Matthew 10:32-33

“So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:32-33)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/08/01/agosto-2012/)

At the time he wrote, Matthew wrote to Christians who already experienced opposition and persecution. It was an invitation to testify without fear the Kingdom of God, the Gospel that we have discovered and received as "the treasure".

But the courage, the valor in the face of unforeseen difficulties, we cannot give this virtue to ourselves: it comes from our Father who knows the number of our hairs and follows us as beloved children. Our "security", serenity and peace, because we trust by believing the Word of Jesus, will then be the most eloquent testimony. Then, at the opportune moment, can follow the spoken word, but it will serve to the extent in which it will be the fruit of our being abandoned to Love.

A great number of Christians today have swallowed the lie of Satan that Satan and hell do not exist because God is Love. Even many bishops and pastors do not believe that the devil exists (http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2879) and prefer to tell the people in their diocese and in their parishes what they think the people want to hear! Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2Cor 11,14) and thus does not tell us the whole truth that God, Who is true Love, respects our dignity created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27) and thus respects our choice, our free will. If a person during his whole life does not seek the Truth (big “T”) outside of his head but fabricates the comfortable truth (little “t”) in his head, God at his death, will confirm this choice and that person will be separated from the Truth, Who is God, for all eternity. The saints explain that this definitive separation of the creature from the Creator is more painful than all other pains in hell put together. Here on earth, whether we believe it or not, those of good will and those not of good will are surrounded by the love of God. At death, God, out of love, will confirm our choice for all eternity!

Even Pope John Paul II had to insist firmly to the US bishops to “acknowledge the Truth (Jesus) before men” and to fight against this "pick and choose smorgasbord type Catholicism" in LA in his September 1987 visit: "It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the Church's clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church's moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a “good Catholic” and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. This is a grave error that challenges the teaching office of the bishops of the United States and elsewhere. I wish to encourage you in the love of Christ to address this situation courageously in your pastoral ministry, relying on the power of God's truth to attract assent and on the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given both to those who proclaim the message and to those to whom it is addressed" (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1987/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19870916_vescovi-stati-uniti_en.html).

When Saint John the Baptist said to Herod “it is not lawful” to have the wife of your brother, he lost his head (Mt 14:1-12). How many Christians are ready to loose their head to “acknowledge” the Truth, Jesus, “before men”? How many people today do not want to hear the words “it is not lawful” by way of the example of authentic Christians, and want to get rid of the true Christians in the public square or put their heads “on a platter” as they did to Saint John the Baptist, in order not to hear anymore “it is not lawful”?

Our good witness and prayers are more important today than ever before in the history of the world. When few people pray, those aliened in the army of Satan go forward. The technique to brainwash our heads and lead us in a direction that we do not want to go, without us knowing it, is highly developed today, having taken control of the motors of the culture: the mass media, the schools and almost all of the religious institutions. The true Christians feel tremendous pressure to not acknowledge the Truth, Who is God, before men in the public square. Today “free sex” is considered the thing to do, a good; chastity in ones state of life is considered very strange. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Is 5:20).

If you might want to have a little taste of how the forces of evil are becoming incarnate today in the world, visit: “Catholic Prophecy Today” (http://markbeast.blogspot.com). In particular to understand how they are brainwashing us in a very destructive and sly way, as well as the well planned strategy to get rid of true Christians out of the public square and to make them feel as hypocrites, read the section: “37. The Astounding Impact of the Ruthless Manipulation of Militant Gay Activists!”.

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An Experience of Life:

There was a great silence in the classroom while the professor of philosophy was teaching. Her speech was perfect: logical, convincing and exciting. And yet inside of me a small voice was urging me to be on guard, to defend the truth. That way of thinking in fact was very dangerous. Following the thought of that philosopher of which she was speaking, we would come to conclusions very absurd.

She said that man can be happy only if he lives alone, if he has plenty to drink and to eat, if he has a house to rest. She even stated that man’s life came about by chance and that the soul is mortal, destined to end with the body.

After the explanation the teacher asked what we thought. Some of my companions said that they agreed with the thought that she had exposed. But I had a very different opinion. Overcoming the fear of being alone against the whole class, I raised my hand to be able to speak, sure that the Holy Spirit would suggest to me what to say. I began by explaining that the life of every person is a precious commodity that comes from God, and not by chance, and that we fulfill ourselves not so much by estranging ourselves from the world and thinking selfishly for ourselves, but rather if we love and live for others.

How is it possible to say that God does not exist? Just look at the balance and harmony of nature to be certain of His presence. Just think of man, of his greatness, who has the capacity to understand that his life comes from God and is destined to return to Him.

The words continued to come out of my mouth with great confidence, while the class watched me very attentively. I realized that in that moment I was like an instrument that God was using to illuminate my companions. At the end of my intervention everyone began to agree with me. They realized it was not right to adhere to the thought of that philosopher.

On leaving the school, the professor of philosophy came up to me and whispered: “You know, it was very nice what you said! It helped me a lot and even your classmates now think like you.”

It was the first time that I decided to speak openly of my ideas, and God was at my side.

Anna Rosaria (Rome, Italy)

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Father Joseph Dwight

Ps.

It is becoming very quickly, in the world today, very difficult to acknowledge Jesus, the Truth! How many Christians are ready to loose their titles, prestige and work, and enter into poverty in order not to deny Jesus, in order not to deny the Truth and to not commit a grave, mortal sin, which kill the soul?!?

MARY ANN GLENDON EXPLAINS WHY THE BISHOPS ARE SUING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

The main goal of the mandate is not, as HHS claimed, to protect women’s health. It is rather a move to conscript religious organizations into a political agenda, forcing them to facilitate and fund services that violate their beliefs, within their own institutions.

(http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2012/05/mary-ann-glendon-explains-why-the-bishops-are-suing-the-u-s-government.html)

UK DOCTORS WHO REFUSE TO PERFORM SEX CHANGES CAN BE BANNED FROM PRACTICING

The General Medical Council has issued guidance warning that it would be “discriminatory” for doctors not to prescribe either the pill or morning-after pill because they disagree with people having sex before marriage.

(http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/uk-doctors-who-refuse-to-perform-sex-changes-can-be-banned-from-practicing/; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9284065/Doctors-could-be-banned-from-practising-for-refusing-to-give-unmarried-women-contraceptives.html).

Matthew 13:12

“To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Mt 13:12)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/07/01/luglio-2012-3/)

This passage from the Gospel of Matthew is part of the parable of the sower. The seed is the Word. The Word is not just something added to man, something which man can do without. The earth (the human creature) and the seed (the Word) in fact were created one for the another. It makes no sense to think of the seed without a relationship with the soil. And the soil without the seed is an uninhabitable desert. Man as we know him, if he cuts off all relations with the Word becomes an arid steppe. The Word is just right for the land. It meets and crosses the aspirations of man, his problems, his sins, his longing for salvation, his accomplishments in the personal and social fields.

And Who is this Word? It is Jesus, the Word that has made His dwelling among us. In the word of Jesus is present Jesus Himself Who speaks, Who speaks to us. And so we meet Him in the Word. And receiving the Word in our hearts, as He wants it to be received (that is, being ready to translate it into life), we are one with Him and He is born and grows in us, and so "we are". But for this we must live the Word, make it our own, we set aside ourselves for the Word; to put it above our thoughts, our affections. And with the Word, blooms the Christian community.

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An Experience of Life:

The words of the Gospel continue to make us wonder, especially regarding the "giving".

And so to make available the most immediate and effective practical help we created a site on the Internet. We called it "electronic sharing." There appears a list of offerings: clothing, tools, rental houses, available lessons, possibilities for holidays ... and a list of needs. This simple tool has proven very useful, we have been able to help many people.

For example, a woman abandoned by her husband, with two sons, underpaid work, poor health, needed a car to go to work.

A family discovered this need by way of the "electronic sharing" and offered their car at a very affordable price. Other families offered a contribution to buy the car which was then fixed up. Within a few days the car was delivered and a party was held. Emotion and gratitude. Actually, even that lady offered a contribution to those who find themselves in difficulty.

J. T., Hungary

John 6:27

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (Jn.6:27)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/06/01/giugno-2012/)

The feast of the Body of Christ runs a risk: that Jesus offered to us today as Bread, might be admired, contemplated, adored along the streets and squares, but then He remains closed in the monstrance and tabernacle.

But Jesus says: “take and eat”! So how should we live concretely the gift of the Eucharist?

We need to take and eat. That is transform ourselves into Jesus, to be Him. To live not for ourselves, but that Jesus might be, live and work among Christians.

Christians then, among themselves, if they want to be totally committed, must conduct themselves as members of one body. But this is not enough. During the day this communion must become concrete in social relations in a spiritual communion in actions and material goods.

This applies for Christians. But for those who do not communicate in the sacrament of the Body of Christ? We ourselves must be communion for them with our body: by loving we give Jesus.

Indeed, allowing ourselves to be "eaten" by others, we make ourselves Eucharist for them. Letting ourselves to be eaten means to be people who do not impose themselves, but who make themselves one with everyone, suffering with those who suffer, rejoicing with those who rejoice, participating in the life, problems, struggles, and joys of others.

In a continual giving of love they make of themselves a bridge between Jesus and humanity so that the invitation of Jesus will reach the others: “Take and eat, this is My Body!”.

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An Experience of Life:

At work something that always saddened me a lot was to see that, when a reprimand was to be given, it was done before everyone; in fact it happened that a coworker was reprimanded in the department.

I always asked Jesus that there might be a good time to do something about this. Sometime ago there was a trade union meeting and at the end of a talk of a union organizer he asked if there were any questions or problems to deal with. It was the opportune moment to intervene. And so I raised my hand and I explained my point of view, saying that I had witnessed reproaches made to colleagues in public and with offensive words and I saw it was not right: if a colleague had worked badly or had made a mistake, it was the duty of the manager to let him know, but it should have taken place between them.

My words caused a general murmur of approval. A few days after our union rep told me that my speech was very important; she knew that they had spoken at the summit and we both noted that afterwards we did not witness a similar scene. She once said: "I willing talk with you because you are a humane and fair person. I was once like you too; I tried to help everyone, then I saw that when I myself needed help no one did anything, so now I just mind my own business.

I listened to her trying to "make myself one" and I sensed that there was a lot of suffering under her words. I told her that I understood because I had to face in life many trials, but one thing I was certain: to turn ones back on people was not the right solution to be well.

 

(Daniela, VR)

Luke 12:49

“I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!” (Lk 12:49).

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/05/01/parola-di-vita-maggio/)

Immediately after these words in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus continues: “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!” (v.50).  The fire may be the purifying Holy Spirit or charity. The baptism is the baptism of blood of the Passion (cf. Mk 10:39). This fire of the Holy Spirit, of true charity, is set aflame only through “the baptism” of the sufferings in our lives embraced out of love in union with Jesus on the cross. Paul said: “Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:8).

We do not lose our lives for Jesus, or better, we do not find ourselves in Him only through martyrdom, but also by doing His will with love moment by moment.

Pius XI, speaking of the life of St. Therese, entirely spent for love, defined her life as “daily martyrdom”, a witness of heroic love. Those who train everyday in this martyrdom of love find themselves prepared, if they might be asked, to undergo martyrdom of blood: all this in order to find themselves in Jesus.

Three butterflies desired one day to draw closer to the fire to understand it. Stopping to observe one of them said: “It is something that gives light.” The second, feeling the heat, said: “It's something that warms.” But the third one took off in flight, went deep into it and became of itself a living flame. It alone understood what really is the fire!

If salt does not accept to be dissolved, it would not be worth anything; if wood does not accept to be burned, it would not give heat and would rot needlessly. “Whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it”.

A song is not a song until it is sung; a bell is not a bell until it is rung. By its very nature, love is not love until it is given away!

From the pierced heart of Jesus gushed forth, as two rivers, blood and water, figures of baptism and the Eucharist. By living these two sacraments, which makes us children of God and one in body with Jesus, we can enter the heart of Christ and, through Him, into the abyss of love of the Trinity.

This transformation process takes place each time, while making ourselves empty in order to love, we become capable of receiving the gift of Jesus in every neighbor we encounter.

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An Experience of Life:

Every act of love turns on a light. If then this takes place in the deepest darkness of hatred, then it provokes an explosion of light. Today, in our modern secular culture, there is less true Christian love than every before.  

George Bielecki, a prisoner of Auschwitz, wrote about what happened when Father Kolbe offered his own life to save a prisoner condemned to death:

“It was a huge shock for the whole prison camp. We realized that someone among us, in that dark spiritual night of the soul, had raised the measure of love to the highest peak. A stranger, one like everyone else, tortured and deprived of his name and social condition, offered himself to a horrible death to save someone who was not even related to him. Thousands of prisoners convinced themselves that the world continued to exist and that our torturers could not destroy it. More than one individual started to seek this truth within themselves, to find it and to share it with other comrades in the prison camp.

To say that Father Kolbe died for one of us or for the family of that person would be an understatement. His death was the salvation of thousands of human lives. And in this, I could say, lies the greatness of that death. And as long as we live, we who were at Auschwitz, will bow our heads in memory of what had happened. That was a shock to us that brought back to us optimism, that regenerated us and gave us strength; we were dumbfounded by his gesture, which became for us a powerful burst of light capable of illuminating the dark night of the prison camp…”

John 15:3

You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. (Jn 15:3)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/04/01/aprile-2012/)

One finds this verse in the passage where Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). These disciples of Jesus "have already been cleansed" because they live the word of Jesus, each one individually and together as a community.

The true vineyard is the community of those who adhere to Jesus, as the branches to the stump. Only he who remains united to Jesus, as the vine to the branches, belongs to the Father's vineyard. The disciple who follows Jesus is called, every day, to give his response to the Word, and in this way is grafted into Jesus. The Word of Jesus, accepted and lived, is like a seed of rebirth, like a germ of life, destined to grow incessantly in those who live it. An ever greater fidelity to the Word is the condition of every apostolic activity. The branch can have apostolic power only to the point that it is rooted in the Lord, bearing witness to Him in sorrows, trials and even death. This indwelling of Christ is a strong and courageous, manly and daily faithfulness. Because this fidelity of the disciple is guaranteed by the faithfulness of the Lord: "I in him."

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An Experience of Life:

Simone Weil, a Jewish converted to Christianity, looking one day at the tall and slender plants, with long and leafy branches, commented that these branches, flooded with sunlight, by way of the phenomenon of chlorophyll, transmitted the lifeblood to the whole plant and thus the roots branched deep into the earth. Concluding her paper, Simone Weil posed a question: "But the plants, then, where do they have their roots, in the earth or in heaven?". And she herself replied: "In Heaven". And she concluded: "So too we have our roots in heaven, and the more one is rooted in God, so much the more one becomes man and so much the more one enters into humanity and becomes companion to each man.”

John 6:68

‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (Jn 6:68)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/03/01/marzo-2012/)

How many words we hear in a day! There are simple and difficult words, those for love or for hate, those which soothe or make angry. There are tender words or words of reproach. There are words that are imprinted in the memory, which enter into the heart, others that slip away and that we forget quickly. Jesus, after the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, turns to the crowd with a long speech. In the first part He speaks of the mystery of His Person. In the second part Jesus pauses to talk about the bread of the Eucharist. And He identifies Himself with this Food: it is He, Jesus, the living Bread. He who eats It deeply unites himself to God and can live for God Himself.

The listeners were surprised and found it difficult to receive these words. This is why so many leave. Jesus sees the uncertainty of faith even among the twelve. Jesus asks them also to take a position. Peter responds on behalf of the friends with an authentic profession and experience of Christian faith: he recognizes and testifies that only the revelation of Jesus can lead into the divine life: "You have words of eternal life," of the fullness of life. The words of Jesus are words of life. Not only because they can be put into practice, but also because when you live the words your life takes on a particular fullness. We learn to hear the word of God, distinguishing it from a thousand other words that pass by. It is the Word of a Father Who wants the good of the children and this is why He gives us words that give meaning to daily life.

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An Experience of Life:

I went many times to visit Franca in prison. Her pain, her anguish, within the walls of the prison grew every day. I just felt helpless, but every now and then I could give her a bit 'of serenity.

One day she said to me: "I like you because you are like me ".

She had expressed the desire to come to our home during the periods of leave. We talked with the children and together we received her with joy. There was with us, at that time, our mother, rather ill, and it was surprising to see how she knew how to console Franca.

Then there was a special Christmas; Franca was already at our house when we received the news of the arrival of my brother with his whole family.

Knowing his way of thinking I was afraid that the presence of Franca would upset him. Instead, seeing our willingness and the joy that Mom felt in helping the unfortunate girl, after a first moment of surprise, he was taken up by the climate of solidarity without judgment. Franca had found the warmth of a family.

N.S., Italia

P.s.

I highly recommend reading the book:

The True Devotion To Mary,

By St. Louis De Montfort.

(http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/secret-mary.htm).

In particular read paragraphs 47-59 for our very particular period of time in the history of the world and of the Church.

Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote about this book:

“The reading of this book was a decisive turning point in my life. I say ‘turning point,’ but in fact it was a long inner journey… This ‘perfect devotion’ is indispensable to anyone who means to give himself without reserve to Christ and to the work of redemption.” “It is from Montfort that I have taken my motto: ‘Totus tuus’ (‘I am all thine’). Someday I’ll have to tell you Montfortians how I discovered De Montfort’s ‘Treatise on True Devotion To Mary’, and how often I had to reread it to understand it.”

Mark 1:15

Repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mk 1:15)

(http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2012/02/01/febbraio-2012/)

In the primitive Church Lent was a precious time dedicated to the “catechumenate”, that is to the preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism at the Easter Vigil. Also for us who have already received the gift of the Christian life, Lent is a precious moment to reflect on the received gift, not only to “feel” part of the baptized people, but especially to “live” as baptized people.

This is what it means to “repent”, to overturn our hearts, that is, to go to God with a “new heart”. Conversion is not just about a pagan who embraces the faith in Christ the Savior, but every Christian, in fact the more one is holy, feels even more the need to go to God with the “heart renewed”. To this we are invited in the walk of forty days, helped by the gift of the word of God, because it becomes life of our life, similar to how bread that we eat becomes our flesh.

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An Experience of Life:

I CONDEMNED A DEAD MAN

I committed a big error. I knew that John had died in a sad shameful way: after a night out in drunkenness with prostitutes. He was rich, he had a wife and children, but he also had some really bad habits.

Today will be held the funeral. They called me to bless the body. I said that I would not go. Because of the life that he lived up to the last moment – I replied – he did not deserve the blessing of the Church. I felt I had to defend justice, to give a good example to the people, to do, you might say, my duty.

I was left alone; I did not have peace. I asked myself what would Jesus have done in my place and I was ashamed of myself. In this moment of sorrow, while the wife and the children are crying because there is no longer Dad because he left in that way, I, who could bring a little relief, I condemned a dead man! I know this man from the outside; only God knows him from the inside. I am not his judge, but Jesus Who for him poured out His Blood! That night I was not able to sleep.

The next day I went to find the widow and the children. I asked for their pardon and we made a date for the funeral Mass. The fact became known to the people: the priest went to ask pardon! Perhaps this gesture evangelized more than all of my homilies!

Father E. P. (Italy)