Suffering = Sacrifice

God's ultimate message today: "The Angel said, 'Let everything you do be a sacrifice but, above all, accept all the sufferings God sends you as a sacrifice.'" - Lucy of Fatima (Kaya pala kinaya kong lakarin mula Matutum Street malapit sa Ace Water Spa Banawe hanggang sa Sto. Domingo Church sa ilalim ng araw. Buti di na-slain. :D)

Sulit din pala ang dalawang oras na tambay sa adoration. Isang realisasyon: Umiiyak din pala ang mga lalaki sa loob ng adoration. Kala ko kaming mga babae lang...

*Simply inspired to pray for the conversion of souls (including my own) to my favorite saint 

Fr. Robert Barron

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/seven-deadly-sins-seven-lively-virtues
The most important truth of spiritual life: God does not need you
you have been loved into existence
love: to the good of the other
God can't be self-interest.
what God wants us to be: that we might be fully alive
be a conduit of God's love, divine generosity
the more you give, the more you get
saintly way of being
we forget who we are
we become afraid
Fear is the root of all sins
1 John: the opposite of love is fear
I need to justify myself
wrapping self up in desperate needs: power, money
you become a threat in my well-being
allow God's love to surge through us
St. Augustine: Sin is being caved in on oneself
deadly sins: negative attitudes, distorted
keeps us from being alive
self-imposed imprisonment

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/what-every-couple-should-know-about-marriage-and-prayer

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/three-to-get-married
there is nothing beautiful in this world than 2 young people in love
spiritual and psychological differences:
man generally marries to have a woman.
woman generally marries to have a child.
man looks at the pleasure in marriage
man gives reason to love a woman (I love you because you're beautiful...).
a woman never gives reason, she gives herself: surrender
man is quicker to love bec he can love & ask things, experience with a woman
a woman is slower to love, she will not love unless she can give herself totally & completely wait longer to give self totally, discover all of inspirations, great act of self oblation
a man is afraid of dying before he has lived.
a woman is generally afraid of dying before she has begotten life.
reconcile difficulties/tensions
tensions expected in every married life:
tensions are not bec of a defect
tensions are part of fallen human nature
1. between wanting and not wanting love
courtship is a kind of masked ball, marriage takes off the mask
torn between longing and satiety
when longing disappears
love too much, there is discontent
love too little, there is emptiness
you are made for the great sacred heart of love: God's love (infinite)
finite companion the substitute to the infinite
see in the light of God
longing for love: yearning for God
finiteness of earthly love
St. Augustine: Our hearts were made for You, Lord.
in every marriage, a man promises a woman something that only God can give
a woman promises a man what only God can give
pull between the too lil and too much
too lil bec we want God
too much bec only God can satisfy, the human cannot
2. tension between wanting to be one with another person, feeling of so alone
self is lost in another
the flesh alone cannot unite, only the soul can
the flesh is the means to unity (not an obstacle) bec it is bound up by soul
love loses its soul...

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/the-true-meaning-of-christmas

Love and Suffering

God's big message and greatest insight after listening to the Marriage and the Eucharist CD by Christopher West days ago...
"Love involves suffering."
To love means to suffer, so if I were to suffer over & over again in this life, I wanna suffer with you (OTL) by my side.

Loving and Living

"To be a saint means when God's will and my will become one.
God's will for me is to go to Heaven.
It's not God's will for us to go to purgatory." - Fr. Larry Richards

Isn't it nice to hear voices of angels singing and praising God once we kick the bucket instead of prolonging our suffering by undergoing purification in purgatory? Make a decision to be a living saint today (or at least prepare to be one someday). Love like Jesus! Love unto folly! Suffering on the Cross, enduring insults and pains, and sacrificing One's life is probably the craziest kind of love there is. Love like crazy! Love as if there's no tomorrow! And you know by then that you have lived life to the full. :D

Matthew Arnold

Found a good supplement for my School of Formation...

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/which-came-first-the-bible-or-the-church
lay Catholic speaker, author,certified Christian counselor, 6 homeschooled children
www.matthewarnold.org
The Holy Bible: the most popular book of all time, the most widely distributed book in history
Pray the rosary with the Psalms.
common expressions come from the Bible: a Judas, a Jezebel, the salt of the earth
Biblia: book
Bible: a whole library of sacred book, during a course of more than 1k years
Bible: contains the inspired Word of God
All Scripture is inspired by God, profitable for reproach, teaching
2 Tim 3:15-17
CCC: God is the Author of Sacred Scripture, moved human authors (inspired, w/o error, saving truth).
Jesus: the substantial Word of God
Bible: single volume (Divine Author)
The primary Author is God.
Divided into 3 sections: Hebrew (OT), NT
OT: desire for the Redeemer, old agreement or covenant, God preparing people for the coming of the Messiah
NT: passion and death of JC, covenant
Is 42: 1, 6
46 books of OT: history, wisdom
1st 5 books: Pentateuch/Torah: Law
Pentateuch: Laws of God
Genesis: explains the beginning of many important realities (sin, salvation, etc.)
Gen 1:27
Gen 12: 2, 3

Lectio Divina by Mark Hart

Reading the Bible:
Have a plan.
Start with the Gospel of Mark: the shortest, easiest to read (writing to Christians in Rome).
The Gospel of John is the deepest.
Mark 1: the preaching of John the Baptist, baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus
spend one day in one sub-section
less is more
when it comes to Scripture, you retain it in your brain and in your heart, or else God complex
start with a prayer before reading the Bible
God is not impressed with our language.
The Holy Spirit inspired.
inspiration: breathe in
respiration: breathe out
Invite the Author to the table.
Come Holy Spirit, 3 to 4 times.
There's an ancient art of reading the Scriptures: Lectio Divina.
Mark 1:9
step 1: reading: WWWWWH
pause for footnotes for explanations
step 2: meditacio: meditation, ruminating

Matthew Leonard

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/pray-like-a-saint
life, sacrifice, and suffering
We are all called to a life of self-sacrifice.
Praying is a relationship.
to raise our hearts and minds to God
Prayer gives us life, helps us go through this fallen world, offer up our sufferings, road to holiness
It is THE path.
Prayer comes in several basic forms: blessing, adoration, thanksgiving.
St. Therese: Prayer is where we encounter Christ, turn of the heart, comes from the heart.
We have an interior life.
conversation inside self: revolves around me
Prayer changes narcissistic focus.
inward to upward
a hole that can only be filled with a relationship with God

Sr. Mary Gabriel

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/power-in-prayer

All the deepest yearnings of the human heart can only be met in prayer.
Prayer: The Catechism of the Catholic Church
stillness & silence: The God who loves you is with you.
Prayer: The Lord allures you into the desert to speak to your heart.
Desert: a place where I discover my own limitations, where I see my dependency on God, where I rely on Him so that He can be God

Fr. Larry Richards

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/discerning-god-s-will

the will of God is for us to go to heaven
to be holy & blameless
the general will of God
everything else will be secondary
God made me to know Him, love Him, serve Him in this world
we become great saints
there's a universal call to holiness
It's God's will for you to be holy.
Holiness is real.
Pope John Paul II made people saints: radically in love with God
To be a saint means when God's will and my will become one.
living in a unitive way
It's not God's will for us to go to purgatory.

http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/the-mass-explained