thy Son, we beseech thee that, as by the foreseen death of this, thy Son, thou didst preserve her from all stain, so too thou wouldst permit us, purified through her intercession, to come …
Continue reading ‘Novena to the Immaculate Conception for Alcoholics: Day 4’ »
St. James in his New Testament Letter offers us a compelling reason to practice mercy: This is the Reading from the Morning Prayer in today’s Liturgy of the Hours: James 2:13: “For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” “Mercy” can be directly related to practicing forgiveness, …
St. Dorotheus understands that a common objection to his teachings on these subjects is that what if you do an examination of conscience and you find yourself innocent of anything and yet someone still had hurt you? What then? The Saint would say as he did in the latter 4 paragraphs in the link at …