15th SOTC '19 - Neighbors

Christ answers a question about loving neighbors with a question, Who was the neighbor? We might be wise to ask ourselves, too.Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2Ll21qz Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz
via View From the Ambo Podcast

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Excuses.MP3

I apologize for the poor quality - I am excited to be back at the Ambo after a needed rest. What are our excuses for not following the Lord today? Readings are found at https://ift.tt/2xhyzsG Give feedback at https://goo.gl/forms/iG1Tvk4cHTGhdOWz2
via View From the Ambo Podcast

Home

As I was preparing to leave after eight weeks, the Lord was working overtime to make sure that I was ready. He asked what I wanted during my morning holy hour. That’s a question I hadn’t been asking. I knew the answer, Home. I wanted to be home. But not home sickness. I wanted Him to be my home. In a matter of seconds, I was overwhelmed with His presence and these words spilled out (not so prettily, I might add). Maybe the maybe the Lord wants you home, too, so I share these with you:

Home is not a place,

A “where” of maps, locations, or points,

A destination or departure,

Traveled to by planes or cars.

It is not a structure made for lodging,

And building constructed of wood or stone,

Mortar or brick.

There are no roof or floors,

neither windows nor doors,

Yet all are invited.

Home is a state of being,

An abiding in,

A being with,

Not only where the heart dwells,

But where the heart and the Holy Spirit reside,

In communication with each other.

Home is when joy overflows into tears and laughter,

When healing is found

In the source of all Being.

Home is love, mercy, forgiveness,

No, home is not a place,

But the enduring presence of our Lord,

Home is a “when”:

When the Lord reveals His love,

His providence, His protection,

When all is right with the world,

Because peace is found in the soul.

Home can be found a thousand miles from where we reside,

Or right where we are.

Home is a heart set free,

Singing with the angels and saints,

A harmony that the heart knows,

But the mind has yet to grasp.

Home is found only by the soul longing to travel inward to find Him waiting.

Announcement of my return

After 8 weeks of being away, I will be returning and moving into my new assignment in Marshall, MN.

A little update first, as some might be curious where I have been: In early April, I was invited by Bishop LeVoir to take a minimum of 3 weeks of retreat out of state. He was concerned about me for a number of reasons, most important of them was that he was concerned that I was extremely stressed. I thought that 3 weeks would be enough, but as it was, the issues that led to my stress and my responses were deeper and more entangled with my personal history than I was aware. To become more aware of the patterns, to find freedom, and to continue to rest from a stressful situation, I requested to stay a full 8 weeks. I am dealing with the issues that were Bishop LeVoir’s concerns, as well as some personal health issues of my own. I am rested, and intent to take better care of my personal need for prayer, rest, and recreation.

However, I realized that my being away required me to resign. Some of the stressors were not resolved on my departure, and because of the needs of the parishes I served, I requested to resign. (It had already been determined that I would be moving.) Fr. Denny Labat, now parochial administrator of St. Peter and Nicollet and I basically swapped positions. He is parochial administrator (pastor in responsibilities, but not in right to stay is the best understanding of his title), and I will be parochial vicar (Associate Pastor) in the Marshall area.

I am so pleased that Fr. Labat has agreed to take the position earlier than planned so that I can tend to my needs. 

I loved my time at St. Peter and Nicollet, but it is obvious that at this time our needs are different. Please join me in keeping the parishes and parishioners there in prayer, and if you have a few to spare, please pray for my continued healing from old wounds that are deep and painful.

Sequence for Pentecost

Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home Shed a ray of light divine! Come, Father of the poor! Come, source of all our store! Come, within our bosoms shine. You, of comforters the best; You, the soul's most welcome guest; Sweet refreshment here below; In our labor, rest most sweet; Grateful coolness in the heat; Solace in the midst of woe. O most blessed Light divine, Shine within these hearts of yours, And our inmost being fill! Where you are not, we have naught, Nothing good in deed or thought, Nothing free from taint of ill. Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away: Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray. On the faithful, who adore And confess you, evermore In your sevenfold gift descend; Give them virtue's sure reward; Give them your salvation, Lord; Give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.

Ninth Day of Novena to the Holy Spirit

We join in the final day of our novena.

NINTH DAY (Saturday, Vigil of Pentecost)

Thou, on those who evermore Thee confess and Thee Adore, in Thy sevenfold gift, Descend; Give Them Comfort when they die; Give them Life with Thee on high; Give them joys which never end. Amen

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit

The gifts of the Holy Spirit perfect the supernatural virtues by enabling us to practice them with greater docility to divine inspiration. As we grow in the knowledge and love of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit, our service becomes more sincere and generous, the practice of virtue more perfect. Such acts of virtue leave the heart filled with joy and consolation and are known as Fruits of the Holy Spirit. These Fruits in turn render the practice of virtue more attractive and become a powerful incentive for still greater efforts in the service of God, to serve Whom is to reign.

Prayer

Come, O Divine Spirit, fill my heart with Thy heavenly fruits, Thy charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, and temperance, that I may never weary in the service of God, but by continued faithful submission to Thy inspiration may merit to be united eternally with Thee in the love of the Father and the Son. Amen.

Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace, O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen.

To be recited daily during the Novena

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

(To be recited daily during the Novena)

Eighth Day of Novena to the Holy Spirit

We join in the eighth day of our novena.

EIGHTH DAY (Friday, 7th Week of Easter)

Bend the stubborn heart and will, melt the frozen warm the chill. Guide the steps that go astray!

The Gift of Wisdom

Embodying all the other gifts, as charity embraces all the other virtues, Wisdom is the most perfect of the gifts. Of wisdom it is written "all good things came to me with her, and innumerable riches through her hands." It is the gift of Wisdom that strengthens our faith, fortifies hope, perfects charity, and promotes the practice of virtue in the highest degree. Wisdom enlightens the mind to discern and relish things divine, in the appreciation of which earthly joys lose their savor, whilst the Cross of Christ yields a divine sweetness according to the words of the Saviour: "Take up thy cross and follow me, for my yoke is sweet and my burden light.

Prayer

Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, power and beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all the passing joys and satisfactions of earth. Help me to attain them and possess them for ever. Amen.

Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace, O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen.

To be recited daily during the Novena

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

(To be recited daily during the Novena)