Father Todd Riebe: Pray for Abortion Providers

Sister Diane Carollo, Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Pro-Life Ministry, has invited all parishes to join in a new effort to support the cause of life. In a letter to all pastors, Sister Diane writes:

"Abortion requires more than a legal or constitutional fix. Abortion is primarily a spiritual problem that must be addressed. The spiritual remedy for abortion is, of course, conversion, repentance and healing through Christ. Everyone associated with the sin of abortion, including abortionists and those who conspire against life in organizations such as Planned Parenthood, must be embraced by our prayers that flow from Christian charity. We must desire that our neighbors, even those who are pro-abortion, be brought to eternal life in God."

In Christian charity we pray for all of God's people. Where there is darkness we pray for light.

Father Todd Riebe

Abortion Destroys Peace

Imagine waking up in the morning to the newspapers headlines, "Nine American cities completely wiped out! No one left alive in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philladelphia, Detroit, St. Louis or Atlanta."

We saw America's reaction to 9/11 and its aftermath. It's hard to imagine how angry American's would be if these headlines were true. Men, women and children would be lining up to join the armed forces to strike back at the enemy. What enemy is that? Is it China, Afghanistan, or Iraq? What massive firepower must the enemy have employed to inflict such destruction, atomic bombs, biological warfare or perhaps nerve agents? It was none of these. It was abortion.

As of 1996, Americans had slaughtered 32 million innocents, the equivalent of nine major U.S. cities.

Mother Teresa said that If we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people that killing is wrong? After all, any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people love, but to use whatever violence necessary to get what they want.

Sure, everyone's concerned for the children of Indiana and Africa, where thousands of children are dying of hunger and disease every day. Many people are concerned with the violence in our streets and classrooms as well. These concerns are good, but all too often these same people aren't the least bit concerned by those being killed by the deliberate decisions of their own mothers. This is the greatest destroyer of peace today - abortion - which brings people to such blindness.

Does abortion destroy peace and cause blindness toward the sick, the hungry and the naked? Of course it does, when life is regarded so lightly and its disposal becomes so trivial, so clinical, so easy. After all, why should people or nations regard human life as noble or dignified if abortion flourishes? Why agonize over indiscriminate deaths in Bosnia when babies are being killed far more efficiently and out of sight of TV cameras?

Just imagine, the populations of all those major cities combined - all dead. Who is left to cry?

Attribute All That Is Good To God

Blessed are you, servant of God, if you attribute all that is good in yourself to the Lord God; for if you hold back anything for yourself, you hide inside yourself your Lord's money (Matthew 25:18), and what you think you have will be taken from you (Luke 8:18).

St. Francis
Admonition 18

The Ladder of Monks

LECTIO:

Reading is careful study of [Sacred] Scripture,
with the soul’s [whole] attention:

MEDITATIO:

Meditation is the studious action of the mind to investigate hidden truth, led by one’s own reason.

ORATIO:

Prayer is the heart’s devoted attending to God, so that evil may be removed and good may be obtained.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Contemplation is the mind suspended -somehow elevated above itself - in God so that it tastes the joys of everlasting sweetness.


http://www.ldysinger.com/MONS_423/02_lectio/04_guigo.htm

The Two Small Coins of St. Francis

Christ's Poor One, Francis, possessed nothing but two small coins (Mark 12:42) which he could dispose of with largesse and charity: his body and his soul. But those two mites he offered to God continually, for the love of Christ; he seemed always to be immolating his body with rigor and fasting and his soul with the flame of desire: his body, a holocaust outside in the court of the temple; his soul, incense offering in the inner temple.

St. Bonaventure
Major Life

Alien

MARY BRENT WHITESIDE

He crouches in the chapel, on his knees,
With matted hair that hangs in dusky strands;
Apart and strange, among the little bands
Of worshipers, for he is not as these.
Alone! and yet a deeper vision sees
That near this alien with his grimy hands,
The Poor Man of Assisi stands,
As Giotto painted him upon a frieze.

I knew one luminous Italian spring!
"Your province? Is it Umbria?" I ask.
The weariness falls from him like a mask,
And all his visage is a shining thing,
As though some deathless master of his race
Inscribed a sudden message on his face.

The Way Of Holiness

Holy Wisdom routs Satan
and his whole malicious band.
Pure Holy Simplicity confounds
all the wisdom of the flesh.
Holy Poverty confounds cupidity
and avarice and the cares of the world.
Holy Humility
confounds pride
and worldly people
and all that is of the world.
Holy Charity
routs diabolic
and carnal temptations
and all human fears.


St. Francis
Salutation of the Virtues

Lectio Divina

"Seek in reading and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation."

St. John of the Cross
Sayings #158

Only God Can Purify Us

"God is teaching us over and over again that it is He who is purifying us, not we ourselves. He does this in His own way, at His own pace. When we run ahead of Him he leaves us on our own and we usually stumble."

Father John Catoir
"Enjoy the Lord: a Path to Contemplation"

Spiritual Murderers

There are many religious who, under the pretext of seeing better things than those which their prelates command, look back (Luke 9:62) and return to the vomit of self-will (Proverbs 26:11 abd 2 Peter 2:22). Such as these are murderers because by their bad example they cause many souls to be lost.

St. Francis
Admonition 3

What a Fine Place This World Would Be

PETER MAURIN

What a fine place
this world would be
if Dualist Humanists
tried to be human
to men.
What a fine place
this world would be
if Personaist Theists
tried to be
their brother's keeper
as God
wants them to be.
What a fine place
this world would be
if Fundamentalist Protestants
tried to exemplify
the Sermon on the Mount.
What a fine place
this world would be
if Roman Catholics
tried to keep up
with Saint Francis of Assisi.

The Secrets Of God Are Not To Be Divulged

Saint Francis thought it not right to show forth exteriorly the secrets of the divine wisdom which were revealed to him, unless he were urged thereto by the charity of Christ or the good of his neighbor. He used to say, "For the small reward of vainglory and human honor, we should lose our priceless treasure, and provoke God not to give us any more gifts."

St. Francis
Miscellaneous Writings

Purity Of Heart

"In the language of the monastic fathers, all prayer, reading, meditation and all the activities of the monastic life are aimed at purity of heart, an unconditional and totally humble surrender to God, a total acceptance of ourselves and of our situation as willed by Him."

Thomas Merton
"Contemplative Prayer"

The Two Beams Of The Cross

"His [Jesus] appearance in our midst has made it undeniably clear that changing the human heart and changing human society are not seperate tasks, but are as interconnected as the two beams of the cross."

Henri J. M. Nouwen
"The Wounded Healer"

Medjugorje: June 15, 1995

The American pilot Scott O'Grady, whose airplane had been shot down over Bosnia, tells the press that he owed his life to the Blessed Mother of Medjugorje who appeared to him during his 6 days of hiding in the western region of Banja Luka, before being rescued.

That's funny, but I don't remember reading anything about that in the press...

Secret Wisdom Is Called A Ladder

"A thief climbs a ladder to break into the vault where treasures are stored. The soul, too, ascends the secret contemplation to plunder the riches of heaven.

St. John of the Cross

Our Walking Is Our Preaching

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”

St. Francis

Doing The Impossible

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

St. Francis

Preach The Gospel At All Times

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words!"

St. Francis

Claim Nothing For Your Own

No matter how someone else sins, if you let yourself be upset or angered over it, except for charity sake, you store up for yourself - like a treasure - the sin of the other. But, servant of God, if you do not become angry or indignant over someone else, you are living justly and poorly, that is, without claiming anything for your own.

St. Francis
Admonition 11

"Hail Mary"

"When I say 'Hail Mary,' the heavens smile, the angels rejoice, the world exults, hell trembles, the devils fly."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Fostering Luxury

Rich clothing and sumptuous dwellings, eating, drinking, sleeping, and idleness, enervate men and foster luxury."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Redemptive Suffering

"Beloved, in this vale of misery may you possess nothing so far and so delightful that your soul would be entirely occupied by it."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Weapons Of The Soul

"These are the weapons by which the chaste soul is overcome: looks, speeches, touches, embraces."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Retire Into The Desert

"He who retires into the desert avoids three combats: seeing, hearing, and detraction."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Stop Making Excuses !!!

"If thou excusest thyself, God will accuse thee; and if thou accusest thyself, God will excuse thee."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

The Holy Name Of Mary

"As wax melts before the heat of the fire and dust is scattered by the wind, so the whole army of the evil spirits is dispersed by the invocation of the holy name of Mary."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Fly From The World

"Fly from the world, if thou wilt be pure. If thou art pure, the world does not delight thee."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Being Good Among The Wicked

"He is not perfectly good who cannot be good among the wicked."

St. Francis
Admonitions to the Brethren

Mary Ann Lloyd - Reverence For Stones

He walked reverently over rocks, out of consideration of him who is called Peter, the Rock. And when he came to this psalm verse, "Upon a rock you have exalted me" (cf. Ps 61:2-3), he would say, to be even more reverent, "At the feet of the Rock you have exalted me."

Celano - Second Life (165)




(My mother-in-law, Mary Ann Lloyd, is visiting Rome, Assisi and Medjugorje this week. She has promised to bring me back a stone from Assisi. I think I'll give it the nickname "Rocky!")

Meditating On The Passion Of Christ

At a time when the saint was oppressed with constant suffering, he was asked why he did not have something read to him to recreate his mind, wearied by such constant suffering. "Nothing," he replied, "is so delightful to me as the remembrance of the life and Passion of my Lord, on which I meditate daily and constantly; and were I to live till the end of the world, I should never want any other book,"

Miscellaneous Writings

Amy King

If at times temptation or despondency comes along to try me, and I see joy in my companions, then I immediately recover and let go of the temptation or depression. The joy I admire in others restores my own inward and outward joy.

Mirror of Perfection, 96

The Mission Of The Lesser Brothers

The truth is that the Lord chose the Lesser Brothers and sent them forth for the welfare and salvation of all souls everywhere. And not only will they be received in lands of the faithful but in lands of unbelievers as well. And as long as they fulfill what they have promised the Lord, he will take care of their needs whether they be in the lands of those who do not believe or of those who do.

Writings of Leo, Rufio, and Angelo

Rule Of The Lesser Brothers

In the name of the Lord begins the Life of the Lesser Brothers! The Rule and Life of the Lesser Brothers is this: to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without anything of their own, and in chastity.

Rule 1223

* St. Francis called his friars, or brothers, "lesser," to locate them in society among the little people, the poor and lowly, who were called "minores," "lesser ones," in medieval Italy. The more affluent, or the nobility, were called "majores," or "greater ones."

Sweet Melody Of Heart

When the sweetest melody of spirit would flame up in his heart, he would release it by singing in French, and the trickle of divine inspiration which his inner ear had caught would begin to overflow like a minstrel's song.

At times, as I have seen with my own eyes, he would pick up a stick from the ground and, holding it on his left arm, would draw across another stick bent by means of a string, as if he were playing a violin. Then pretending to play, he would sing in French the praises of the Lord.

Celano, Second Life

Desire God's Will

Once when Francis was very ill, he was so weak that he could not even move. But when one of the brothers asked what he would prefer to bear, this lingering, protracted illness or the suffering of an excruciating martyrdom at the hands of an executioner, he replied, "My son, what has always been and still is most dear to me and sweeter and more acceptable is whatever the Lord my God is most pleased to let happen in me and to me, for my only desire is to be found always conformed and obedient to his will in everything."

Celano

St. Francis Was The Humblest Of Men

Saint Francis was the humblest of men and thought of himself as the lowest, most contemptible of sinners. In prayer he would implore, "Lord, why have you laid this burden on me? Why have you made a simple, unlettered, wretched creature like me the head of this Order?" And the Lord would reply, "I have placed a man like you over this Order to show that what I achieve in you is of my grace and not a human accomplishment."

St. Bonaventure

The Canticle of Brother Sun

Altissimu, omnipontente, bonsignore,
tue sono le laude
la gloria elhonore
et omne benedictione.

Ad te solo,
Altissimo, se Kofano
et nullu homo enne dignu
te mentovare.

A Translation:

Most high, all powerful, all good, Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honor
And all blessing.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy
To pronounce your name.

The Transitus (Passing) of St. Francis

When he was dying, St. Francis made clear to his brothers the uniqueness of each person's response to Christ. He covered the wound in his side with his right hand, as if to preserve the seal of his own unique response, and he said, "I have done what was mine to do; may Christ teach you what is yours to do."

Celano - Second Life

October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis

The larks are friends of daylight and shun the shadows of twilight. But on the eve that St. Francis passed from this world to Christ, just as twilight was descending, the larks rose up to the roof of his cell and began circling it with clamor of wingbeat and song. No one knew if they were singing with joy or sadness, for their voices were filled with joyful tears and sad joy, as if they were orphaned children weeping and singing their father into heaven. The city guards who were keeping watch were filled with wonder and they summoned others to witness the sight.

Celano - Treatise on the Miracles