The Key to Change the World
Re-discover an age-old method to solve your problems today!
Political and social activism has become a frequent occurrence. Emboldened by their ideas to make much needed changes people jostle and campaign for what they consider to be essential for the betterment of the world as a whole.
Social media memes urge us on: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
But how do we discern what changes in which to invest our time and money? What causes to support? There are many charitable organisations out there who could use our donations of time, talent or money.
Let’s be honest, there are lots of things we’d like to see change in our present circumstances, in our communities and churches and in our countries.
I mean, I have a hard enough time convincing my children that shoes and jumpers are necessary items when the weather is cold how could I possibly change the mind of influential world leaders?
The stark reality is that I can’t. But that does not make me powerless or impotent.
Swap ‘Be’ more
Instead of being the change that I want to see in the world I need to be praying the change that I want to see. But wait, I hear you say, isn’t prayer rather passive? Shouldn’t we be doing something well…active?
There is nothing passive about prayer. It is many things—contemplative, structured, unstructured, routine, meditative—but certainly not passive. Certainly, there are active ministries within our communities. But without the contemplation to fuel our action, our actions fall short and vice versa.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul explains what happens to our active ministries when we do not have the spiritual underpinning:
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3)
Instead of spreading disunity by opening disagreeing, lacking due charity, with the current- Pope, bishop or priest whose take on the faith has drawn my ire—I need to pray for them. The same can be said for anyone in leadership that we disagree with, our circumstances outside of our control that have wreaked havoc in our lives. I cannot control what other people think, say or do, but I can control my response. And prayer, as simple as it may sound, is always a good option.
Re-discover
If you are a consummate tech savant then you know your way around an online search engine. And I can almost guarantee that whatever you’re dealing with or suffering through – there’s a prayer and/or patron saint for that.
In all honesty, there are a treasure trove of prayers out there. Sometimes just reading through the compilations of adoration, supplication and petition is a comforting one. It is easy to feel alone in our struggle and forget that others have had similar experiences to ours.
Suffering with depression and anxiety in these unpredictable times then Saint Dymphna is your go-to girl. Want to see global equality between people of all races and creeds? Look no further than Saints like Josephine Bakhita. Worried about social activism, or the plight of refugees and our environment? Petition the likes of Dorothy Day, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini or Saint Francis of Assisi.
Pause before you act
When all is said and done, we could argue that there are troubles aplenty in the here and now. Some are big and within our immediate power to change. Others are on a global scale and our efforts would be like a drop in the ocean.
Pausing to spend time in prayer and discernment before deciding on any course of action is a prudent one. Perhaps your heart really goes out to the local food van which caters to the homeless and you’d love to volunteer but actually you are a stay at home mum of twin toddlers and time is a commodity that you don’t have right now.
Pray, discern and reassess when constraints on your time permit. Maybe you will be involved at some stage in the future, trust in the guidance that God gives you in prayer.
Take your cares, dreams and desires to Jesus in prayer. Michael Jackson may have encouraged: “If you want to make the world a better place then take a look at yourself and make that change”. But truthfully, it’s simpler than that.
If you want to make the world a better place: pray. And the rest will come from there.
Emily Shaw is a former Australasian Catholic Press Association award-winning editor turned blogger for australiancatholicmums.com and is a contributor to Catholic-Link. A wife and mother of seven, she resides on a farm in rural Australia and enjoys the spiritual support of her local catholic community.
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A Special Interview with renowned exorcist Father Elias Vella OFM, from the Archdiocese of Malta, who shares his incredible ministerial journey As an exorcist for the Diocese of Malta and at healing and deliverance retreats all over the world, I have been blessed to witness the healing and deliverance of many souls from demonic possession, oppression and temptation. I come from a small Catholic country, the Island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. As a Theology lecturer in the seminary for 24 years, I did not always believe in the existence of the Devil because I was influenced by Dutch and German theologians who doubted the reality of Satan. However, when I became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, people began to come to me with problems that were connected with the occult, satanism and the Devil. I didn’t know what to do. I could see it wasn’t all in their mind and I wanted to help them, so I went to the bishop and asked if I should send them to him. He told me to go and study the issue and discern what God was calling me to do. The more I examined the issue, the more I could see the workings of the Devil and I no longer doubted. I was interested, not for myself, but because people were in need, so the Bishop asked me to become the exorcist for the diocese. Possession is when a demon takes control of someone, so that they are no longer free to think for themselves. Their will, emotions and intelligence become subject to demonic influence. However, a demon cannot take over the soul and cannot force someone to sin because you can only sin if you are free to do as you will, you know what you are doing and you want to do it. During an exorcism, a person can make sinful gestures, for example call out blasphemies or break a rosary, but these are not sins because the person is not in control of their body. In an exorcism, the exorcist (who is a specially trained priest) orders the demon to leave the body of the person in the name of God and by the power of the Church. It is often a struggle because the demon does not want to leave the body where he has made a home, but God is more powerful than the Devil, so he must leave in the end. Not all demonic attacks involve possession. Although, I have personally encountered many cases of demonic possession requiring exorcism, this is because I am an exorcist, so they come to me. It is actually very rare. Many people who think they need exorcism do not. They need other spiritual, psychological and physical help. Although I often visit other countries, I can only perform an exorcism outside my diocese with the permission of the local bishop. If I don’t have that, then I can pray a deliverance prayer, but not the exorcism liturgy. Every exorcism is unique. The Devil is intelligent and cunning, so varies his techniques to elude and deceive us. These are a couple of the people that have been successfully delivered from possession during an exorcism. During a healing Mass in the Czech Republic, I invited the congregation to wash their faces with holy water to remind them of their need for purification. After washing her face, this girl took a crucifix and started to beat me with it. I couldn’t respond violently, but when others had restrained her, we offered her an exorcism. It was very difficult because her father had consecrated her to the Devil in a satanic ceremony where she was smeared with the blood of animals. In Brazil, a fragile 16-year-old girl went into a trance during the Mass. When we prayed over her, she became so violent that she could break a chair with no effort and a strong man couldn’t hold her. Her possession had begun with superstitious use of idols, but despite the difficulty, she was able to be delivered with the aid of Our Lord in the Eucharist. We are all tempted or oppressed. Even Our Lord and Our Lady were tempted many times not to do the will of the Father, but did not succumb. Oppression is when the Devil targets our weak spots with an attack. It is not the same as possession. Often, someone who is spiritually attacked also suffers from psychological problems. It isn’t always easy to understand what originates from a spiritual problem and what is a psychological problem. Often, it needs a multi-pronged response. Prayer, grace from the sacraments, therapy and appropriate medical help may all be needed to fully recover. I pray for both healing and deliverance. The sacraments are the most powerful weapons against the Devil’s attacks. The Devil fears the sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Penance because it directly confronts sin and the temptation to sin. When penitents acknowledge and renounce their sins, and ask for forgiveness from a loving God, they are rejecting the deceptions of the Devil who tries to entice us into thinking that our sins are not wrong; or that we don’t need forgiveness; or that God does not love us; or that He would not mercifully forgive us. Receiving absolution delivers a fatal blow to the Devil’s hold over us. This is why we must not neglect regular Confession. The Eucharist is a powerful weapon against the Devil because Our Lord is giving Himself to us in humility and love. These are two things that Devil make the devil suffer. He is the opposite, full of pride and hate. Because Satan has an insatiable desire for power, he will never understand how God could offer Himself to us. Therefore, when we receive Our Lord in the Eucharist, or adore Him in front of the Eucharist, the Devil flees, because He cannot bear it and wants to escape. So, when there is no exorcist to help people who are disturbed, they should seek the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Protection Prayer Lord God almighty, grant me Your grace by the merits of the passion, death and resurrection of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I accept Him as my Lord and Savior. Protect me, my family, and all the surroundings I live in, by the Precious Blood of Jesus. I renounce and bind all the evil influences that disturb me, by the powerful name of Jesus and by the power of His Precious Blood and chain them at the foot of the Cross. Amen.
Do Angels really exist? Here’s a story that’s going to enthrall you When I was in high school, I was fascinated by tales of encounters with angels. I even dared to share the stories I read with friends and fellow students, who couldn’t help but be amused and intrigued. One unlikely boy showed special interest. When the bus we rode together was full of school kids he would be tough, with unfiltered behaviors and cussing. But as soon as the other students were gone and it was just the two of us, he’d turn to me and say, “Can you tell me an angel story?” I saw it as my gentle way of giving him some hope and a little push toward heaven, perhaps right when he needed it. Around this time, I had a wonderful teacher who shared an unforgettable story with me. A friend of his was nervously walking down a dark alley praying for God’s protection. She suddenly noticed a man staring intently at her from the shadows. As she prayed more fervently, he stepped toward her, but then stopped short and suddenly backed away, turning his face to the wall. She later heard that a young woman was attacked in that same alley only an hour after she had been there. She went to the police and told them she had seen someone in the alley a short while before the attack on the other woman. The police informed her they had someone in custody and wondered if she would view a line-up of suspects. She readily consented and sure enough among the suspects was the man she’d seen in the alley. She asked to speak to him and was escorted to the room where he was being held. As she entered, the man stood and gazed at her with a look of recognition. “Do you remember me?” she asked. He nodded. “Yes. I saw you there, in the alley.” She pressed on. “Why didn’t you attack me instead of the other woman?” He looked at her in confusion. “Are you kidding me?” he said, “with those two big guys walking on either side of you?!” Perhaps that story is apocryphal, but I loved it. It reminded me that guardian angels are not just a comforting thought or pleasant imaginings from our childhood. They are real. They are powerful and faithful. And they have been appointed to watch over us and protect us with God’s presence. But do we take our hidden friends for granted? And do we trust them to come to our need when we truly need them? From one of my favorite saints, St. Padre Pio, I learned to think more often of my guardian angel and to speak to him openly. I had no doubt that my angel was already working hard and fighting spiritual battles on my behalf, but one day I experienced his presence powerfully. I was seventeen, had missed my bus, and despite frigid weather, I decided to drive my big, cold-sensitive car to school. While driving up a steep, country hill, the car began to slow. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor but only crept along. There were no houses close by and I didn’t have a cell phone. If the car died, it would be a long walk in freezing weather before I could get help. I remembered there was a mom-and-pop restaurant a mile or so down the road and held onto the hope that, if I made it up the hill, I might have enough down-hill momentum to reach the restaurant. But the car slowed and I knew it was unlikely I would make it up the hill. “Okay, angel!” I said out loud. “I need you to push this car. Please, push me up the hill.” The car sped up. I felt a difference in its movement, so I encouraged my angel, “Almost there! Come on! Please keep pushing.” The car crept to the top and somehow lurched over the peak. I began the descent down the other side moving fast at first but soon lost momentum. I saw the restaurant in the distance and begged my angel to keep pushing the car, though I didn’t think I’d make it. But the car found new momentum, just enough to make it into the restaurant parking lot and into a spot facing a plate-glass window. Then, as if on cue, the car died. “Was that a fluke,” I wondered. “I’m grateful that this worked out perfectly,” I thought, “but was it actually my angel’s intervention?” Then I looked up and through the restaurant window I saw a huge painting of a guardian angel on the back wall. It was the painting I had loved since childhood that depicts two children crossing a dangerous bridge under the watchful protection of their guardian angel. I was overwhelmed. I learned later that my fuel line had completely frozen, and it was a wonder that I reached a safe place. My story may not have been as dramatic as my teacher’s incredible tale, but it confirmed my belief that our guardian angels watch over us and that we should never hesitate to ask for help—even if it’s just a little push when we need it. I believe sharing stories like these, like sharing stories of saints, is a powerful way to evangelize. They provide assurance that we are not alone, that we have a Father who loves us enough to assign dear allies to care for us in our times of need.
We slide into our pew with one minute to spare, and I have a feeling that Mass is going to be a struggle for our family. By the time the priest finishes reading the Gospel, I’m frazzled and overwhelmed. Then during the Creed—as I am stifling down the urge to shout, “We are not taking any more trips to the bathroom!”—my busy three-year old licks the pew while my seven-year old tells me he is thirsty again and asks what con-sub- stan-tial means. Going to Mass is not always easy. I feel discouraged and even ashamed for not paying better attention at Mass. How am I supposed to worship God while juggling the many demands on my attention? The answer: a heart of simplicity. I used to think the phrase “active participation at Mass” meant absorbing the deep meaning of every single word I hear. But in this season of life, having focus is a luxury. Now as I raise my children, I begin to understand that God does not hold back His invitation or His Presence just because my life gets messy. He loves me and accepts me as I am—mess and all—even amidst the chaos of a hectic Mass experience. If we remember this, you and I can take simple steps to prepare our hearts for God’s supreme gift of Love in the Eucharist. Discover a Short Phrase I am often overwhelmed by the number of words I hear at each Mass. My attention falters, and I struggle to follow many of the spoken parts. If you navigate this challenge too, know that you and I are still called to listen and be engaged at Mass. How? Simplify. Listen for a short phrase that catches your attention. Reflect on it. Repeat it. Bring it to Jesus and ask Him to show you why it is important. Hold this phrase in your heart throughout the Mass and let it become an anchor for your attention while you attend to your family responsibilities. Your open heart is a landscape for Christ’s grace. Gaze With Love Love does not always need words. Sometimes a simple glance can communicate an ocean of love. If words wash over you, engage your heart and direct your love to the Lord by focusing your eyes on a Crucifix or a Station of the Cross. Reflect on the details you see: Christ’s face, His crown of thorns, His bleeding heart. Each detail you intentionally take in draws your heart closer to Jesus and prepares you to receive Our Lord’s immense gift of Love in the Eucharist. Bring Your Heart If all else fails, bring yourself to Jesus as an offering of love. The Lord knows your intentions and your true desires. If you feel frazzled and unfocused by things beyond your control, you can still come before the Lord with a heart willing to worship Him, to receive Him and to love Him. Stir the affections of your heart and repeat “Here I am Lord. I choose you. Transform my heart!” Our Lord rejoices every time we encounter Him at Mass, regardless of our circumstances. Jesus was human—He got tired, He got interrupted. Our Lord understands the mess of life! And even in the midst of it, He wants to give Himself to you in the Eucharist. So next time you go to Mass, give Jesus your willing heart, your “yes” to come before Him as you are. Christ’s love is bigger than whatever family chaos is happening in your pew.
They happen every day but we seldom notice… I want to tell you two stories of grace, wonderful grace that came just when I needed it, in fact, just when I asked for it. I think these experiences of grace were miraculous, and before I share them with you I’d like to reflect a bit on miracles. People will tell you that miracles don’t come on demand… and they are right. Miracles don’t come on demand. But Jesus tells us to ask, and promises that if we ask, we will receive (Matthew 7:7). I firmly believe that when we ask, God hears us and gives us what we truly need. We need to acknowledge that miracles are a mystery that transcends human understanding. We get glimpses, we have intuitions, but we can never fully understand or explain the workings of God’s grace manifested as “miracles.” I Got Nothing! Many scoff at the notion that “if we ask” we will “receive.” “I asked and got nothing,” some will say. That adds to the mystery. Jesus was a miracle worker, but He didn’t heal everyone in Israel. Millions go to Lourdes, but few miracles are documented. Can we say that people don’t ask “right” or don’t really need what they ask for? No! Only God reads the heart; we cannot judge. But my experience and that of many others confirms that Jesus spoke the truth when He told us to ask and expect a response from God our Father. So, I believe in miracles, which are simply manifestations of God’s grace— sometimes in dramatic fashion and sometimes not so much, sometimes so obvious that anyone can recognize them and other times so subtle and disguised as “a coincidence” that only eyes of faith can perceive them. Miracles should be expected…like children expect their mothers to feed them when they are hungry. But kids can’t control the menu. Mom decides the menu otherwise kids would eat mac and cheese every night. Moms never tire of feeding their children. Similarly with God. He never tires of our requests and like our moms He gives us what we need and not the junk food we want. Miracles are not God performing tricks so we can brag, “Look what God did for me!” God’s miracles answer the deep longings of our hearts reminding us to always rely on Him. When God grants us miracles, He uses them to point to the grace that is all around us in life’s ordinary moments—each day’s sunrise, a hand extended in apology, a hug of forgiveness, an act of selflessness. Only if we recognize life’s ordinary miracles can we expect to see the extraordinary ones. Miracles build faith, they don’t replace it. When we are constantly seeing miracles, we don’t need much faith. But when God is silent and obvious blessings are removed, we have an opportunity to live our faith more deeply. That’s why we may see more miracles when we are new in the faith than when we have matured. Story One Years ago, my wife Nancy and I taught in a summer Ministry Institute at a large Catholic urban university. Each summer we put on a show of dance and drama which we wrote and rehearsed during the six weeks of the Institute. Our performers were Institute students who came from all over the country and all over the world. After five years of creating these moving and exciting programs we were well-known and respected by Institute students and faculty alike. We cherished this amazing opportunity to impact ministry professionals from all over the world as they learned from us how to use the performing arts as a powerful resource for ministry and education. But prior to our sixth summer we were told we would not be directing our summer production any longer and were invited instead to teach a course. We accepted, and taught our class, contributed artistically to liturgies, and tried to be as “present” as we could, but it just wasn’t the same. We missed the work, the interaction, the creativity, and the unique contribution we had made each of the previous five summers. Walking across the campus one day I found myself feeling dispirited about our diminished role. I entered a university building from the south end lamenting to the Lord that I needed some evidence that our presence mattered, that we still made a difference. I walked through the building atrium and by the time I exited the north of the building my prayer was answered. Standing at the top of a long set of steps I saw a car suddenly stop on the street below. With the engine running, the driver jumped out and called my name. “Oh, Graz,” she said, “I’m so glad to see you. I wanted to tell you how glad I am that you are here at the Institute. You and Nancy make such a difference, it just wouldn’t be the same without you. Thank you for everything you do.” And with that, she hopped back into her car and drove off. “Wow, Lord,” I thought, “that was fast!” Story Two Flash forward a dozen years. I am the director of an Archdiocesan office in Chicago. I am having a hard week, feeling discouraged, not sure whether I am doing what God wants me to be doing. I am in the kitchen of our office building, washing my lunch dishes and I pray, “Lord, You used to give me little signs that You were taking care of me, that I was doing Your will…I need one of those signs now.” The next morning, still despondent, I decide to skip work. It’s summer, the kids are off school, so I announce: “Dad’s playing hooky today. Who wants to go to a Cubs game?” I don’t even know if the Chicago Cubs are in town, but we check and they are, and off we go. We drop the kids off at one of the gates to stand in line for tickets and head off to park. Parking is always a challenge at Wrigley Field. Either you park very far away and walk, or you pay a fortune in a parking lot. Neither option is realistic—we’re running too late for a long walk and paying an exorbitant parking lot fee would destroy my budget. I make the ridiculous choice to look for street parking. Impossibly, directly in front of the entry gate there’s a spot at a parking meter. For two dollars I will get a maximum of two hours, which means I will have to leave the park, feed the meter, and return to the game (I don’t realize that leaving and returning is not allowed). As I exit my car, I see a woman on the opposite side of the street getting ready to pull out of her parking spot. That side has no meters! I run to her, explain my situation and ask if she will wait until I pull out so I can take her spot. She happily obliges. I have got free street parking one minute away from Wrigley Field. Unbelievable! Nancy and I hurry to the children where an even bigger surprise awaits. Our daughter calls excitedly, “Dad,” she says, “we got free tickets.” “What?” I ask in disbelief. She explains: “A man asked me and Christopher if we were going to the game. I said yes and he said he was here with a big group and some people didn’t show up, so he gave me two tickets. Then I said, ‘What about my mom and dad?’ ‘Oh, your parents are here, too?’ Here you go. Two more tickets.” Free parking and free tickets to a Cubs game! God gave me my sign. Objectively, you might say all I got was a little affirmation one time and some freebies the next. However the fact that God graciously provided exactly what I needed just when I asked for it, that was the miracle.
During the 14th century Siena’s magistrates had sentenced two hardened criminals to a brutal public death. They were driven about town in a cart while executioners tore at their bodies with red-hot pincers. The condemned men showed no trace of remorse for their crimes and spat curses and blasphemies at the people who lined the streets. They had refused to speak with the priests who had offered to prepare them for death. Catherine of Siena happened to be visiting a friend who lived on one of the roads the cart had to travel. While she stood at the window observing the terrible scene, Catherine was moved by compassion. In her mind’s eye, she saw a mob of demons waiting to punish the condemned men even more sadistically in hell. Immediately, she began to pray for the two unfortunates. “My most merciful Lord,” she said with her characteristic frankness, “why do you show such contempt for your own creatures? Why are you letting them suffer such torture now? And even more vicious torture by these hellish spirits?” Catherine never beat around the bush, even in conversations with God. To the amazement of all, both criminals suddenly stopped shouting curses and cried out for a priest. They wept and confessed their sins to him. The crucified Christ, they claimed, had appeared to them urging repentance and offering forgiveness. They told the crowd that they expected to be with Christ in Heaven, and then they submitted peacefully to their execution. This miraculous turn of events mystified the whole town, but Catherine’s close friends knew that she had intervened in some way. For many days after the dramatic conversions, Saint Catherine of Siena was heard to say, “Thank you, Lord, for saving them from a second prison.” God’s merciful loves waits for us to turn back to Him. No matter how grave our sins, He longs to embrace us and draw us into His everlasting peace. Would you say ‘yes’ to His call today by making a good confession with a truly repentant heart? Surely, the Kingdom of God belongs to you!
The cure for loneliness is right beside you! During the ‘60s the rock group Three Dog Night, had a pop-hit, One is the Loneliest Number, that addresses the pain associated with isolation. In the book of Genesis we see that Adam was living in the Garden by himself. Sure, he was given permission by God to name all the other creatures as a sign of his dominion. Nonetheless, something was lacking: he felt alone because “there was not found a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20). Unconditional This drama of solitude is experienced by countless men and women today. But, it need not be, because the cure for this loneliness is right out there in plain sight: The Family, which Pope Francis reminds us is the “fundamental cell of society” (Evangelium Gaudium, 66). As such, the family is where young people can see with their own eyes that the love of Christ is alive and present in the love of their Mom and Dad, who testify that unconditional love is possible. That’s why we are not meant to live as isolated, autonomous, self-reliant individuals , but rather we are meant to enjoy ‘I-Thou’ relationships with other persons, which is why God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (2:18). These simple words show that nothing makes a man’s heart happier than to be joined to another’s heart like his own. A heart who loves him unconditionally and tenderly and takes away his sense of being alone. These words show that God did not make us to live in isolation, which inevitably fosters gloom, sorrow, and anxiety. He did not create us to be alone. He made men and women for happiness, to share their story and journey with another until death do them part. Man cannot make himself happy. Woman cannot make herself happy. But, sharing their journey with someone complements them, so that they can live the awesome experience of love and to be loved, and to see their love bear fruit in children. The Psalmist puts it this way: “Like a fruitful vine your wife within your home. Like olive plants your children around your table. Just so will they be blessed who fear the Lord” (Psalm 128:3-4). Defending Dignity This is God’s dream for His beloved creation: just as God is three persons sharing one divine nature, just as the Risen Christ is forever united to His Church, His mystical Body, so, too, is creation fulfilled in the loving union between a man and a woman, rejoicing in their shared journey, fruitful in their mutual self-giving. This is the same plan which Jesus envisions for humanity. “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female’. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So, they are no longer two but one flesh” (Mark 10:6-8; cf Genesis 1:27, 2:24). And, he concludes, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Mark 10:9). This last line is important because in the Creator’s original plan, there is no do-over. It is not that a man marries a woman and, if things don’t go well, he repudiates her and moves onto Plan B. No, rather, the man and woman are called to recognize each other, to complete each other, to help each other to realize their purpose and destiny. This teaching of Jesus, grounded in the opening chapters of Genesis, is the basis of the Sacrament of Marriage, which is a divine mandate as revealed in Scripture and through the very words of the Son of God. Contrary to contemporary whims, it is not a historical or cultural construct no matter what a legislative or judicial institution says. The teaching of Jesus is very clear and defends the dignity of marriage as a union of love between a man and a woman, which is constitutive. Anything other than this is simply not marriage. Moreover, the union of a man and woman implies fidelity. What allows the spouses to remain united in marriage is a love of mutual self-giving infused by Christ’s grace. But, the nurturing of this union takes hard work: if the spouses pursue their private interests, the promotion of one’s egoic satisfaction, then the union cannot endure. Either spouse or both may behave in such a way that places their union in crisis. That’s why Jesus brings it back to the beginning of Creation to teach us that God blesses human love, that it is God who joins the hearts of a man and woman who love one another. He joins them in indissolubility just as He is united with His Church. That is why the Church does not tire of confirming the beauty of family as it was consigned to us by Scripture and by Tradition. At the same time, she strives to make her maternal closeness tangible and comforting to those who are experiencing relationships that are broken or continue to be difficult and painful. God’s way of acting with His broken and often unfaithful people, teaches us that wounded love can be healed by God through mercy and forgiveness. For this reason, the Church does not lead with censure or condemnation. On the contrary, Holy Mother the Church is called to show love, charity, and mercy, in order to heal wounded and lost hearts to get them back to God’s embrace. Let us remember that we have a great ally in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church, who helps married couples to live together authentically and renew their union, beginning with God’s original gift.
Here's a way to let go of your worries... With each day comes the opportunity to change our mindset and our heart. While I advocate strongly for prayer, in practice it isn’t always my default action. Like so many, I tend to worry rather than pray, letting myself get caught up in ‘what ifs”. Over and over, I need to learn the lesson of changing my mindset, which in turn, changes my heart. Jesus exhorted us not to worry, and so daily I am striving to shift my worries into prayers and thus let them fly away. Through much of 2021 I saved up to attend a popular Catholic conference. But the costs turned out to be higher than I anticipated. I had been wanting to attend this conference for years and didn’t expect that this would be the year the opportunity would open up. A dear couple who are close friends and have been influential in my life called to tell me they would be attending this year and strongly encouraged me to attend. There was something in how they spoke that told me this was the Holy Spirit nudging me. After that call I knew without a doubt that I needed to attend the conference this year. The thought of attending filled me with joy and expectation. As the costs related to attending the conference continued to rise, I noticed myself falling into the worry trap. Instead of remembering how God has always provided, I worried about whether I would have the necessary funds in time. One day, I was prompted to stop worrying and instead to turn to God, the giver of all good gifts! As the worry turned to prayer, a smile settled onto my face. I remembered that God is faithful, and would make sure I had the finances to attend. “Heavenly Father,” I prayed, “thank You for every opportunity You have given me. Please provide for my needs for the conference. Thank You for always providing for me in Your perfect way.” Becoming aware of my worries has turned into a light bulb moment. The light goes on and I remember to turn my worries into prayers. My mind eases, and so does my heart. I remember that my Heavenly Father has consistently provided for me in every area of my life. Why wouldn’t he provide for me in this area? Now, I strive daily, in every area of my life, to develop the habit of shifting my worries into prayers and thereby let my worries fly away. God provided marvelously and I was able to attend the conference. Though a snowstorm on the morning I was to leave threatened to cancel my flight, God prevailed and I arrived safely and on time. I marveled at the beautiful conference venue and my comfortable hotel room. It turned out that I had saved up more than I needed to cover my expenses! Why had I worried? God the Father did what He always does best and provided for the needs of one of His children. I’m grateful for this experience and for learning once again to turn my mind to God rather than to worry. As we change our thoughts, so we change our lives. As we turn our hearts to God instead of to negativity, we become more like Him. How less anxious would we be, and how more grateful to our Heavenly Father, if we consistently shifted our worries into prayers? How much more peaceful would life be if we let our worries fly away? Thank You, Heavenly Father, that You are only a prayer away!
Back in the 1950s, Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, began to articulate a vision that was largely ratified at the Second Vatican Council. She said that the prevailing notion of a “commandments spirituality” for the laity and a “counsels spirituality” for the clergy was dysfunctional. She was referencing the standard view of the period that the laity were called to a kind of least common denominator life of obeying the ten commandments—that is to say, avoiding the most fundamental violations of love and justice—whereas priests and religious were called to a heroic life of following the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Lay people were ordinary players, and the clergy were spiritual athletes. To all of this, Dorothy Day said a rather emphatic no. Every baptized person, she insisted, was summoned to heroic sanctity—which is to say, the practice of both the commandments and the counsels. As I say, Vatican II, in its doctrine on the universal call to holiness, endorsed this notion. Though the Council Fathers taught that there is a substantial difference between the manner in which clergy and laity incorporate poverty, chastity, and obedience, they clearly instructed all followers of Christ to seek real sanctity by incorporating those ideals. So, what would this look like? Let us take poverty first. Though the laity are not, at least typically, summoned to the sort of radical poverty adopted by, say, a Trappist monk, they are indeed supposed to practice a real detachment from the goods of the world, precisely for the sake of their mission on behalf of the world. Unless a lay person has interior freedom from an addiction to wealth, power, pleasure, rank, honor, etc., she cannot follow the will of God as she ought. Only when the woman at the well put down her water jug, only when she stopped seeking to quench her thirst from the water of the world’s pleasures, was she able to evangelize (John 4). Similarly, only when a baptized person today liberates himself from an addiction to money, authority, or good feelings is he ready to become the saint God wants him to be. So, poverty, in the sense of detachment, is essential to the holiness of the laity. Chastity, the second of the evangelical counsels, is also crucial to lay spirituality. To be sure, though the way that the clergy and religious practice chastity—namely, as celibates—is unique to them, the virtue itself is just as applicable to the laity. For chastity simply means sexual uprightness or a rightly ordered sexuality. And this implies bringing one’s sexual life under the aegis of love. As Thomas Aquinas taught, love is not a feeling, but rather an act of the will, more precisely, willing the good of the other. It is the ecstatic act by which we break free from the ego, whose gravitational pull wants to draw everything to itself. Like the drive to eat and to drink, sex is a passion related to life itself, which is why it is so powerful and thus so spiritually dangerous, so liable to draw everything and everybody under its control. Notice how the Church’s teaching that sex belongs within the context of marriage is meant to hold off this negative tendency. In saying that our sexuality should be subordinated to unity (the radical devotion to one’s spouse) and procreation (the equally radical devotion to one’s children), the Church is endeavoring to bring our sex lives completely under the umbrella of love. A disordered sexuality is a deeply destabilizing force within a person, which, in time, brings him off-kilter to love. Finally, the laity are meant to practice obedience, again not in the manner of religious, but in a manner distinctive to the lay state. This is a willingness to follow, not the voice of one’s own ego, but the higher voice of God, to listen (obedire in Latin) to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I have spoken often before of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s distinction between the ego-drama (written, produced, directed by, and starring oneself) and the theo-drama (written, produced, and directed by God). We might say that the entire point of the spiritual life is to break free of the former so as to embrace the latter. Most of us sinners, most of the time, are preoccupied with our own wealth, success, career plans, and personal pleasure. To obey God is to break out of those soul-killing preoccupations and hear the voice of the Shepherd. Imagine what would happen if, overnight, every Catholic commenced to live in radical detachment from the goods of the world. How dramatically politics, economics, and the culture would change for the better. Imagine what it would be like if, today, every Catholic resolved to live chastely. We would make an enormous dent in the pornography business; human trafficking would be dramatically reduced; families would be significantly strengthened; abortions would appreciably decrease. And picture what it would be like if, right now, every Catholic decided to live in obedience to the voice of God. How much of the suffering caused by self-preoccupation would be diminished! What I am describing in this article is, once again, part of the great Vatican II teaching on the universal call to holiness. Priests and bishops are meant, the Council Fathers taught, to teach and to sanctify the laity who, in turn, are to sanctify the secular order, bringing Christ into politics, finance, entertainment, business, teaching, journalism, etc. And they do so precisely by embracing the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Hanna Alice Simon was born blind, yet she sees beyond what most of us see! Here's a story from her life that's sure to touch you Being a very emotional person, I used to become tearful at the silliest of things, until the day, two years ago when I was invited to a church to speak to a group of children. I was happy to have this opportunity to meet them and confidently set out. Little did I know what awaited me. On my arrival, they took me into the church and I waited for the children to come in after their lunch. Slowly, one by one, they came in and crowded in around me. They talked about how weird I was and some of them called me a ghost. It seemed they had showed me things with their hands, but I didn’t know what was happening. As their cruel words sank in, I felt that I was about to break down and cry. As the tears prickled my eyelids, I began to silently pray, but all I wanted was to run away from that place. I still kept praying in my heart to God, “O God…please…I don’t want to cry in front of them…please help me to be strong…” My mom who was watching all this told me, “Hannah…this is not the time to cry and although it’s not the time to get angry, you should tell them what they did is wrong. They should not do this to another person. You should tell them this.” With trepidation, I faced those children who had insulted me and suddenly God put the right words on my lips. I told them, “You might call me weird but I am not. I am special. I am special to God. I am beloved to Him. The next time you see a person who you think is different or weird, go up to him and say to him ‘You are special and I love you for that.’ That day God worked a miracle on me and on that whole crowd of children. After I finished speaking, they all came up to me and those children who had insulted me apologized, but that is not the best part. In the midst of the crowd was another girl, younger than me, who was also differently abled. She came up to me and said, “Even though I have faced a lot of insults at school, what you said today strengthened me. I realized that I am special too.” Then it dawned on me why God had allowed me to face all those insults. My destiny was to give strength to that one person in the crowd who needed it. In the book of Genesis, chapter 12, verse 2 it says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.” So, cast your heartaches and your fears to God. Even if the whole world is against you and there is not even a single person who loves you…even if your day is as dark as night, know that there is a God who cares for you…who loves you more than anything or anybody else in the world. Know that you are wanted by God, you are precious to Him. You are a blessing! EXCERPT from the talk given by Hanna Alice Simon for the Shalom World program “Triumph”. To watch the episode visit: shalomworld.org/episode/triumph
Struggling to pray when you don’t know how to pray? Read on and you will surely find the key to God’s heart! Saint Therese of Lisieux once explained that prayer is a “surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and love, embracing both trial and joy.” Nestled in My Heart It wasn’t until my husband and I became foster parents that I experienced that “heart surge” in a whole new way, feeling helpless at the prospect of meeting the needs of three frightened, traumatized, and helpless human beings, and feeling woefully under-qualified. They were cute children—a girl, age 4, her brother, age 2-1/2, and their infant sister, just 6 months old. As we made it through those first few sleepless weeks, we established a pattern that gradually made it possible for me to resume my theology studies, and a couple of times a week, I would slip into the chapel and revel in the quiet. And yet, my mind was in a whirl. By that time it was clear to me that I was in over my head with these three children, each of whom was struggling to adjust to life with us after being taken from their first parents and older brother. And yet I also knew that if I was unable to care for all three of them, it was unlikely that I’d be able to keep any of them—including that beautiful, little, brown-eyed baby girl who had nestled her way into my heart. Late at night, I would sit in the rocker, snuggle with one of the children and ask God what He wanted from me. By the time we’d had them nearly a year, it was still unclear whether we would be able to adopt them, or they would return to their birth parents. (While reunification is the primary goal of foster care, a significant number of these children never return home.) And so, I looked for the key to God’s heart—on how to pray. It came in the form of a prayer one of my seminary professors had given me by Blessed Charles de Foucauld. Called the “Prayer of Abandonment,” I was sure God had given me a lifeline in that particular prayer which contained the following lines which I repeated over and over. Whatever You may do, I thank You; I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, And in all Your creatures, I wish no more than this, O Lord. I found that this posture of abandonment can be a powerful intercessory tool on how to pray when you don’t know how to pray—essentially the key to God’s heart. When we profess our desire to do what God wants—and acknowledge our difficulties in discerning what that will might be—God will guide us each step of the way. This is not a passive “digging in” or spiritual stalemate, but a childlike trust in Jesus who, in the words of one great old hymn, “doeth all things well.” I have found this to be especially true when it comes to Mary, the spiritual mother of all believers. As a new Catholic, I was reluctant to cultivate my own relationship with Mary because I had always prayed directly to God. But when I was still single, shortly after being confirmed Catholic, a friend gave me a Miraculous Medal and encouraged me to “tell Mary about it” whenever I felt lonely. I had recently relocated and soon found my prayers for companionship answered in an unexpected way. Three weeks in a row, I asked Mary to send someone to sit with me at Mass and three weeks in a row a different stranger stopped by my pew. From that time on, I came to regard Mary as someone who understands my human needs and weaknesses, and who prays for me when I do not have the words to offer God on my own. Three Prayers when you don’t know how to pray As my children have grown (we were able to adopt the younger two, while their older sister was adopted by another family) and launched themselves into young adulthood, the kinds of prayers I pray for them have changed… but at times I still feel stumped about how to pray for a particular situation. When that happens, there are three prayers that can turn the key to God’s heart. They help me clear my mind, and invite the Holy Spirit into my heart in a fresh new way: Lord, thank you Even on the worst days, God is so generous with us. Acknowledging His generosity and protection—for ourselves and our families—helps us rise above the mundane and the petty and helps us listen to what He wants to tell us. Opening the Psalms and praying along with the Psalmist helps me name the things that are pressing on my heart. Lord, forgive me Even on the best days, there are moments when I do not conduct myself with as much grace as a situation requires. Acknowledging our shortcomings makes it easier to forgive others who annoy or hurt us. A friend wisely prays a “Nine Annoying Things Novena” to turn her daily annoyances into opportunities for greater faith. Lord, help me It is said that “God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called.” When God asks us to stretch our faith (or our parenting skills) in new ways, He always grants the wisdom we need to do the job well--if we ask for it. We might be tempted to run ahead and handle it on our own, but if we entrust each task to God, He will show us how to handle them with love.
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A Special Interview with renowned exorcist Father Elias Vella OFM, from the Archdiocese of Malta, who shares his incredible ministerial journey As an exorcist for the Diocese of Malta and at healing and deliverance retreats all over the world, I have been blessed to witness the healing and deliverance of many souls from demonic possession, oppression and temptation. I come from a small Catholic country, the Island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. As a Theology lecturer in the seminary for 24 years, I did not always believe in the existence of the Devil because I was influenced by Dutch and German theologians who doubted the reality of Satan. However, when I became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, people began to come to me with problems that were connected with the occult, satanism and the Devil. I didn’t know what to do. I could see it wasn’t all in their mind and I wanted to help them, so I went to the bishop and asked if I should send them to him. He told me to go and study the issue and discern what God was calling me to do. The more I examined the issue, the more I could see the workings of the Devil and I no longer doubted. I was interested, not for myself, but because people were in need, so the Bishop asked me to become the exorcist for the diocese. Possession is when a demon takes control of someone, so that they are no longer free to think for themselves. Their will, emotions and intelligence become subject to demonic influence. However, a demon cannot take over the soul and cannot force someone to sin because you can only sin if you are free to do as you will, you know what you are doing and you want to do it. During an exorcism, a person can make sinful gestures, for example call out blasphemies or break a rosary, but these are not sins because the person is not in control of their body. In an exorcism, the exorcist (who is a specially trained priest) orders the demon to leave the body of the person in the name of God and by the power of the Church. It is often a struggle because the demon does not want to leave the body where he has made a home, but God is more powerful than the Devil, so he must leave in the end. Not all demonic attacks involve possession. Although, I have personally encountered many cases of demonic possession requiring exorcism, this is because I am an exorcist, so they come to me. It is actually very rare. Many people who think they need exorcism do not. They need other spiritual, psychological and physical help. Although I often visit other countries, I can only perform an exorcism outside my diocese with the permission of the local bishop. If I don’t have that, then I can pray a deliverance prayer, but not the exorcism liturgy. Every exorcism is unique. The Devil is intelligent and cunning, so varies his techniques to elude and deceive us. These are a couple of the people that have been successfully delivered from possession during an exorcism. During a healing Mass in the Czech Republic, I invited the congregation to wash their faces with holy water to remind them of their need for purification. After washing her face, this girl took a crucifix and started to beat me with it. I couldn’t respond violently, but when others had restrained her, we offered her an exorcism. It was very difficult because her father had consecrated her to the Devil in a satanic ceremony where she was smeared with the blood of animals. In Brazil, a fragile 16-year-old girl went into a trance during the Mass. When we prayed over her, she became so violent that she could break a chair with no effort and a strong man couldn’t hold her. Her possession had begun with superstitious use of idols, but despite the difficulty, she was able to be delivered with the aid of Our Lord in the Eucharist. We are all tempted or oppressed. Even Our Lord and Our Lady were tempted many times not to do the will of the Father, but did not succumb. Oppression is when the Devil targets our weak spots with an attack. It is not the same as possession. Often, someone who is spiritually attacked also suffers from psychological problems. It isn’t always easy to understand what originates from a spiritual problem and what is a psychological problem. Often, it needs a multi-pronged response. Prayer, grace from the sacraments, therapy and appropriate medical help may all be needed to fully recover. I pray for both healing and deliverance. The sacraments are the most powerful weapons against the Devil’s attacks. The Devil fears the sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Penance because it directly confronts sin and the temptation to sin. When penitents acknowledge and renounce their sins, and ask for forgiveness from a loving God, they are rejecting the deceptions of the Devil who tries to entice us into thinking that our sins are not wrong; or that we don’t need forgiveness; or that God does not love us; or that He would not mercifully forgive us. Receiving absolution delivers a fatal blow to the Devil’s hold over us. This is why we must not neglect regular Confession. The Eucharist is a powerful weapon against the Devil because Our Lord is giving Himself to us in humility and love. These are two things that Devil make the devil suffer. He is the opposite, full of pride and hate. Because Satan has an insatiable desire for power, he will never understand how God could offer Himself to us. Therefore, when we receive Our Lord in the Eucharist, or adore Him in front of the Eucharist, the Devil flees, because He cannot bear it and wants to escape. So, when there is no exorcist to help people who are disturbed, they should seek the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Protection Prayer Lord God almighty, grant me Your grace by the merits of the passion, death and resurrection of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I accept Him as my Lord and Savior. Protect me, my family, and all the surroundings I live in, by the Precious Blood of Jesus. I renounce and bind all the evil influences that disturb me, by the powerful name of Jesus and by the power of His Precious Blood and chain them at the foot of the Cross. Amen.
Before you fly away from your humdrum life into another romantic vampire story, consider this... As such, you can imagine that I am very fond of romance. A lot of us are. I am also single. Not being a hideous goblin (no girl is), I could get a boyfriend easily enough. The question is: what are my standards? I am a soldier of Christ and willing to fight to defend the truth. An important part of this truth is Christian marriage and sexuality. This topic is scorned by society at large, hence my lack of male companionship. If I am going to date, my minimum requirement is respect for my faith and boundaries. This is hard to find, but I’m not lowering my standards. I’ll tell you why. Shocking Truth! Forgive my bluntness. Girls my age are turned into easily- accessible entertainment for any male with eyes. In the name of empowerment, women are told to “dress how they want”. Translation: dress in the way those creepy guys on the street like. Virginity is a shameful secret. Any who dare suggest a sense of the sacred around women, marriage, or sex are evil misogynists. Poor female minors, enslaved by self-respect and safety. One useful tool for turning women into commodities, products, or slaves is young adult fiction. Every time I open a YA book, I see this: “McKayla is just an ordinary, plain girl with flawless skin and hair. Except she has a dark, mysterious past. ~insert stereotype. Evil or negligent parents are preferable.~ Then she meets... Brad. He’s dark, brooding, and impossibly hot (of course). What will happen, and will their mysterious connection win out against all odds?!” Next, you get to watch McKayla describe Brad in agonizing detail every three pages. She inevitably gets mixed up with him. He’s an assassin, a vampire, or preferably both. McKayla gets sucked into a dangerous relationship. Vampire cults are encouraged. Brad will attack her, pressure her, and attempt a seduction. He will go through periods of cruelty, the silent treatment, and possessiveness, interspersed with passionate statements about his love for her. Because of this passion, our heroine will gladly cut out every healthy influence in her life, following her “true love” like a lamb to the slaughter. Something about this feels just the tiniest bit off, doesn’t it? No? Is it only me who thinks it’s a romanticization of abuse? Alas, I am not exaggerating or joking. Here’s a paraphrase of a random page from a teen novel I picked up: “I couldn’t quite forget that he had tried to stab me with a knife ten minutes ago, but I couldn’t take my eyes off how hot Jason looked in those white jeans. His hair was... his muscles were...” Etc., etc., etc., another uncomfortably detailed ogling of our darling attempted murderer. I started the next book at the beginning. Page one was from the perspective of a male vampire prostitute. A girl comes and gives him money. She bares her throat for him to bite. He begins rubbing her thighs and pretending to groan in excitement. I close the book. Finally, in a very popular YA novel, the male lead breaks into the girl’s house and watches her sleep. Oh, how romantic! No Compromise Books like this groom young women to be the slaves and tools of evil men. Nothing is sadder than a young girl staying with a man who abuses her because he “loves” her. She thinks she can change him, or worse, sees nothing wrong at all. In a way, these men really are vampires. They will drain a girl of her self-respect, her virginity, and anything else they convince her to fork over. They leave their victims sucked dry in the dust. Where does this start? What makes women believe the lies? The shameless and evil romanticism attached to abuse, seen in the media, in movies, in the teen section of the most innocent public library. There isn’t even any bad logic in it, just malice. Marriage and sexuality are created by God and built on love. Love is built on respect, self-sacrifice, and honesty. Marriage is a union of equals, not a predator-prey relationship. Here’s a hint: this should be obvious. Still not convinced of the damage this attitude causes? Well, no hard feelings. I mean, I’m just a teenager watching this happen. Who can we ask about this? Hey, what about Mom and Grandma? They’re pretty experienced... oh wait. Everyone knows that no one born before the 2000’s can have anything useful to say on this (or any) topic. Of course today’s youth know better than to honour their father and mother. My bad. Alright, No more complaining. This shouldn’t be all problems and no solutions. We can still make progress in the right direction. The world might be dark, but luckily for us, the light of Christ is easier to see in the dark anyway. We, as Christians, need to fight for the concept of true love. It still exists. My parents show it. When you see an eighty-year-old couple still holding hands, remember. When you go to a wedding, remember. When you see a couple choosing children over wealth, remember. And hey, girls like me—Christian teenagers who just can’t seem to find a partner who will respect you! Don’t give up. Don’t settle for a dark, brooding guy who’ll suck you dry. Look for true love, cheesy as it might seem. It’s real. We have it every Sunday in the Eucharist. We deserve this self-respect. We deserve a partner willing to honor Christ and see Christ in us. It will be worth it. And quit reading those vampire novels.
Q –I know that we are supposed to have a devotion to Mary, but sometimes I feel like it distracts me from my relationship with Jesus. I just don’t feel very close to Mary. How can I have a deeper devotion to Our Lady without taking away from my love for Jesus? A – In my own life, I struggled with that very question. I grew up in an area of the United States that was mostly Protestant, and none of my Protestant friends ever had a devotion to Mary. One time when I was a teenager, I got into a conversation with someone in a checkout line in Wal-Mart, and when she found out I was studying to become a priest, she asked me why Catholics worship Mary! Of course, Catholics don’t worship Mary. God alone is worthy of worship. Rather, we honor Mary with the highest honor. Since she was closest to Jesus on earth, she is closest to Jesus in Heaven. She was the perfect follower of Jesus, so imitating her will help us to follow Jesus more faithfully. We ask her to pray for us, just as we might ask our own parents or a friend or a priest to pray for us—and Mary’s prayers are far more effective, for she is far closer to Christ! To grow in a healthy devotion to Mary, I recommend three things. First, pray the Rosary daily. Pope John Paul II said that the Rosary is “looking at the life of Jesus through the eyes of Mary.” It is a Christ-centered prayer, loving Him through the Heart that loved Him best (the Immaculate Heart). The Rosary changed my life—I took it on as a Lenten penance when I was a teen…and I dreaded it every day. To me, it seemed so boring…all those repetitive prayers. But once Lent was over, I found that I couldn’t put it down. The repetition was no longer boring but calming. I imagined myself in the scenes of Christ’s life and encountered Him there. Second, consecrate yourself to Mary. Saint Louis de Montfort has a rich 33-day consecration to Mary, or you can use the more recent “33 Days to Morning Glory” consecration program. When we offer Mary our lives, she cleanses and purifies us, and then presents our lives beautifully to Her Son. This is how Saint Louis answers your question in True Devotion to Mary: With Preparation for Total Consecration: “If then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ. If devotion to Our Lady removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion of the devil; but so far from this being the case, devotion to Our Lady is, on the contrary, necessary for us…as a means of finding Jesus Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly, of serving Him faithfully.” Finally, turn to Mary in your daily needs. One time I was leading a wedding rehearsal for a very holy couple when we realized, to our horror, that they had forgotten the marriage license! I couldn’t marry them without the civil license, but it was too late to get it before the wedding the following day. I brought the bride and groom into the sacristy and broke the news to them—I couldn’t marry them unless a miracle happened. They were devastated! So, we prayed to Our Lady, who herself was married and who has a special love for engaged couples. We entrusted this problem to Her—and She performed a miracle! A parishioner happened to know a town clerk who came in early on her day off to give them a marriage license and the marriage took place as planned. She is a mother—we should bring our Mother all our problems and concerns! Never forget—true devotion to Mary doesn’t lead us away from Jesus, it leads us to Jesus through Mary. We can never honor Mary too much because we can never honor her more than Jesus honors her. Come to Mary—and trust that She will lead you to her Son.
Struggling to break that cycle of sin in your life? Gabriel Castillo was into all things the world said were good — sex, drugs, rock and roll--until he decided to give up sin and confront the biggest battle of his life. I was raised in a single parent household with practically no religious education. My mother is an amazing woman and she did the best she could to provide for me, but it wasn’t enough. While she was out working, I was home alone in front of cable television. I was raised by television networks such as MTV. I valued what MTV told me to value: popularity, pleasure, music, and all things ungodly. My mother did the best she could to steer me in the right direction, but without God I just went from sin to sin. From bad to worse. This is the story of more than half the people in this Country. Children are being raised by the media and the media is leading people to misery in this life and in the next. Our Lady Steps In My life began to dramatically change when I went to the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, Texas. At UST I took theology and philosophy courses that opened my mind to objective truth. I saw that the Catholic faith made sense. In my mind I came to believe that Catholicism was objectively true, but there was just one problem… I was a slave to the world, the flesh, and the devil. I was becoming known as one of the best of the bad kids and one of the worst of the good kids. Amongst my bad friends, a lot of them were going through the RCIA program to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and I thought “Hey I’m a bad Catholic…I should be able to get confirmed too”. On the required Confirmation Retreat we made a holy hour, I had no idea what a holy hour was, so I asked a professor who advised me to simply look at the Eucharist and repeat the Holy Name of Jesus. After about 10 minutes of this practice God stuck His finger into my soul and overwhelmed me with His love, and my heart of stone melted. For the rest of the hour, I cried. I knew Catholicism was true not just in my head, but also in my heart. I had to change. One Lent, I resolved to go all in and give up mortal sin. Just 2 hours after my resolution, I realized how messed up I was when I had already committed a mortal sin. I realized I was a slave. That night God gave me true contrition for my sins and I cried to Him for mercy. That is when a demon spoke up. His voice was audible and scary. In a high pitched growl, he repeated my words mockingly, “God forgive me. I am so sorry!” Immediately I called upon Saint John Vianney. The second I made that invocation, the voice went away. The next night I was too terrified to sleep in my room because I feared hearing that voice again. So I pulled out a Rosary, which had been blessed by John Paul II. I opened a Rosary pamphlet, because I didn’t know how to pray the Rosary. When I said the word, “I believe…” a force grabbed me by the throat, pinned me down and began choking me. I tried calling my mother, but I couldn’t speak. Then a little voice in my head said, “Pray…Hail Mary.” I tried, but couldn’t. The voice in my head said “Say them in your mind.” So in my mind I said “Hail Mary”. Then I gasped the words aloud, “Hail Mary!” Immediately everything went back to normal. I was totally freaked out and realized that this demon had been with me throughout my entire life. At the same time I realized that Mary was the answer. Even just calling upon her name liberated me from the literal grips of a demon. After a little research, I identified several reasons why I was infested with demons. My mother had New Age books, I had sinful music, I had rated R movies, I had been living in mortal sin my entire life. I had belonged to the devil, but Our Lady crushes his head. I now belong to her. Failing to Convert Sinners I started to pray the Rosary every single day. I found a good priest and began going to Confession frequently, almost daily. I couldn’t keep that up, so I had to start taking little steps with Mary to break all of my addictions. Mary helped free me from slavery and inspired the desire to be an apostle. When I prayed the Rosary, she helped me break my addictions and purified my mind. I ended up getting a degree in theology and a minor in philosophy because of my radical change and hunger for righteousness. I recited many Rosaries a day and saw Mary everywhere and the devil nowhere. After college, I entered the Catholic school system as a Religion teacher; I began to teach the young people everything I knew. Although they were in a Catholic school they had even greater struggles than I did. With the advent of smartphones they had new opportunities to have hidden habits and hidden lives. I was a great teacher and trying my best to win their hearts for God, but failing. Two years in, I went on a retreat by a VERY holy priest known for having spiritual gifts of discernment of spirits and reading souls. We were encouraged to make a general confession. Looking back on the sins of a lifetime, I wept when I saw how horrible I had been in spite of God’s goodness and mercy. The priest asked, “Why are you crying?” and I sobbed, “because I’ve hurt so many people and led so many astray by my bad example.” He replied, “Do you want to make effective reparation for the damage you have done? Resolve to pray all the mysteries of the Rosary every day for an entire year, asking Our Lady to bring good out of every one of your bad actions and for every person you hurt. After that, never look back. Consider your debt paid and move on.” Winning with Mary I had prayed many daily Rosaries before, but never as a rule of life. When I made the entire Rosary part of my daily routine, everything changed. God’s power was with me all the time. Mary was winning through me. I was reaching souls, and my students were changing dramatically. They were begging me to put videos on YouTube. Those were early days and I lacked confidence, so I uploaded other people’s talks with pictures. Mary led me to work at a neighboring parish that better aligned with my zeal for souls. The pastor really encouraged me to stir the pot, so with his support, I did. I began making videos on touchy topics. I entered a film contest and won a free trip to World Youth Day and $4,000 worth of video equipment. I am telling you, Our Lady is a winner. At World Youth Day in Spain, I went to Holy Mass at Saint Dominic’s Church. I was praying before a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary when I felt an overwhelming sense of Saint Dominic’s presence. It was so strong that I almost felt that I was standing before a statue of Dominic and not Our Lady. I can’t describe the exact words, it was more of a deep interior understanding that I had a mission to promote the Rosary because that has answers to the world’s problems. I resolved to do that with the help of tools he didn’t have. I began to research everything about the Rosary—its history, its composition, its elements, the saints who prayed it. The more I studied it, the more I realized how much it provided answers. Conversions and victory in the spiritual life were fruits of the Rosary. The more I promoted it, the more I succeeded. As part of this mission, I developed a YouTube channel, Gabi After Hours, which also has content on raising children in the faith, fasting and deliverance. The Rosary is the fuel for my apostolic work. When we pray The Rosary, we can clearly hear Our Lady. The Rosary is like a sword that severs the shackles with which the devil has bound us. It is a perfect prayer. I currently work full-time in youth ministry with kids just like myself. The majority of them come from underprivileged families, many with only a single parent in the household. Since most of these children are fatherless, with mothers working two jobs, some fall into bad habits behind their parents’ backs, like smoking marijuana or drinking. However, when they are introduced to the Virgin Mary, the scapular, the miraculous medal and the Rosary, in particular, their lives radically change. They go from sinners to saints. From slaves of the devil to servants of Mary. They don’t just become followers of Jesus, they become apostles. Go all in with Mary. Go all in with the Rosary. All of the great Saints agree that following Mary leads you on the fastest, most secure, and efficacious path to the heart of Jesus Christ. According to Saint Maximilian Kolbe, it is the goal and the role of the Holy Spirit to form Christ in the womb of Mary perpetually. If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you must become like Mary. The Holy Spirit flies to Marian souls. This is the model for victory that Our Lord desires. We give ourselves to Mary, just like Jesus did. We cling to her, like baby Jesus did. We remain small so that she can live in us and bring Christ to others. If you want to win the battle go with Our Lady. She brings us to Christ and helps us to become like Christ.
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