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First Friday & First Saturday of
March
Second Sunday of Lent
A little tribute to the Most Sacred Heart ever-present in all ourCatholic altars, all over the whole wide world, right now! (how brilliant is that?) =))
The title of this post I took as a quote (which I heard from today's very encouraging sermon) from St "Padre" Pio who once talked of the Eucharist and of our Lord present in the Eucharist, "Love, love, love, EVERYTHING is there! All you need to do is Love."
Whenever we go and visit our Lord present in the most holy Tabernacle, whenever we go for Mass and we kneel down and pray, know always that we are always near Him, the omnipotent. Know that behind the golden door of the Tabernacle, He resides there, waiting to hear all us, talk to him with our hearts. As Saint Therese said once, that our dear Jesus does not come down from heaven everyday just to sit in a golden ciborum. Our dear Jesus comes down from heaven everyday, to find another place more worthy, that is in our heart of hearts, the heaven of our souls - created in His Image, to be the living temple of the most Holy & Adorable Trinity.
"Our Lord does not come down from Heaven everyday to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him - the heaven of our souls, created in His Image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity."
-St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (The Little Flower)
It is a most beautiful thing, just to kneel there and be mindful that you are in the presence of the Most-High - and that the Most High wants to be there, where He is, as a prisoner of His own Love.
Today is also the Second Sunday of Lent and it is the time when we reflect on what we have done for Lent so-far, from Ash Wednesday, till today. Have we kept up with our Lenten resolutions? If we have done so, pray for the grace of perseverance, if we have not done so, fear not, because St. Pio (and all other saints) reminds us that we need to never be discouraged. That what is most important is that we never fail in our hearts and we pick ourselves up again and continue in His grace.
Today's gospel talks about how Jesus brought the three apostles, the same three He was to bring nearest with him in Gethsemane, to the Mountain of Tabor. And in today's gospel, Jesus was transfigured and Moses and Elias appeared together with Jesus on top of the mountain. The three apostles were frightened, but Jesus told them not to be. "Arise and fear not." (You can read today's gospel at this website: "http://www.drbo.org/chapter/47017.htm")
Whenever I read or think about the Transfiguration of our Lord, I recall several beautiful words (spiritual poems) by St. Therese again, a saint whom I am very glad to call my patron:
Here on earth, to live for love, does not mean settling on Thabor; it means climbing Calvary with Jesus and looking at the Cross as a treasure.
What does it mean to climb Calvary with Jesus? How do we look at the Cross as a treasure?
For that, we need to embrace suffering (like all the martyrs and all the saints in heaven now) and come to the ultimate conclusion that Love = Suffering (something that I wrote about a long time ago) and even though we suffer, we are happy, because we know that in the end, our one main goal and aim in life is to be with Jesus and Mother Mary and all the Angels and Saints in heaven.
Another quote from our dear Padre, who during his life on earth has suffered the pains of Jesus's Passion:
"You cost too much to Jesus. He CANNOT abandon you."
I find this spiritually quite uplifting because no matter what, when we feel that we are down and out, we need always to know that we can never be discouraged, that we need to persevere because there is one person on earth who will never ever give up on us (that is until our death-bed; particular judgment) as He actually loved us so much, that He gave up His life for us on the cross, therefore, logically speaking, He CANNOT ever ever ever abandon us.
And because our dear Mother is so inextricably linked to Jesus, because she is His Mother, who bore Him, and she is Our Mother, because He gave her to us when He was dying on the Cross, Mother Mary can never ever, even more logically speaking, give up on us, as she will never ever abandon us.
Ah, the most beautiful mystery of love.
I beg of you dear readers to never forget to keep me in your prayers this Lent, as I will for you, too.
Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori.
Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Anne, Therese, I love You; Save Souls!
Labels: Padre Pio, Second Sunday in Lent, St Therese of Lisieux, The Transfiguration of Our Lord
