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March 24, 2013
Lenten Reflections From Fr. DeSimone
God alone can heal the storms in our life. The more open
and honest we are with ourselves and God, the more
peaceful and loving we will become. Why? God always
heals those who understand their need of him. This takes
humility. To open our broken hearts and wounded spirits
to him takes vulnerability and trust. God always graces his
humble and trusting children. On the contrary, if we
learn to remain guarded, closed, prideful, only trusting in
our own power, we will not be graced by the humble God.
Only the meek and humble of heart will grow in
God's grace, because they recognize their poverty. "
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".
Prayer to the Holy Spirit for Healing
Come Holy Spirit,
replace the tension within me with a holy relaxation.
Replace the turbulence within me with a sacred calm.
Replace the anxiety within me with a quiet confidence.
Replace the fear within me with a strong faith.
Replace the darkness within me with a gentle light.
Replace the coldness within me with a loving warmth.
Replace the night within me with your daylight.
Straighten my crookedness, fill my emptiness,
dull the edge of my pride, give me humility.
Light the fire of my love for you.
Let me see myself as you see me, your child,
created in your image and likeness.
Forgive me, heal me and convert my heart dear Lord.
March 17, 2013
Lenten Reflections From Fr. DeSimone
Repentance of sins and confession are part of the healing process all human beings need to encounter.
-Interior healing leads to a deeper relationship with the Blessed Trinity, and a conversion of heart, which is an ongoing life-long process.
-Continuing conversion or transformation is necessary for our eternal salvation.
-Do we recognize our sinfulness and take responsibility for it and ask for God's loving mercy and forgiveness?
-Do we want to be forgiven and healed by God? If we truly have a relationship with Jesus we will want to say "I am sorry, my Lord" and experience his mercy and share it with others.
-We need to look truthfully at how hurt we are and ask Jesus for the grace to forgive those who have hurt us, which facilitates their healing and furthers healing in us.
-In a culture where busyness and constant noise and activity are the norm, we need to be able to reflect interiorly on the healing we all need.
-We cannot be healed unless we:
1) Know who God is and how much he loves us;
2) Trust God that he can and wants to heal us;
3) Love ourselves and believe we are worthy of God's love and healing grace;
4) Want to be healed;
5) Recognize we need it!
Scripture Passages to Meditate on:
-Matthew 11:25-30... healing of ourselves
-Luke 10: 25-37... loving and healing of others
-John 4:4-42... Samaritan woman
-Mark 1:29-31 ... Peter's mother-in-law
-Mark 1:40-45 ... cleansing of the leper
-Mark 2:1-12...healing of the paralytic.
March 10, 2013
Lenten Reflections From Fr. DeSimone
Repentance:
-St. Paul to the Romans 8:1-1 1: "For all who live in the Spirit and have Christ abiding in them, there will be no condemnation, but those who abide in the flesh (world of sin), condemnation and death await them."
-Psalm 32: "Many sorrows has the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, loving mercy surrounds him. I will confess my offense to the Lord and you, Lord, have forgiven my guilt."
-Psalm 51: The Miserere. Reflect of this Psalm written by King David.
-The first step in conversion is a repentant heart. Conversion is an ongoing process.
-How do we repent? What do we repent of? Do we truly believe we need repentance or just everyone else? Do we look only at the sins and faults of others and not ourselves? Once we see ourselves as we truly are, (nothing at all), we are completely humbled at the knowledge of what God has done for us and His love for us!
-Exhortation to a fearless confession: Matthew 10:26-33 and Luke 12:2-9.
-John 20:21-23: Institution of the Sacrament of Penance.
Forgiveness
-God does not stop loving us because we sin; it is we who at times, stop loving each other and ourselves!
-St. Paul's conversion: Acts 9
-Jesus' forgiveness of St. Peter's betrayal and of the woman weeping at his feet; Matthew 26:6-13,Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, John 12:1-8.
God's Mercy
-Do we know God's love, mercy and compassion for us? -Do we want to be healed and converted? You have to believe you need it and that God can help you!
-Ezekial 33:10-20: "Take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion that he might live."
March 3, 2013
Lenten Reflections from Fr. DeSimone
* Faith: The obedience of faith (Romans 16: 26; cf. Romans 1: 5; Corinthians 10: 5-6) must be given to God as he reveals himself. By faith man freely gives his entire self to God, making "the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals," and freely assenting to Revelation given by him. Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and help him (Luke 1: 26-56); he must have interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and "makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth." The same Holy Spirit always prefects faith by his gifts (Matthew 4: 1-12), so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.
* Love: The greatest commandment of the law is to love God with one's whole heart and one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37-40). Christ has made this love of neighbor his personal commandment and has enriched it with a new meaning when he willed himself, along with his brothers, to be the object of this charity saying: "When you showed it to one of the least of my brothers here, you showed it to me" (Matthew 25:40). In assuming human nature he has united to himself all humankind in a supernatural unity which makes of it one single family. He has made charity (love) the distinguishing mark of his disciples, in the words: "By this will all men know you for my disciples, by the love you bear one another." (John 13: 35; 1 Corinthians 13).
* Hope: When God reveals Himself and calls him, man cannot fully respond to the Divine love by his own powers. He must hope that God will give him the capacity to love Him in return and to act in conformity with the commandments of charity (love). Hope is the positive probability of divine blessing and the saintly vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God's love and of incurring punishment. (Matthew 28: 19-20).
February 24, 2013
Lenten Reflections from Fr. DeSimone
Use of Freedom and Our Responsibility
- Our free will is a gift from God;
- The use of free will matters greatly in our growth as human persons;
- What does it mean to be human?
- Why were we created?
- To know and love God and each other;
- We are not truly free, unless we have the freedom to choose good;
- If we are enslaved to sin or particular vices or feelings, emotions, and passions, we are not truly free to choose good;
- No human being has the right to choose evil, we have the free will but what are its consequences in our emotional and spiritual life?
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In the Catechism #1730 it says the more good we do, the more free we become; the more sin we do, the more enslaved we are, and hence less free we truly are!
Reflections
Deuteronomy 27:19: Do not violate the rights of others.
James 1:2z-27: Be doers, not just hearers of the Word.
Matthew: 7:27/Luke 6:46-49: combine prayer with action.
Matthew 12:46-50: Do God's will in your life.
February 10, 2013
Lenten Thoughts from Fr. DeSimone
What is your Image of God?
It is very important that our image of God must not become an opinion based on resentment, hurt, or disappointment. Our personal image of God ought to be formed and informed by what God has revealed to us in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition through the Church.
As we approach the season of Lent, there are scripture passages that will help remind us and inform our hearts and minds to who God truly is.
1 Jh 4:7-21: God loved us first;
Mt. 5:43-48: God calls us his children;
Mt. 6:25-34: God shows us that we are important;
2Cor.1:37: God loves us so deeply that he wants to comfort us in our sorrow;
Jn. 3:16: God so loved the world that he gave us his only son to redeem us;
Ps. 103: God forgives all;
Ps. 23: God wants to shepherd and lead us and not leave us to ourselves.
We encourage you to read the above passages and privately pray the "Our Father", using the words "My Father" to realize how personally God loves you.
Source: Our Lady of Sorrows Parish
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