When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:16-18
I write in my journal what pops in my head as if God were speaking to me. If the church were to say what I have written is wrong, then the church is correct and I am wrong. Know that as you discern what I am about to say and show from my journal.
This was written after long reflection on Saint Joseph during this, the year of Saint Joseph. The sleeping Saint Joseph has given me much comfort. A man who can sleep during anxiety inducing situations is a man who trusts God. From the sleep of Saint Joseph and through the intercession of Mary, the Holy Family was formed.
While it may feel as though Jesus himself is sleeping as our ship is being tossed in the waves, God has a larger divine plan for how we should love and live. He has given us a family to light the way.
Here is what I wrote in my journal on February 15, 2021 as I pondered all that is happening.
Beloved Lily of the Father, She is the Immaculate Conception. Undoing the sin of Eva, instead of taking, she gave. She emptied herself. Ave. United with us through the uncreated Immaculate Conception. Through her the Blessing of the Father was restored. Divine Life was able to walk in union again with mankind. The protector of Divine Life was restored in Saint Joseph. He is the Holy Father. The sorrow of Saint Joseph cries out. The Holy Father has much to suffer. His yes restored the protection of Divine Life and at his yes he too became Immaculate. The Family restored. Divine Life birthed anew into the Fallen world to save you from your sins. This Holy Fatherhood cries out for the unprotected. He cried out for the innocent blood shed by Herod’s envy.
He cries out for the bride, the church. He cries out for the blood of aborted children that scream for protection as the ground opens it’s mouth to receive this innocent blood. The Assumption of the Immaculata offers a womb of mercy to baptize the innocent.
The Assumption of Saint Joseph protects the universal church from heaven. The Protection of the Holy Father granted to each Priest so that they too can be a Holy Father, grafted into the Holy Family through her Immaculate Conception and the Cross. The Priesthood of Protection flows from the Holy Family to the flock whom they serve. The Holy Father has much to suffer. Each Holy Father must consecrate his flock to her Immaculate Heart and to His Guardian Heart so that all rest in the Sacred Heart. The land is healed. All of creation becomes a Temple of the Holy Spirit within the Sacred Heart with the Blessing of the Father. Those consecrated will rest in the Mercy of I AM. Dominion restored.
1000 may fall at your right side, but you will be under my protection. The insecurity and instability with frighten you, but I tell you Be Not Afraid, you have found favor with God. You are being purified and recreated. Take up your cross and become Immaculate in my mercy. My power will be made perfect in your weakness and you will see the strength of the Mystical Body and know in awe who is the head of the Body. Trust fully and let go of what you cannot control. Luke 4:23 – The Most Holy Trinity
Crucified Christ at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL
Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?
2 Corinthians 6:14-16
The other day in prayer, I got a very heavy feeling and a very clear image. The image was of a pathway that was in the shape of the cross. All around the crossing point of the vertical and horizontal were roses. But there was a sense to me – the more you followed the path of the vertical, the more the roses grew outward from the cross, on both pathways. But if you turned from the vertical to follow the horizontal, the roses faded and the path became dark. I thought of when we try to be good simply as humans, on the horizontal of the cross, and we leave God out or we twist who he is so the vertical and horizontal glory cannot be achieved.
It is the story of time immemorial, we try on our own to fix what only God can fix within us.
I came across this article the other day. The article is about how on the Arabian Peninsula there are plans to build a mosque, a synagogue, and a church, all in a triangle together, as if to create a trinity of religions. The article points out that some have criticized this as syncretism. Those critics are correct. While I do not doubt the good intentions of the people planning this, this is simply idolatry of people over God, which is what syncretism is. In an effort not to offend people we mix our beliefs together and care not about offending God. It seeks to create a peaceful coexistence between contradicting religions. While peace is a laudable goal, if you ever read the Bible when men try create what God wants to gift freely, you know how this always works out. War.
I don’t mean this post as judgment upon any soul. It is for God alone to judge intentions. We should always reach out to others in love. Love converts souls. But this isn’t love. Creating a space like this leaves the people confused. Is there really different truth for different people? The video at the bottom of the article leaves me feeling all the disordered chaos wrapped up in a sterilized package of lawlessness. I ask myself, is anyone in charge of this place? The answer appears to be, “you do you”, everyone is in charge. When everyone is in charge, no one is in charge. And the one through whom all authority comes gets left behind. It is a giant recipe for disaster, with good intention. The path of the road to hell.
Jesus tells us there is one truth. He is the way, the truth and the life. And they killed him for it. Are we now killing him too by killing his bride, the church? As if his sacrifice on the cross was all for naught? Making a mock trinity. We all know God will not be mocked.
We human beings spend so much time trying to create what isn’t ours to create. Jesus did not come for us to “peacefully coexist” in this worldly fashion. He came that we might have life and have it abundantly, by having Him dwell within us. This is something that comes from the Sacramental Life. It never needs to be forced, but lived so that people see you look different. It looks like Saint Francis, who did engage with the Sultan, but he did not shy away from preaching the Gospel truth. If we want true human fraternity we need true worship in our own hearts and in Mass of the One True God, who sent His Son, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, in the Incarnation to die for us so we might know Love.
“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.” –Saint Thomas Aquinas
While we should absolutely love all people, we should not partake in syncretism. While Abraham is the father of these three religions, only one fulfills the covenant, only one culminates in truth with the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection. The idolatry I see here is worship of man. Taking the horizontal path that will end up leaving the vertical behind. And we will be left in ruins.
We have already reaped havoc from this idolatry. From the time Pachamama earth bowl was on the altar at Saint Peter’s to the time Mass began to shut down because of a virus was 135 days. I see Fatima in that number, the 13th day of the 5th month.
Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.
When the church allows idolatry, the flock is scattered. I wonder how long until the next wave of chastisement comes upon us as a result of our latest idolatry of self. Perhaps another round of sex scandal. Perhaps another plague. Perhaps war. It isn’t God who is doing this, we have done it to ourselves. We can choose to leave God in the face of these sufferings, or we can choose to walk this Passion with steadfast faith and love of Christ in our hearts. If we stay, resurrection is on the other side.
Whatever the case we should pray without ceasing and we should take refuge in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Pray for those who persecute us. Hold on tight, the labor pains will be getting harder.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8
God has been showing me what I can only call corruption and how it is everywhere. We really have so little idea of how much sin and corruption is everywhere, even within our own hearts. From what we buy, to what we wear, to what we eat and drink, corruption is apparent. I came to understand that I can’t escape it short of living in a cave like a desert monk – but even then the land is corrupted – so it would still be there. But God isn’t asking me to try to escape it on my own either. For the devil would like to use the understanding of corruption that God has shown as a tool to isolate and judge people, but God doesn’t want that. God just tells me he will purify everything and not to be afraid, to just trust Him. The ways in which I am personally corrupt that I do not yet see, he will root out, and for me not to worry. His power is made perfect in my weakness and He will work all of it for good of those who love him. I am about to tell you of an example of corruption that at one time in my life I thought was a good. A good of evangelization, that in reality was a corruption.
I went to a Latin Mass on January 22, 2021 to pray for the unborn and for our country. During the homily the Priest said that we are entering very dark times, but God is pouring out grace and that all the people who are rejecting the grace means that those of us who are open to it may get overwhelmed by it. I felt the Lord say “I am pouring it over you.” This grace is there for those of us open enough to receive it. This grace is sanctifying.
At the consecration I had the thought that I wanted to take a picture because it was so beautiful and I like to share this beauty with all of you. A glimpse of the beauty of heaven on earth in the Mass. But God rebuked me and said, “don’t bring your corruption into what I am doing here.” Then he showed me all the times I took a picture at Mass and how that interrupted the union of myself with Him. I was so super ashamed. I started to cry. A picture, he said, is a mere mimicry of the glory of what is happening there on the altar and instead of being immersed in it, I was actually interrupting the beauty with my own agenda. Which in turn, makes it about us, instead of about Him, who is love. The shame I had, I can’t explain. I was just so so sorry. I felt and feel so completely unworthy. It was then He let me know that I am not worthy to enter under his roof, but at His Word, I am healed. Having no other recourse, I abandoned myself to His mercy.
Even writing this small story down I am overwhelmed. While I believe there will be an illumination of conscience, I don’t believe the vast majority of us are prepared for what we will see. And whether or not this event takes place in the near future, or just at our own particular judgment, we will be greatly humbled. But this moment at Mass was also more than that.
I sat down after communion and He just said, “I am preparing you for what is coming.” And I knew that what is coming on the world will be like nothing we have ever seen. I don’t know when and I don’t know how, except that it involves purifying fire.
The Lord just said there are so few that trust Him. That what He wants for us more than anything is our salvation, and we may not understand His ways, but if we can view what is coming in His larger plan, we will be purified and glorified. TRUST.
He wants His faithful to go into the refuge of their hearts and prepare. The preparation is one of individual purging of sin in cooperation with Him, so as to abandon yourself to His will. It is a letting go of control. This abandonment to His will involves adoring the Holy Face of Jesus and bringing His Mother into your home. Mark your homes and your hearts with the Sacred and Immaculate Heart so that the darkness may Passover your home and the Lord can bring you to true peace and joy.
Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Revelation 7:2-4
And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Luke 1:28
Mary is in perfect relationship with the Holy Trinity. She wants to guide us there too.
Mary, who was conceived without sin, knew that she was a loved daughter of God the Father. She knew this because she prayed and had a relationship with Him as we see in her Magnificat. This knowledge and relationship combined with her Immaculate purity meant she was confident and trusting in God the Father. She was truly Full of Grace, just as Eve had once been in the garden. Eve, desiring to be like God, fell from grace by handing the domain of grace that God gave her to Satan, who turned God’s grace to death and destruction. She ate the fruit of self will by falling prey to temptation. Mary, in contrast, never desired to be like God. Instead she emptied herself. And despite the fact that Mary saw suffering and evil, Mary did not view the Lord as someone who would harm her. Mary ate the fruit of God’s will being fed only from the Tree of Life. Because of this disposition Mary could receive everything God wanted to give to her. Mary was an open vessel, unashamed before the Lord. In Mary’s case this meant she would personally carry the Word made flesh. Mary is the perfection of daughterhood.
Because Mary was an open vessel for the Lord this means that when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her she could give her full consent to being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. Tradition teaches us that this relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit was spousal as she is often referred to as the spouse of the Holy Spirit. Saint Maximilian Kolbe takes this even further. He referred to Mary as the created Immaculate Conception and to the Holy Spirit as the uncreated Immaculate Conception. Thus when she tells Saint Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception”. This isn’t just spousal relationship, it is who she is. (Manteau-Bonamy, Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit). The depth of what this means is a mystery too large for our understanding. But it is through this teaching that we get a glimpse of God’s plan and how Mary, because of the salvific work of God before her conception and her yes to unity with the Holy Spirit, she becomes the mediatrix of all graces. This teaching lets us know that the person who embraces Mary is led by her to this unity with the Holy Spirit.
Mary because of her unity with the Holy Spirit conceives the Son, thus becoming the Mother of God and ushering in the Savior of mankind. This Motherhood of God is co-redemptrix in nature because it is through this Motherhood that God saves us by being born and dying on the Cross. She brings the birth of true love into the world. From the Incarnation to the Cross Mary made gift of herself to the Son, who in turn extends His loving gaze upon her. Her soul magnifies the Lord. Even in her sorrow, she gives to God what belongs to God. This is an unconditional love and is the culmination of union with the Trinity.
We see the action of co-redemptrix and mediatrix of graces at work when we take a look at the relationship she has with those around her who were closest to her. It is important to note that everything she merits is done through the salvific work of her Son whose grace was applied to her preveniently. Where Eve chose to fall from grace by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Mary gifted with grace eats from the Tree of Life. Those who surround her benefit from this grace which flows through her and they receive redemption from the Son. Saint Joseph, who originally wants to dismiss her quietly, changes his mind, no doubt through her prayer and of course a visit from the angel. From this angelic encounter we see Joseph abandon himself to the will of God. He takes Mary into home. This act of taking her into his home, is a restoration of full dominion God had planned for Adam in the Garden. But God gifts this to Joseph who by taking Mary into his home is able to adore the Christ child with loving gaze, thus magnifying the Lord himself. His decision to say yes and take Mary into his home unites Joseph to Mary and thus into the relationship Mary has with the Trinity. This is the restoration of the blessings of the Father onto the family.
Likewise, we see Saint John take Mary into his home at the foot of the Cross. When meditating more deeply on John’s presence at the foot of the cross, we can gain an understanding of how the ministerial priesthood is united to the family of believers. When Jesus turns to John and says, “Woman, behold your son, and to the disciple, Here is your mother,” (John 19:26) John takes Mary into his home. Having walked the Passion with the Immaculata and her Son, John has abandoned his will to God the Father and taken the Immaculate Conception into his home. From the very wounds of the Tree of Life, John becomes united to Mary, which is to say he is united to the Trinity through the Cross and the Immaculate Conception. Here too we see dominion restored. This is the model for the Priesthood.
And so to the Priest takes Mary into his home and takes up his cross becomes ever united with the Trinity and brings us the Eucharistic Lord to consume, uniting us with the lay faithful with the Tree of Life. To Jesus through Mary we enter into right relationship with the Most Holy Trinity.
For these turbulent times we live in, may we all take Mary into our home and receive the Eucharist with total abandonment to God’s will.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. Romans 1:28-32
I have been watching all that is happening in our country with a sadness that I am sure that many of you feel. I am not here to comment on the details of what is happening. I wholeheartedly believe the only one who has all of the facts is God in Heaven. He sees what we do not. In my prayer he tells me we will all be humbled. I believe Him. I also have taken a look at what the Saints and faithful did in tumultuous times.
It was then that I came across Saint Genevieve that I thought we could all learn something. She lived in times of war, and after her death there was plague. I found the following two paragraphs from Catholic Online.
When Attila and his army of Huns came upon Paris, the Parisian Christians were prepared to run, but Genevieve spoke to them and convinced them to stay within their homes, fast and pray to the Lord. She assured them they would have the protection of Heaven. Her prediction came true as Attila suddenly changed his path and turned away from Paris.
After her death many miracles occured, the most famous occurrence was the miracle of Des Ardens, or the burning fever. In 1129, a violent fever swept through the city, and doctors couldn’t stop the people from dying. The shrine of Genevieve was carried in a procession to the cathedral, and during the ceremony, those who touched her shrine were healed by the power of the Lord. Throughout the whole town, no one else became sick, all the ill recovered and only three people died.
Here we have the Saints and faithful turning to the ways of God instead of the ways of men to help with all of the things that were happening.
It occurred to me that we should be doing those things; Praying and fasting and having processions. I know there have been some faithful Priests and leaders who have done these things, but we faithful can do this as well.
Our Padre Pio Nashville Group has decided to process with relics throughout our city and towns and neighborhoods, calling on the communion of Saints to protect us from COVID and violence. We must start turning to the ways of heaven. We must turn back to God. The Saints did not hide in their homes forever, they went out and changed things, even and especially when there was sickness. So on January 23 we will take many relics or many Saints and pray for protection and blessing. We realized after picking the day that this was the Feast of the Espousal of Joseph and Mary. May the Holy Family be with us.
It is time to put on the Armor of God in the ways that we can.
I will leave you with what I wrote in my journal yesterday, January 8, 2020 during adoration. As you know, I write what pops in my head as if God were speaking to me. If the church says what I have written is wrong, then the church is correct and I am wrong.
Beloved Lily of the Father,
The earth is in shackles because of sin. I came to proclaim the Kingdom of God at hand.
Still you turn to the ways of men to handle your sin. Do you not see what I am calling you to?
You hold back from me and I cannot pour my glory.
There are so few that understand.
You think you “know” but your knowledge is but a grain of sand. I AM knowledge. I AM truth. My ways are higher.
Still you seek only knowledge instead of seeking ME.
No matter how much you think you know, you are not GOD, I AM.
You seek in the wrong places and it takes you deeper into the abyss.
You have no idea what I made the human body capable of for the soul living in the Divine Will. You try to manipulate the body instead of seeking my will.
Therefore I hand you over to your desires since you see fit not to acknowledge me.
Death technology begets death.Freedom is found IN ME.
My bride will be purified, no corruption.
You worship like a prophylactic keeping MY BODY from you like a disease. I have been contracepted in reception of the GIFT of me. You have not abandoned yourselves to me, rather you want to serve mammon. You cannot serve to Masters.
Satan is trying to stop the consecration, wanting to abort the sacrifice the way he convinced you to abort your children, the way he convinced Martin Luther to break the family line.
I tell you, the Gates of hell shall not prevail.
I will remain with the remnant when Rome falls. The remnant who see, who trust me.
The living will envy the dead. The remnant will suffer but their total abandonment to me will bring Resurrection. A bride washed anew ready for the Bridegroom that I AM. You will be able to move mountains.
Those who knew me but justified their sin and remained in the pride of it handed themselves to wicked deeds – death is what befalls them. Remain steadfast and keep my commandments.
Those who truly see are few, their suffering united with me saves many And I will pour grace over them through my Mother and protection through my earthly father.
Be wise like a serpent and peaceful like a dove. Do not be afraid but be confident. I want more for you then you want for yourself. You have no idea how GREAT I AM.
God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:20-23
I have spent time pondering what the Lord wants our world to look like. A world where His “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is a world of union with the trinity, which, in turn, creates union with creation. Adam and Eve had this before they fell. Mary is the new Eve. Jesus the new Adam. What does this world look like? Scripture shows us;
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good newsof the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. Matthew 4:23
Of course Jesus, as the second person of the Blessed Trinity is God, so it is no surprise that he can heal and cure. But Jesus tells his disciples that they will do greater things than even he did, so this unity is something that God wants to bring back to all of us.
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
So what is wrong with the world today? Why don’t we see this unity which begets miracles? It is still because of corruption and sin. We look to other idols to cure us, when in reality all we are doing is managing our sin. And as humans, working in our own pride, we haven’t done a good job of managing it. Disease and sickness are in the world because of sin. The confessional is the place we purge of sin, yet we spend more time at the doctor than in the confessional.
Don’t get me wrong, we actually do need the doctor. Why? Because sin isn’t just something you do personally, others sin too, and when they sin it affects the entire body. Sometimes we are suffering the consequences of someone else’s sin, even from generations ago, and that is not something we can control, so we manage it. Corruption is so far and so deep, it would take an act of God to purge the world of it. God has allowed us ways to manage what is going on, but have we made this management our God? Are we even turning to God?
Jesus came to show us how to overcome sin and be purified. He took on all the sin. But there was a path to that. It was a path to the cross. Whenever Peter wanted to tell Jesus not to go to the cross, Jesus rebuked him.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Matthew 16:21-23
We as a people will be purified when we look like Christ. This is why the church herself must walk this Passion. In between where we are now and a world of true union with the Trinity is the Cross the church must take on.
Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. Catechism of the Catholic Church 675
We can do this individually, this purging, but it is something the Body of Christ is called to as a whole.
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Revelation 19:6-8
When you think about this purification that will “shake the faith of many believers“, you can’t help but think of the faith of the Apostles being shaken when Jesus took on his Passion. Judas betrayed, Peter lied, Thomas doubted, most ran and hid. They wanted a different Messiah and trusted in their own expectations of what that was, and when it didn’t pan out, everything seemingly crumbled.
There was one Apostle whose faith wasn’t shaken, that was John. He rested in the bosom of Jesus. He stood at the foot of the Cross. He was the only one who wasn’t martyred. He seemed to have fully surrendered to the will of God before the crucifixion. In short, John expected nothing except what God wanted and it enabled him to surrender to the will of God without losing faith while everything was crumbling around him. We can ponder what happened at the foot of the Cross, and John’s example.
My friend Ashley spoke of John as being “grafted” into the Holy Family. Grafting is a technique that joins two trees or plants into one. This is done by creating a wound in the rootstock of one tree and the other is inserted into that wound so each tree’s tissues can grow together. Grafting is used to make a tree “grow true” and is meant to stay true to the line from which it came. When Jesus turns to John and says, “Woman, behold your son, and to the disciple, Here is your mother,” (John 19:26) John is incorporated into the Holy Family. John is the tender young tree that is grafted to the rootstock of Christ. He is implanted into the wounds, or Sacred Heart of Jesus, at the crucifixion. From the very wounds of the Tree of Life, John becomes kindred to Mary, and as such spends the rest of his life on earth as a member of the Holy Family.
St John’s union with the Holy Family brought a fourth heart into the Holy Family; the heart of the beloved. And perhaps this is why he appeared at Knock, Ireland with the Holy Family. Heaven was trying to tell us something. That the men who can say, “behold the Lamb of God” to us can form us into the family God intended for us.
The priest that embraces the cross instead of running from it, the priest that takes Mary fully as his Mother, this priest is kindred to the Holy Family. When he brings the Eucharist, the lamb, the crucified Christ, the Divine Child, to his flock he can help graft us into this family as well so we can all be beloved hearts. This is about the power of the Priesthood, the Holy Family, and the purification of our sin as the Body of Christ, the Bride.
We are so far away from this unity that God had planned for us. Our leaders run from the cross and embrace idols choosing to follow secular forces instead of Divine ones. As a people we have fled from the confessional justifying our sin at every turn and judging others with no mercy. Just glance at social media and you see there is no mercy.
We have so many idols, so many attachments, so much corruption. We aren’t even aware of the level of corruption so there is no way we could save ourselves. We need a savior. We turn to science, counseling and various types of secular healing in our sin management instead of to God who could take away our sin. We call evil good and good we call evil. Science, counseling and other various things aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re not God.
We are at a precipice. It is one of choosing to surrender to the will of God – which means picking up our cross and following him. This will look different for each of us and hear me when I say – it is so important not to judge the decisions others make, for all of us are at different points on this journey. God works all things for the good of those who love him. Remember that Peter, Thomas, and the other Apostles, save for one, are also Saints, and that God filled them with His glory even though they didn’t fully surrender until after the crucifixion. God loved them as he loved John, they were all beloved. But if we want to be filled with the glory of God we have to have the humility to surrender our expectations and our sins. It is in humility that glory is found.
I ponder how far away I am from what God wants for me. I tell God I can see the world he wants and I see the cross in between where I am and where he wants me, and I ask Him to take away my fear of that part of the journey. I ask God at every Mass to fill me with Himself.
I also pray for Priests everyday. It is through them I have access to Christ, but also to the Holy Family. It is through them I have received Sacramental grace, sanctifying grace. Pray for your Priests to be grafted to the Holy Family so that you yourself can be as well.
This is a time of purification. Move forward in fortitude and trust. Ask Saint John and the Holy Family to help you persevere.
Today, in the joyful atmosphere of Christmas, the Church, reliving with fresh wonder the mystery of Emmanuel, God-with-us, leads us to contemplate the Holy Family of Nazareth. From contemplation of this admirable model, the Church draws the values to hold up to the women and men of all times and all cultures. – Saint John Paul the II – Angelus, December 27, 1998
Today would normally be the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, but because it falls on a Sunday during the Octave of Christmas, today we celebrate the Holy Family. I can’t help but think though, we are at a culmination point. Saint John the Evangelist was at the apparition in Knock, Ireland. It seems fitting that in this crazy year of 2020, his day would be shared with the Holy Family, as if heaven is trying to speak something to us, both about priests and families. I hope to write more on this in the coming weeks.
For now, you may be aware but I live in TN. Our city was bombed. Thankfully it does not look as if people were the target but I have been without cell phone access or internet since Christmas. I am only able to connect today because I am in another location that still has access. It is strange to be so isolated from the outside world. But I do believe the Lord has been preparing us for these times.
In that vain, it is important for us now more than ever to have our spiritual houses in order. I will leave you with the Consecration Prayer to the Holy Family, who will guide us through these times.
Consecration to the Most Holy Family
O Most Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, today our family has come together to unite our hearts with yours, Sacred, Immaculate, and Guardian, in order to consecrate ourselves as a family to your Most Holy Family. Our hearts are longing for your presence amongst us. Our hearts are longing for your peace within us. Our hearts are longing for your protection around us. We surrender our desires, our temptations, our troubles, our sorrows, our weaknesses, our blessings and our joys to you. We give you everything, our very lives, and place it all at the foot of the cross of the Divine Child, Jesus Christ, so that we may live only for Him, our King and our Savior. May each member of our family have a heart that is Beloved beating in unison with your 3 hearts.
O Most Holy Family, we praise and honor you as the archetype of the domestic church. May our family be a reflection of yours, as we practice virtue and deepen in faith, hope and charity. We have been placed together as a family to be a reflection of you, father, mother, sons and daughters. As we live together in our own domestic church, may our home be an extension of the Catholic Church, which is an extension of our eternal home in Heaven. May our life together be ever open to the movement of the Holy Spirit so that we may be full of your grace and peace.
Mary and Joseph, just as you lived your quiet life in Nazareth as parents of the Divine Child, who was the source of Love in your family, may we too keep Jesus as the center of our lives and the center of our family. Teach us to honor and adore Him, to turn to Him first and foremost in our need, and to be witnesses of His love and mercy. May we gaze upon His Holy Face and reach the heights of union that both of you did.
Divine Child Jesus, just as you were obedient to your mother and father on earth, may we as children of our own parents, always remember to honor them in good times and bad. May we learn the virtue of obedience from the family, which will lead us in our obedience to the Heavenly Father as we grow and mature in our faith.
O Most Holy Family, today we consecrate ourselves to you and seek your intercession so that from this day forward, our prayers, our thoughts, our words and our actions will be united to you, who were ever united to the Divine Will of the Triune God. In this we pray, all glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, Amen.
To be delivered from the slavery of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son has destined for this restoration will need great will-power, perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the happy beginning of the complete restoration… Our Lady of Good Success
I write in my journal as if God were speaking to me. If the church says what I have written is wrong, then the church is correct and I am wrong.
December 19, 2020
Beloved Lily of the Father,
Fear, Shame and confusion are Legion, demons unleashed upon the world because of the vastness of sin.
Do you not know by now that the anxiety you feel is a demon tempting you? They tempt you to despair, as if what is happening in the world cannot be overcome by me.
They tempt you to shame, as if the sins of the body cannot be forgiven by me; as if you were the one who could give and take life. I tell you, you do not have that power. I am the author of life.
There are no sins of the body that I cannot heal and make whole. There is no illness I cannot overcome.
You are made to feel shame incessantly as a relentless attack. This reaps confusion and paralysis – halting the work of the Kingdom.
Child, do you not know that what I created is good? A repentant heart is lifted up in sanctifying grace through the sacrament of confession. Forgive others, but do not forget to forgive yourself as I have forgiven you. Judgment is not yours to pass on the soul, not even your own.
Remain steadfast. Accept my mercies daily. Be confident in ME, this will dispel the confusion.
Hear me now! There is nothing that is happening that I cannot heal. My promises are true.
Do not be afraid or give into despair. Instead persevere in prayer and unite your suffering to the cross.
I AM funneling grace under the mantle of my Mother. Be confident in me and trust.
“Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…” Diary of Saint Faustina, 1146
I have been asked to speak on the Eucharist for our Padre Pio Nashville prayer group. Speaking on a topic like this is often hard because it is so overwhelming and immense, and let’s face it, there are theologians who are way better speakers than I am on this topic. I went to adoration to talk to God about what I should say that hasn’t already been said better by someone else.
It was in adoration that I felt the tug to speak about Justice. Justice is the virtue where you give God His due. You give to God what belongs to God. Religion is a sub-virtue of Justice. The fact that we owe God everything, that means everything belongs to God, and should come out in our worship.
Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, to make atonement for our sin. He could have done this by just becoming incarnate. But he didn’t. Instead, God came in the form of the Son, to offer Himself back for our sin, to pay the debt. But He didn’t just do it for us to be spectators. He was trying to show us how to do “what is right and just.” For you see, when our first parents fell and ushered sin into the world, death was what was just. Jesus Christ came so we would have life and life abundantly, yet here were are some 2000 years later and our world is more messy than ever.
And it got me to thinking, everything in the economy of Salvation is about bringing back unity. The unity that Adam and Eve had in the garden before the fall. Jesus even prayed for this;
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. John 17:20-24
This kind of unity isn’t some sort of worldly “let’s all get along and agree to disagree” kind of unity, this kind of unity is not of this world. It is the kind of unity that brings harmony with creation because it is a complete recognition of what is due to God. It is complete humble adoration of God, purified of sin. It is the kind of unity that Saints achieve.
The Eucharist is meant to bring this kind of unity. This kind of unity does not know the knowledge of evil, but of good, childlike in reception and filled with Thanksgiving. It looks upon each man and woman without envy and malice and wants only for their good. How many of us can say that we truly want this for others?
In my mental prayer the other day I saw a Priest make the offering. The Priest was ad orientum. The crucified Christ came into that tiny little host. Jesus the Son, offering Himself to the Father. When the Priest turned to the congregation to say “behold the Lamb of God” in my prayer that tiny host turned into the Divine Child.
I have stated before that we can treat the Eucharist as we treated Christ on the Cross, abusively, or we can treat the Eucharist as Mary and Joseph treated the Divine Child. Both Mary and Joseph were pure and received willingly all that God had to offer them. Their yes made them co-redeemers for with their yes the redeemer entered the world. Their suffering was united to His.
When we receive unworthily, we treat Christ like they did on the Cross. We have a choice in this life. We can receive in a state of grace and be more and more conformed to Christ, accepting our suffering with Thanksgiving and love and mercy, or we can receive in a state of sin, which drinks judgement on ourselves.
For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 1 Corinthians 11:29
This judgement can actually purify us if we eventually recognize it and repent, but it is a much harder path to heaven and is likely to make you end up in purgatory or hell. Hell would be your rejection of God’s mercy because you chose to sit in the pride of your sin. Purgatory, though a great mercy itself, is not a fun place to be, separated from that total love of God. All of the Saints who were offered a choice to suffer here or in purgatory chose to suffer here, so great is the pain of separation in purgatory.
Either way God will be just. He will give you what you asked for. But the soul that asks to be conformed to His will, that offers up their suffering, and lives a life in thanksgiving, that soul brings unity. Unity to their own interior, and unity that can spread outward towards others and into creation.
Have you ever wondered why Saints could perform miracles? They had purged of sin and let go of idols, so much so that they were given full domain. Full domain is what God gave us, and it makes you harmonious with creation. You cannot earn this, it is a free gift, but our sin does block this gift because every time we sin we give that domain to Satan, and you can see what he is doing with it by a cursory glance at the headlines.
We as a society are so steeped in sin we don’t understand this. We are blind to the way to heal our world. It starts with the healing of our souls. Admitting in full transparency all of our sin and idols and handing them, in suffering, to Christ on the Cross, so that when we receive, we receive the Divine Child as Mary and Joseph did with trust and love. We should not want to receive our own sin and keep it on our souls. Jesus came to take away our sin, so we must give it to Him in order to be purified and saved.
The Eucharist is the way to this purification. Eucharist doesn’t just mean thanksgiving, it makes our hearts thankful. It teaches us to love others like God does. It makes us give God His due, so that we in turn can truly have God in us. We should all want God’s justice because justice restores love.
My talk for Padre Pio Nashville Prayer Group can be found here.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11
My friend Ashley Blackburn and I have written a 25 day Consecration to the Holy Family. If you are interested in doing this Consecration starting December 1, 2020 and ending on Christmas, please email me at susancgskinner@gmail.com. You will receive an email each day of the Consecration. Below we explain why and how we are doing it. Again please email me if you are interested in receiving a daily email for 25 days of the Consecration at susancgskinner@gmail.com.
Consecration to the Holy Family
Introduction
Holiness of the Family
There is no perfect family, with the exception of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Even so, God calls every family to live in holy union with one another, so that the family may be held up in grace and become a beacon of light in the darkness. The family is made to be a reflection of the Holy Trinity. As we examine all that God hopes for in and through the family, we will begin to know more about the nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While our own family will ultimately fall short of this perfect holiness to some degree, it is always good and necessary to know what God desires for the family, so that we will have something to strive for, something to lead us ever forward in our journey to holiness.
The uniqueness of each family resides in their own set of persons and circumstances. The persons themselves comprise a harmonious community that is able to reflect God’s goodness in a very specific way. Every family’s journey is different and so the means by which they learn and live the virtues is how they are able to make progress. While some virtues will be better lived out by one family, another family will better live out a completely different virtue. Although the family should strive to live by all the virtues, specific ones may be at the heart of the family and thus become a witness to the world. It is important to never compare side by side our own family to our neighbor’s family. Each family is unique in God’s eyes. The goal for the family should be to be who they were created to be and to be that well. The family should be ever-striving to align their will with the Will of God and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead them in their particular path to holiness.
As the family begins to strive for holiness, it all starts right where they are, in the midst of their circumstances, with the very people that God has placed in their lives, in the present moment. Often we think it best to wait for situations to resolve or timing to be better before we can turn our lives around or before we can start to make changes to our family life. The Lord desires us to “Be not afraid” and to start where we are, in the midst of whatever our family looks like now. We can all begin with changing one habit or starting one new devotion and build from there. Like Peter taking that first step out on the water, we must take that first step in faith and then try our best to keep our eyes on Jesus, knowing that we can always reach out to Jesus if we start to fall or begin sinking in the water. Jesus will always save us, so we need not fear. St John Paul II is a champion of marriage and family life. He believed in the holiness that all families are called to and their role in the new evangelization. JPII wrote numerous times about the family during his time as pope. He bravely and boldly proclaimed the truth of the Christian marriage and it’s extension through the family. He was persistent in presenting the inherently positive effects of Christian families, both on the individual members of the family, as well as on their community, their nation and the world.
While the family is no doubt under attack in our world today, the Catholic Church is there to redirect our gaze to the full potential of the family and the graces that flow from a family life centered on Christ. There is no time better than now to begin building a Christian society from the ground up. From your family and mine, may we begin to foster the dignity of every human being in our children and our children’s children. May we strengthen our family through the handing on of our faith by way of liturgy, catechesis, prayer, living the sacramental life, and bringing the life of the Church into our homes as we take seriously the role of being the Domestic Church. In the family, we create an authentic community of persons where we can learn who we are, what gifts God has given us, and how we are called to use our gifts for the building up of the Kingdom of God. Love is what lives in the family through the power of the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy Spirit is invited into the family, the love of God dwells. By focusing on the building up of our own families, our view shifts away from the chaos of the world, onto doing our part to establish a civilization of love and unity, with a firm foundation of virtue, through the transformation of our own lives lived only for Christ. When the world looks at our family, they should be led to desire a deeper understanding and relationship with Jesus Christ. They should see peace, love, mercy, sacrifice, faith, hope, and truth being lived out on a daily basis. Created in God’s own image, when we are confronted with such witness to the Christian life, the human heart will be convicted by the Holy Spirit. Through the Christian witness of our family, the Holy Spirit is able to transform the world one heart at a time.
This Holy Family Consecration was created as a way for families to come together, to learn about the virtues lived out in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It is a commitment to building up and strengthening your family in faith and holiness. Through the roles of fatherhood, motherhood and childhood, each person of the family is called to live Love from right where they are and to become the Light of Christ in the world. Through meditating on the cardinal and theological virtues in light of each of these roles in the family, the goal is to help each person to see how these virtues can be lived out by them personally. All virtue starts where we are and grows in its refinement with the help of the Holy Spirit. The family can pray daily to the Holy Spirit to increase these virtues in them. As the family grows and matures in virtue, they should be led to a deepening of prayer; both personal prayer and family prayer. In turn, the family will also grow in faith, so that they can be sent out to evangelize both in word and deed. The family is designed to be a witness to the world of the joy of Christ, may we all step into our role of being Christ’s light in the world of darkness.
The Call of the Christian Family
St John Paul II wrote so well about how the family, by its very makeup, is in communion with the Blessed Trinity. In this way the family is able to see within itself what God has for humanity and what the family is called to do for the world through grace. Marriage and the family are a channel of God’s Grace with the potential to draw the entire culture into the rediscovery of our relationship to God through Christ. The graces that flow through the family have the potential to change the culture from the ground up.
But this model of the family requires our participation. It requires the parents to embrace the truth of who they are in Christ. It requires them to realize their covenant through the daily living out of their marriage vows. It requires sacrifice to be lived out and held up as the center point from which the graces of the cross flow. It requires obedience to the Will of God for themselves, as well as in the formation of their children. It requires the recognition and living out of the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. It requires the increase in the gifts of faith, hope and charity through their openness to the power of the Holy Spirit. Husband and wife are called to lead their family first through their own example, but then further through the outpouring of charity toward all of humanity.
The Catholic Church provides the family the framework from which to live as a domestic church. Through the daily living out of the sacramental life, the family draws from the Church the sanctifying grace of the Sacraments, so that they can build themselves up in faith, hope and charity, in order to witness to the world the Light of Christ that dwells within them. As the family is built up in holiness, it does so not to set itself up on a pedestal, but in order to transmit this saving power of God through the family out upon the world. As one family is strengthened, they become a beacon of hope and inspiration for others because the Light of Christ cannot be contained, but will go out and spread the Good News in both word and deed.
Format of the Consecration
1. This is a 25 day consecration to end on the 25th of any month you choose. The 25th day reminds us of both the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) and the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (December 25). Also, the number 25 signifies grace upon grace.
2. Each day you will pray a rosary with your family, read aloud the daily reflection that will be emailed and recite the Prayer to the Holy Family together.
3. The consecration starts off with 7 days that are devoted to St. Joseph, praying for the father of the family, followed by 7 days devoted to Mary, praying for the mother of the family. Throughout each of these seven days, the reflections will highlight one of either the 4 cardinal virtues (prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance) or the 3 theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity). Then there are 7 days devoted to the Divine Child Jesus, praying for the children of the family. Since Jesus was virtue itself, fully Divine, and the perfection of virtue lived out, the focus of these 7 days will be on the virtues preached by Jesus through the parables.
4. The first Wednesday of the month is traditionally dedicated to Saint Joseph. On this day you will pray especially for the father of your family, whether present or not. If this is you or if you are single, you may pray for yourself. The First Wednesday Devotion consists of praying a rosary meditating on the Joyful Mysteries remembering Saint Joseph’s love, life, role and sufferings, along with receiving Holy Communion in union with the love Saint Joseph had for Jesus the first time and each time he held him, his son, his God and Savior, in his arms.
5. The first Friday of the month is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For the purpose of this consecration you will pray especially for the children of your family, whether present or not. Again, if this is you or if you are single or have no children, you may pray for yourself. On this day you will pray a rosary and meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries remembering Jesus’ love, life, role and sacrifice made for us on the Cross at Calvary, along with making an Eucharistic Holy Hour in Adoration and offering each member of the family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in prayer.
6. The first Saturday of the month is traditionally dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. For the purposes of this consecration you will pray especially for the mother of your family, whether present or not. If this is you or if you are single, you may pray for yourself. The First Saturday Devotion consists of going to confession (within 8 days), receiving Holy Communion, praying a rosary meditating on the Joyful Mysteries remembering Mary’s love, life, role and sufferings, along with spending 15 minutes with Our Lady meditating upon all 15 mysteries of the rosary.
7. In the final 3 days (days 22, 23, & 24) leading up to the Consecration Day (day 25), you will either abstain or fast as a family. Ideally this will be done from sun up until sun down, but at a minimum the family should commit to at least an hour on each of these days.
8. On the 22nd day of the month you will abstain from things you watch or see that are distractions from God. If this is not possible you can set aside a minimum of one hour without TV, phone, social media, etc. Consider filling this time with the reading of Sacred Scripture or watching a movie about a Saint, or getting out in nature and enjoying God’s creation together as a family.
9. On the 23rd of the month you will abstain from noise and spend most of the day in silence as best you can. If this is not possible you can set aside an hour of silence on this day. Consider filling this time of silence by meditating upon the early years of the Holy Family, their time together in Nazareth. What was Mary like as a mother? What was Saint Joseph like as a father? What was Jesus like as a child?
10. On the 24th of the month you will fast from foo (if you’re doing this in December, yes that is Christmas Eve until sundown, in preparation for our King.). This fast can be on bread and water or the Lenten fast of one regular meal and two smaller meals that do not add up to a full meal. Consider this day meditating on our spiritual hunger and thirst for the Lord. Or maybe you could clean out your pantry and donate food to the nearest food pantry or even volunteer at your local soup kitchen as a family.
11. On the 25th of the month, Consecration Day, you will come together as a family to recite the Consecration prayer and celebrate! Consider planning something really big this day. Make it special. Have all your favorite foods. Truly feast together as a family!
Things to remember
This is not about making your family perfect or trying to fix another person.
This is about transforming your own heart and uniting it to the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It is within your own heart that God begins healing the family. When you begin to see others through the eyes of Christ, relationships are transformed and families are made whole. Whole and healed families build whole and healed communities and the light of Christ spreads outward from there. It begins with you. Be open to your own heart changing.
This Consecration format is meant to help guide you. The days of fasting and abstinence and praying the full Rosary are part of the consecration, however, please do not quit if you feel overwhelmed. Do what you can do as a family and do it from your heart. You may have a day where only a decade is prayed. You may find fasting hard if you have never done it before. It is important to remember that prayer from the heart to the best of your ability is meaningful and God walks with you from where you are to the place where He wants you to be as long as you stay on the path with Him and don’t give up.
If you are interested in participating with your family please email me at the address listed above.
Veil of Veronica 