WEEKLY REFLECTION ARCHIVES FOR THE ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE -- 2011: Weeks 21-30

Shared with the encouragement and permission of Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Founder of the Oratory of Divine Love

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. Now I know, brothers and sisters, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. For Moses said: “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you. Everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people.” Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed. For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.” (Acts 3:13-15, 17-24)

Discipleship and Apostleship 

“No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

(Jn 6:44)

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
   and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
     so he does not open his mouth. 
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
   Who can describe his generation?
     For his life is taken away from the earth.’ 
The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.  (Acts 26-40)

It’s very easy to get frustrated by not just the lack of faith in the world today, but the growing phenomenon of cynicism, atheism, secularism, and agnosticism. The anti-Christian, and in particular the anti-Catholic, forces are growing in strength by leaps and bounds everyday, it seems. 

I subscribe to “The Catalyst,” which is the newsletter of the Catholic League. As I read this monthly publication, I’m sickened by things Catholics in THIS country are asked to endure for their faith. I mean, we expect stories like this in China, the Middle East, places that don’t enjoy our freedom, our constitution, but not here. Not in America. We try to protect our children; we try to protect people that we love and care about, but still, nothing seems to quell the storm of anti-faith that has gripped us. 

That’s why this passage of Scripture can be such a comfort to us. Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.” Jesus is admitting that there are some people we won’t be able to reach. There are people who will be so closed to God that all we can do is pray for them. This shouldn’t surprise us because Jesus had to go through the same thing. No matter how much evidence Jesus supplies supporting that he is who he claims to be, the powers that be still reject him. So if JESUS had trouble trying to convince people that he was the Son of God, what makes us think it’ll come easy?           

So how do we allow the Father to draw us? Just because we’re professing that we believe that Jesus is Lord doesn’t mean that we’re living it. If we’re not living it, we’re not allowing the Father to draw us. The Father drawing us to Jesus comes in two stages, and we see both stages in Acts 8:26-40, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The two stages are discipleship and apostleship.

We begin with discipleship. This Ethiopian eunuch is a model of discipleship even though he isn’t a follower of Jesus Christ yet. Why? Because he is open. He demonstrates his openness in that he’s returning from a religious pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So even though he’s a man of wealth, power, and position, he’s seeking a spiritual quality to his life. His openness is demonstrated again in that he’s reading scripture and meditating on it. He’s seeking wisdom. He’s seeking to expand his understanding of the spiritual. He’s open again when he listens to and accepts Phillip’s teaching. Phillip is an apostle, so this eunuch accepts the teaching of the lawful authority of the Church. And finally, this eunuch is open to sacramental grace. When he sees flowing water, he stops and asks to be baptized. 

Once we perfect the level of discipleship, the Lord calls us to the next level: apostleship. To be an apostle simply means that we trust God so completely that he can do anything with us. Notice how the Holy Spirit whisks Phillip away to stand in front of this carriage, and when that event is complete, Phillip disappears and the Spirit whisks him away to yet another place. THAT’S what the Holy Spirit can do with an apostle. 

Some rare saints like Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio, have been reputed to bi-locate, that is be in two locations at once. How did they do that? Because they were so completely open to the will of the Father, they had such trust in God, that God could work the extraordinary in them. 

And that’s what the world needs today, brothers and sisters: more apostles. The world needs people who are willing to give themselves over completely to the will of God, and so give God the freedom he needs in our lives to make us the instruments to draw others to him.  

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint: “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.” -- Saint Ignatius Loyola

Prayer: 

Questions for Reflection

1. Where are the anti-Christian or anti-Catholic forces evident in your community? 

2. What forms of persecution have you had to endure for your faith? 

3. In what instances have you encountered people who seem immovably closed to God? 

4. How do you allow the Father to draw you? 

5. What evidences are there that you are in the discipleship stage of being drawn to the Father? 

6. What evidences are there that you are in the apostleship stage of being drawn to the Father? 

7. How do the two stages interface in your life? 

8. How is the Holy Spirit acting through you?

9. Is your will so completely open to the Father that He can work the extraordinary through you?  How so?  Or how can you develop greater openness?   

10.  What would you imagine the Father would accomplish through you if you were completely open to His grace and His will? 

--Susan Boudreau

Divine Love Serves: A Reflection John 17: 24-26

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.

 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’  (Jesus’ words to His apostles in John 17: 24-26)

Isn’t it odd that Jesus concludes His last meal with his closest friends by humbling Himself, and washing their feet; a task reserved for the lowest of servants? Alone, yes, it’s odd, but coupled with what happened on the day following the Last Supper, when Jesus would display His servant’s heart in an even more powerful way; the way of the cross, it makes perfect sense.

Such a perfect sacrifice is love in its purest form, because it is a reflection of the love that exists within the Trinity.

I was recently asked if I could explain the Trinity. In all honesty I have to say ‘No.’ I could give any number of theological explanations, but none of them really suffice. But I think the best, and really only explanation of the Trinity is that the Trinity is a complete and all embodying love; as if love were something tangible that we could see and touch, and lose ourselves in.

The Father so loves the Son that He forever pours His life and goodness into Him. The Son, filled with love for the Father, returns that love through His humility and obedience, even to death on the cross. The Holy Spirit, proceeding from the intensity of the love between the two, completes the circle by ever glorifying the Father and the Son, revealing the goodness of God to all creation.

This love, called agape love, a continuous outpouring, is the very heart of the communion with the Trinity. Even more wonderful, it is a communion in which we are all invited to participate. We enter this communion in two ways; by allowing the Lord to serve us in His sacraments; and allowing Him, to then work through us, to serve others.

You know, everybody worries about the declining number of priests in the diocese, yet vocations are flourishing in other parts of the world and even this country. Even though we certainly don’t have as many priests in Providence as we did forty years ago, we still have enough to get the job done, don’t we? If you’re looking for a miracle, look at this: despite the way the media has vilified us, and comedians have mocked us, and our government has persecuted us, (and believe me, in subtle ways, it has,) there are still young men willing to put on the collar and serve. With no perks, and no prestige, young men are still coming forward, willing to wash the feet of their brothers and sisters, because they have felt called by Divine Love, to imitate Divine Love. That’s more than incredible. That’s miraculous.

It is no different for any one of us. We are all called to serve others as Christ served us, and to love others as Christ loved us. If we let that Divine Love touch us, we will change. Throw away your agendas. Put aside your plans. Forget your politics. Focus on Divine Love and Divine Love will focus on you.

If we then show that Divine Love to others by a willingness to help others, we can feel confident and be assured that they will change, too.

Pray for the young men in the seminary. Pray for young women who are entering religious life. Pray for me, and all the priests, that we may all become perfect reflections of the Divine Love that we love and serve.

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint: “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.” -- Pope St. Gregory the Great

Prayer: 

“Father, I beseech You, direct the hearts and wills of the servants of Your Bride, the Holy 

Church, unto yourself so that they may follow the poor, bleeding, humble, and gentle Lamb of God 

on the way of the Cross. Make them angels in the shape of men, for after all, they have 

to administer and distribute the Body and Blood of Your Only Begotten Son! Amen.” 

Questions for Reflection: 

1. How would you describe the Trinity to a non-believer? 

2. In whom do you best see agape love exemplified?  

3. What are the evidences that you have a servant’s heart? 

4. Describe the evidences of agape love in your life. (Given or received) 

5. By what means or through which virtues do you return the Father’s love to Him? 

6. In what ways do you see our priests being persecuted? 

7. What do you do when you see this?   

8. How else might the persecution be confronted? 

9. Who has been changed, and in what ways, because of the loving service you have given? 

10. What in your life interferes with the total giving of self in service of others? 

11. What is one concrete thing I could do in the near future to get past this obstacle and become a more perfect reflection of the Father? 

--Susan Boudreau

Openness to the Whisperings of the Holy Spirit

Based on Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.) Then a great clamour arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, ‘We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’ When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks.

 That night the Lord stood near him and said, ‘Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.’ (Acts 23: 6-11)

This reading is one of my favorite episodes in the life of Saint Paul. Paul is in another tight spot; it looks like this is the end for him. But notice how being “clever as a serpent and innocent as a dove” can get one out of a bad situation.

Paul has been imprisoned for preaching the Gospel and is dragged before the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and they’re going to set him up to be killed, but look how he gets himself out of it. He says to them, “I’ve been dragged here for preaching the resurrection of the body,” knowing full well that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the body as an article of faith, and the Sadducees did not.

This is a sore spot for them and something that the two groups had debated for years. The Pharisees respond, “Oh well, there’s nothing wrong with that. Let him go.” The Sadducees jump in, “Wait a minute! Let’s look at this.” Immediately a fight breaks out and Paul slips away in the confusion. He is pretty clever.

Paul doesn’t use splendid oration to get free. An angel doesn’t come and rescue him.   Paul knows their weak link and exploits it. He used ordinary means. Now, one with no faith would say, “Well, Paul got lucky.” But we know better, don’t we? Because a saint is precisely one who can see God in the ordinary. We can say of Saint Paul that the Holy Spirit inspired him to say just the right thing that would save his life when he was a goner for sure.

 I remember a story Father Benedict Groeschel told once about the monastery in the Bronx and a worker whom they had to let go, I think maybe for stealing, and the guy didn’t take it well. He started making threatening phone calls and said he would burn the friary down one night while the brothers were sleeping. The friars went to the police, but they were unable or unwilling to do anything. You expect Father Groeschel to then say something like, “So I got on my knees and kept an all-night vigil in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and miraculously he was arrested for another crime and sent away…” But that isn’t what he said.

Instead, Father Groeschel said that a friend of one of the brothers was an actor. The actor, pretending to be a gangster in a major crime family in New York, called the guy and basically scared the guy off! Yes, Jesus did say be “innocent as a dove,” but let’s not forget that He also said “be cleaver as a serpent!”

Jesus said in the Gospel, “I do not pray for my disciples alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their word, that all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you.” (From Jn 17:20,21) That’s us. We are one with Jesus. We are one with the Father. We are the ones who have come to believe in Jesus through the preaching of the disciples. God will protect us in the same way.

So often we’re looking for God to manifest Himself in some grand, glorious spectacle, not realizing that He is communicating with us, more often than not through very ordinary means.

Have you ever been burdened with a problem that seems to have no answer, and then suddenly you wake up one morning, and the solution seems so obvious that you’re surprised that you never thought of it before? So often we forget to give God credit for those times. But that’s the Holy Spirit at work, helping us, guiding us, like He did Saint Paul.   

It is my prayer for all of us today that the Holy Spirit enlightens each one of us to see God at work in our everyday lives.

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint:

“The Holy Spirit leads us like a mother. He leads His child by the hand…as a sighted person leads a blind person.” -- St. John Vianney

Prayer:

“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.” -- Saint Augustine

Questions for Reflection:

1. Share an example of when you have seen someone being clever as a serpent and innocent as a dove.

2. What was the working of the Holy Spirit in Fr. Groeschel’s story?

3. What was the working of the Holy Spirit in the examples of someone being clever as a serpent and innocent as a dove shared by the group?

4. “…that all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you.” How can you assist in making this mission of such unity a reality?

5. How do you see the Holy Spirit acting within your life?

6. Where is the Holy Spirit leading you?

7. What might you do to encourage or support holier thoughts throughout the day?

8. How might you make your work more holy?

9. How might you better love only those things that are holy?

10. How might you better defend all that is holy?

--Susan Boudreau

King Over Suffering: A Reflection on Acts 18: 9-18

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
   shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
   a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
   and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
   the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
 

God has gone up with a shout,
   the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
   sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
   sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;
   God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
   as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
   he is highly exalted. (Psalm 47)

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.’ He stayed there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. They said, ‘This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.’ Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.’ And he dismissed them from the tribunal. Then all of them seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.

After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers^* and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At

Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. (Acts 18: 9-18)

“God is king over all the earth.” (Refrain for Psalm 47)

I think this is an appropriate psalm to accompany Acts 18:9-18. In Acts, the Lord speaks an encouraging word to Paul in a vision, a word that tells him not to be afraid, a word that compels him to continue preaching the word and trying to build up the kingdom of God. Paul continues to do so for a year and a half in Corinth. This is the same community to whom Saint Paul will write two letters--those pesky Corinthians, who will have every spiritual problem in the book.

Reading those letters, one can understand why Saint Paul had to spend such a long time with them. They were pretty slow to catch on to things. Then after a year and a half trouble begins. The Jews realize Saint Paul’s teachings and try to get the Roman pro council to do to Paul the same thing Pilot did to Jesus, but Gallio isn’t going to be pressured. They even go so far as to beat an innocent bystander in view of the bench to try to provoke an action out of Gallio, but it doesn’t work. Paul’s ministry continues. Eventually, Paul will be martyred for the faith in Rome, but in God’s time, not by human manipulation.

God is king over all the earth. What is a king? A king is someone who has complete dominion. He isn’t answerable to anyone. There is no court that can convict him. There is no legislative body that can veto or override his decision. He has complete autonomy. When we say God is King over all the earth, we are saying that God has complete dominion. Do things happen to displease God? Of course, they do. But God’s plan cannot be outdone. God’s plan cannot be thwarted.

Saint Paul lived as long as it was necessary for him to complete his mission. His mission was not without suffering. Saint Paul suffered tremendously throughout his life. His life and death glorified God and inspired generations of Christians to come. Yet through these trials Paul wrote time and again of the inspiring joy in his heart that came from God.

God never promised that the way he showed us would be easy. God never promised that, as long as we did what he said, everything would come up roses for us. God promised that he would never abandon us. Jesus said, “You will grieve for a time, but your grief will turn to joy.”

We need to understand that things like suffering are part of God’s plan, not because God is a sadist; not because God couldn’t figure out a way to leave suffering out of creation, but because we chose suffering when we chose sin. But now through the cross, God has taken our sufferings and spiritualized them. God has given them a productive end. God has made our suffering a means to purify ourselves and those we love. Jesus told us to expect it. He said, “You will weep while the world rejoices.” Alleluia!

Isn’t it comforting to know that no little ache or pain, no heartbreak endured, or physical or mental or emotional ailment that we have offered up for the glory of God has ever gone to waste? Isn’t it wonderful that the next time we stub our toe, or the car won’t start in the morning, or those kids just don’t listen, and we say, “Blessed be God,” instead of cursing our rotten luck, we’ve moved a step closer to heaven?

It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of true joy, comes to dwell in each of our hearts, and, with Saint Paul, we may praise with our lives the King of all the earth.

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint: “If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.”

-- Saint Colette

Prayer: “My Savior! I cheerfully accept all the painful dispositions, in which it is Thy pleasure to place me. My wish is in all things to conform myself to Thy holy will. Whenever I kiss Thy cross, it is to show that I submit perfectly to mine. Amen” -- Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Questions for Reflection:

1. Have you given God kingship over your life or are there areas over which you continue to reign? Name these.

2. To whom has the Lord given authority over you and do you allow them to reign in your life under His authority?

3. What types of pesky spiritual problems remain prevalent in your life? 

4. The Corinthians were “pretty low to catch on”; what might speed your spiritual advancement? 

5. What suffering do you now endure that you might offer to God?

6. Is this suffering in any way helping you to advance in holiness?  How or why not?

7. Is your suffering productive or purifying for others?

8. How do you unite your sufferings to Christ’s?

9. How might you begin now to prepare for a potential call to martyrdom? How did St. Paul prepare?

-- Susan Boudreau

Knowledge Protects Faith: A Reflection on 2 Corinthians 11: 2, 3

“I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God himself, since I have given in marriage to one husband, presenting you as a chaste virgin to Christ. My fear is that just as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted and you may fall away from your sincere and complete devotion to Christ.” (2Cor 11: 2,3)

What is Paul saying in this reading? Why is he saying he’s jealous? Isn’t jealousy a sin? Paul is saying he’s jealous in the same way a husband would be jealous if his wife who was flirting with another man. In that case one has a right to be jealous, because in a marriage a man and woman make a life long commitment to one another.

Paul is comparing our relationship to God with that marital relationship between a husband and wife because that is the stuff of which a covenant consists. Our baptism in the Lord carries that exact kind of responsibility, a life long marital commitment to God. Paul is concerned because the Corinthians, after embracing the Gospel and accepting baptism, are now turning away from the faith to follow different flavors of Christianity. Some men were putting their own little spin on the gospel, outside of the authority of the apostles and the bishops the apostles had appointed. The Corinthians were breaking away from the Church and following these

teachings.

Paul is being very strong here. He defends his apostleship in saying, “I consider myself inferior to the ‘super-apostles’ in nothing.” He’s saying, “Hey! I’m an apostle too! I know what I’m talking about.” Later in this letter he’ll say, “Even if an angel appears to you preaching a different Gospel to the one we gave you, anathema sit! (Let him be cursed!)” (Gal1:8) The meaning of the letter is clear; there is no Gospel outside of the Church. There is no authentic Christianity other than the one that was handed down from the apostles to us.

Now what I find amusing about all of this is how little has changed in 2000 years. We can find any number of people who teach their own little brand of Christianity and we don’t have to look far to find it. We can find this stuff in our own back yard. When people have come to me with a moral problem and I’ve given them the teaching of the Church, I get a response like, “Well, I’ll gather some other opinions and make my own judgment.” So the Lord communicates with you directly? Or when I counsel a couple who are living together outside of the sacrament of marriage, and I tell them that this is morally against God’s commandments, they say, “Oh, Father, God will understand.” How do you instruct someone who is his or her own little Magisterium? And this isn’t confined to laity. Plenty of priests fall into this category as well. Plenty of priests and religious are teaching their own brand of Catholicism and not what the Church teaches.

Suffice to say, this is why you must have a Catechism in your possession. This is why you can’t be afraid to look things up in it when something doesn’t sound right to you. There are many people out there under the auspices of the faith, who will try to deceive you. Don’t even take me at MY word! If something I say strikes you as odd, or off base, check what I say against the Catechism, and if you feel I’ve said something that doesn’t jibe with the Churches teaching, show it to me.

This is why I write out my homilies. It’s not that I can’t preach off the cuff, but, if I do, I might say something that could be misconstrued. If I write down my homilies and read them when I preach, I can make sure that I’m not inadvertently giving the wrong message.

I take some degree of comfort in the knowledge that this problem is not a new problem. It’s as old as Saint Paul, but with that said, it’s something for which we need to be prepared. Our faith is something we need to work at. Our faith is something we need to protect. The way we protect it is by growing in our knowledge of it so that we can’t be led astray.

Blessed Be God Forever.

Father Michael Anthony Sisco

Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents

Quote From a Saint: “But what is also to the point, let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers. On this the Church was founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be called, a Christian.” --St. Athanasius

Prayer: “Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you; grant us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord.” -- Saint Augustine

Questions for Reflection:

1. Name ways in which your relationship with God is like a marriage covenant.

2. What grace makes this likeness a reality?

3. How can you foster that grace?

4. Saint John Bosco instructs, “Never read books you aren't sure about . . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?”  Is what you are reading and viewing pure and nourishing or poisonous?

5. What are you studying to increase your knowledge so as to protect your faith?   

6. What references are you using when you study?   

7. How do you instruct someone who is his or her own little Magisterium? 

8. How might the methods differ for those outside the faith? Practicing the faith? Religious or clergy? 

9. How else might you protect your faith? 

10. Practically, how might you encourage or assist others in growing or protecting their faith? 2223 

--Susan Boudreau

copenitents@yahoo.com