Encouragement for the devout faithful to remain strong and not feel defeated, because as Jesus reminds us, "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20) and "with God, all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).
Don't ever just be Catholic; be PROFOUNDLY Catholic! Especially during Advent, the time of year when we prepare our hearts to celebrate the coming of our Lord.
There is always so much more of His love to discover and then keep rediscovering.
Our Savior longs for our love in return; accept His love! He loves us all so lavishly. Love Jesus lavishly in return.
Find yourself blissfully lost in His Divine embrace; be enveloped within love so great we just cannot even fathom It. Christ's waiting, welcoming, loving, compassionate, and merciful arms are open wide, for you!
Go to Him, discover Him, then discover Him ever more intimately, and as you do so guide other precious, immortal souls to Christ.
Bring Him everywhere.
LESSONS FROM THE LORD FOR YOU DURING ADVENT
Lesson 1: "Ascend Higher!"
Lesson 2: The Light of the World
Lesson 3: A Present for You from Jesus.
Lesson 4: A Mother/Son Rescue and the Powerful Weapon in Your Hand.
Lesson 5: Living Entirely for Jesus as He Guides Your Soul to Perfection.
More than thirty meditations on Christ's Passion to help guide you during Advent and Christmas into some serious Divine intimacy with the Love of your eternal life: Meditating on Christ's Passion.
LESSON SIX
A very big weapon the devil uses to assault Christ's followers in our time is discouragement, and it is
quite plain to see it pouring forth from the hearts of the devout faithful as soon as Advent begins.Many had already long been dreading the arrival of the modern day assault against humanity that occurs during Advent and Christmas in full force.
So much attention is focused on spending, shopping, creating marketplaces, selling, advertising, and God spare us from the aggressive marketing and manipulative fundraising. It seems we cannot even escape from these things because they have infiltrated our society like a rapidly spreading cancer.
The cure? The Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ.
The cure? The Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ.
The counterstrike: Offer up all temptations to feel discouraged for the conversion of sinners. This turns the devil's assaults against him and ransoms many precious, immortal souls held captive in the black abyss.
Businesses and fundraising are meant to be good and holy things, but far too often in our times what was intended by God to serve people, care for them and help them, has become the devil's way to get people to batter other people just to acquire money and power, and far too often this is being done in God's Holy Name.
We must remain mindful of this trick of the devil to make us feel discouraged and defeated, all this excessive spending, shopping, collecting, and focusing on things very contrary to the simple and holy life of poverty and service chosen by our Lord, the King of all kings, and His most holy Mother.
Certainly it is going to take an act of God to stop it.
Certainly it is going to take an act of God to stop it.
Nevertheless, every assault from the devil can be turned against him and into an opportunity to grow in virtue, educate others, save precious, immortal souls, and be powerful living representations of the Holy Face of Jesus. Jesus is not absent from anywhere, and we can bring Him everywhere we go!
Be Christ's living, traveling tabernacle.
Do not allow yourself to be overcome by the lack of self mastery that absolutely surrounds us, because great good can be accomplished during Advent, and in so many very simple ways while not falling prey to another one of the devil's tricks of encouraging us to be excessively busy.
Be Christ's living, traveling tabernacle.
Do not allow yourself to be overcome by the lack of self mastery that absolutely surrounds us, because great good can be accomplished during Advent, and in so many very simple ways while not falling prey to another one of the devil's tricks of encouraging us to be excessively busy.
Avoid excessive busyness and excessive business like the plague, especially if it keeps you from spending time with our Lord in prayer and especially if it leads you to disregard the needs of others.
Take time each day to be with our Lord by going to Holy Mass. Go, and be unified with Him in the Blessed Sacrament for everyone in your family who does not go and do not despair: "Go For Everyone in Your Family."
Go to the Lord with complete confidence and persevere. Spend lots of time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Make sacramental confessions of devotion regularly. Saint John Bosco referred to confession as "the devil's bankruptcy."
"Do you want to become saints? Here is the
secret: confession is the lock; confidence in your confessor is the key.
This is how you open heaven’s gates." ~ Saint John Bosco
Serve in imitation of Christ and Blessed Mother, and defend the rights of God, particularly in His own house, in your house, and everywhere else.
Wish everyone a very joyous "Merry Christmas!"
Smile, a lot. This is a very powerful way to defeat the devil as he tries to discourage us.
He strikes at the heart of our human dignity and he has many well intended people working very hard for him, but our Lord knows the condition of everything and He reminds us, "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).
To encourage you in your efforts to live a sacramental life of heroic virtue, Jesus provides you with the following very personal lesson.
Go, Team!! God is at work in you.
MORE DIVINE UNION ALONG THE
WAY OF SACRIFICIAL LOVE
While meditating on Christ's Passion today, look at the Holy Face of Jesus which He presents to you bleeding so profusely as Christmas draws near. Jesus very briefly yet
very powerfully has you unified with Him during a particular moment along the Way of the Cross.
You realize that Jesus still has a way to go before making it to Calvary, and are shown the
determination on His Sacred Face, the determination to suffer as much as
possible before surrendering His life on the Cross for our Redemption.
He allows you to not only see this, but you can also feel it.
PROFOUNDLY
CATHOLIC DETERMINATION
Jesus, Your Face, your Most Holy Face! Look into His eyes as you share this moment so deeply with our Savior.
Meditate on that one moment along the Way.
The wicked and barbaric disfiguring of Christ's Holy Face was unable to stop His inner beauty from pouring
forth from It.
See it pouring forth like His Precious Blood is, as both
beauty and Blood are pumped out completely by the unfathomable and uncontainable love within
His Sacred Heart.
Jesus, our
First Priest, our High Priest! Our Father, and Brother.
Teacher. Counselor. Friend! The Love of our eternal lives.
This
determination of His, Jesus wants us to share in it, because His followers must possess
it.
We are to ask our Lord for great determination to save souls, because He
is going to give us lots of it.
"By My Holy Face you will work wonders." ~ Jesus to Sr. Mary of St. Peter
THE
EMOTIONAL SHREDDING OF CHRIST DURING HIS PASSION AND CRUCIFIXION
The
Lord presents you with an additional lesson today.
This second lesson has to do with the mental, emotional shredding that occurred simultaneous
to His physical agony while He suffered as God Who became Man. By taking on our
humanity He subjected Himself to a horrific mental agony, so much could be
written about it, so many different types of mental suffering, such an
unfathomably large amount.
What
a striking lesson, to have Jesus present this mental anguish to you as an emotional
shredding that paralleled the shredding of His Sacred Flesh at the pillar.
Jesus allows you to experience this in small measure, and it takes you several hours to recover from the experience. The mental suffering is so overpowering you are astonished that our Savior was even able to walk, let alone carry the Cross and then offer Himself to be crucified upon it, let alone keep forgiving while remaining patient, gentle, and humble.
We must go to Him for what we need to accomplish God's holy will, and He will provide everything.
Sweet Jesus, please provide us with great determination.
DIVINE INTIMACY AND SPIRITUAL VICTORIES
This part of the human condition He took on for our sake is something we must always share in union with Him, for we all experience mental suffering, sometimes even extreme anguish, to varying degrees and throughout life.
All of it is important and provided to us by God for a reason. So much of it we don't even recognize and these are very important moments of Divine intimacy through which we draw closer to Christ.Let us profit from the Lord's providence for our souls.
"Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5).
THROUGH THE VICTIM WE ATTAIN VICTORY
It is through these mysteries, through sacrificial love which includes patient suffering, complete surrender, and a very generous, forgiving, and courageous heart graced with fortitude that grave, widespread, and deeply rooted evil is defeated.
Truly, the only spiritual defeats are the ones we are willing to accept.
Often, we do this because the devil has been our only teacher.
The beginning.
TWO INSEPARABLE SACRAMENTS OF DIVINE INTIMACY THROUGH WHICH WE OBTAIN THE GRACE NEEDED TO PERSEVERE
The following two
videos are presented to remind you of the inseparability of two
Sacraments of Divine Intimacy (the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrament
of Reconciliation) and to inspire you and fire you up to serve the Lord
during Advent and Christmas.
Continue allowing the Lord to use you as a very powerful channel of love, mercy, and grace for others and also for the massive conversion of sinners. God is at work in you!
Continue allowing the Lord to use you as a very powerful channel of love, mercy, and grace for others and also for the massive conversion of sinners. God is at work in you!
THE MAJESTY OF HOLY MASS (VIDEO)
THE SACRAMENT OF CHRIST'S PEACE (VIDEO)
"Trust all things to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary, Help of Christians,
and you will see what miracles are."
~St. John Bosco
and you will see what miracles are."
~St. John Bosco
© Joseph Karl Publishing /Michele Bondi Bottesi
Meditating on Christ's Passion, coming early 2014, for you.
Thirsting for more?
To access a fishing boatload full of PROFOUNDLY Catholic material
including award-winning books, images, articles, audio, and video,
all immeasurably and eternally valuable and free, just like God's love, visit: www.josephkarlpublishing.com.
all immeasurably and eternally valuable and free, just like God's love, visit: www.josephkarlpublishing.com.
God is at work in you!
Images taken at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church,
Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A. Parish Website
and at Joseph Karl Publishing, Rochester Hills, Michigan, U.S.A.
THE POWERFUL DEVOTION TO THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS
To learn more about the Work of Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face,
which our Lord, Jesus Christ called "the most beautiful work under the sun,"
visit: Work of Reparation Through the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
Please share the information with others.
God is at work in you!!
To learn more about the Work of Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face,
which our Lord, Jesus Christ called "the most beautiful work under the sun,"
visit: Work of Reparation Through the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
Please share the information with others.
God is at work in you!!
