Communication with Visitors* Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us! May 1 (P.S. May 2, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 28, 31) Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, How are you? As we are celebrating May, the month of Mary Our Heavenly Mother, many of us are facing a recurring question which seems ever so inviting yet so difficult to discern, i.e., How much should we love Mary? In fact, Mother Therese was once asked this very question, i.e., How much should we love Mary? Without hesitation, she replied: "AS MUCH AS JESUS LOVES MARY". Indeed, if Our God the Lord Jesus Himself and how He lives are the perfect standard or measurement of whatever anyone does anywhere in all eternity, this answer ----- brief, simple and sweet ----- is then a perfect answer to every person without exception in the whole humankind, for all eternity. At the same time, another question was posted to Mother Theresa: "How much should we, then, love Jesus?" Again, she seemed to give another perfect answer: "AS MUCH AS MARY LOVES JESUS". Let us thank God for such rare divine wisdom! Today is also the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Although popular devotion to Joseph, head of the Holy Family of Nazareth, began as early as the 8th century, it was not until the 15th century that his name entered in the Church calendar. Since that time, devotion to St. Joseph has been marked by growing enthusiasm and, in 1955, Pope Pius XII proclaimed a second feast day in his honour: May 1, labour Day in many countries. An ordinary carpenter, St. Joseph exemplifies working people who are dignified by their labour and who bring Christ into the workplace (cf. Living with Christ, May, 2002, p. 133). Without a doubt, St. Joseph the worker is a great example also regarding the following: "Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not people, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ" (Col 3:23). Thank you, Holy Family of Nazareth, for your most wonderful examples! Pray for us, so that our lives would be more and more pleasing to God! Yours sincerely in Christ and Our Heavenly Mother, Editor P.S. (May 2) Feast of St. Athanasius Today we celebrate the Feast of a great saint and defender of the Catholic faith. Indeed, what the Church needs today in view of the current scandals is many real men and women who are little St. Athanasiuses. For a shining example, click here. P.S. (May 12) Ascension Sunday and Mother's Day --- Both happy occasions seem to remind us that we are all born without exception as dual citizens, both of Heaven (cf. Eph 2:19) and of earth. May Our Heavenly Lord who is now fully present in Heaven and in , together with Our Heavenly Mother, grand all mothers a very special blessing today! Alleluia! P.S. (May 13) Anniversary of the First Apparition at Fatima (1917) There is no real mother anywhere, whether or not in the Middle East, who is not restless until she sees that everyone in the family is home safely. Living dangerously in the current scary, post-911 global village, in which one never knows when the next September 11 is going to hit (cf. TIME, Canadian edition, May 6, 2002, p. 60), one may begin to appreciate more the pre-911 or the post-post-911 period. If the continuous threat of 911 is permanent (cf. Can we Stop the Next 9/11? TIME, Canadian Edition, March 11, 2002, pp. 16-26), then the real post-post-911 period will only take place in Heaven where "[d]eath will be no more: mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Rev. 21:4). Indeed, "here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come" (Heb 13:14). Remarked St. Therese: "My life is but an instant, an hour that passes by; a single day that slips my grasp and quickly slides away. O well, you know, my dearest God, to love you, I only have today". And if one begins to realize that our true home is really Heaven, one may even begin to appreciate more also the tender loving care of Our Heavenly Mother who remains continuously restless until we are all home safely. This may explain. among others things, why She has made so many apparitions to us in the last century, even counting those appearances formally approved by the Church. To be sure, she will continue to do so. What a great Mother She is! Thank you, Jesus, for sharing with us your own Mother! Here is a beautiful Marian hymn entitled "Mother Dear O Pray For Me". To read parts of the contents, click here. To hear this hymn, click here. [The editor wants to apologize that he could not make it easier for some visitors to listen to this really awesome piece of music. Although the background is somewhat dark and some technological skill is required, it is truly a lovely hymn sung to Our Heavenly Mother.] Despite all her concerns about Heaven, Our Heavenly Mother nonetheless is as practical as any mother on earth, i.e., we need peace here and now. In view of all those peace plans which have failed and will invariably fail, what, then, is her Peace Plan for us? In this way, not only can we attain Heaven later but that we can also begin to enjoy true peace on earth, living happily together as a big family, building and developing projects for the wonderful well-being of all concerned. For a quick view of Heaven's Peace Plan for us, click here, here or here. It appears that many in the present superbly-scientific-yet-adversely-anti-supernatural age have been ignoring, overlooking or even despising this unfailing Peace Plan from Heaven. How much longer can we afford to do so continuously? If any one of those (or our) peace plans ever works, it would be because a sufficient number of individuals, however little and anonymous, have responded faithfully to the Peace Plan from Heaven. In other words, the human will finally become the effective instrument of the divine. The two peace plans have become one, i.e., part one and part two. Well, shall we not begin working on part one, while letting the politicians deal with part two? And if we were politicians, political staff or political theologians, etc., ourselves, we will have to work on part one and part two at the same time. Is there any other alternative? Alleluia! P.S. (May 18) The existence of "the devils" and "Hell" mentioned at Fatima are two of the most difficult realities to be verified by modern science or modern cosmology. Many disbelieve Fatima because of such mentioning. However, their existence has been mentioned countless times by the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium. In the final analysis, we may have to decide or discern over these two issues: (1) the proper limits of modern science; (2) who can really help us in discernment over the real existence of evil spirits and Hell, the Holy Spirit or the great scientific minds of our age. Regarding the existence of such supra-scientific supernatural realities, it is really more a matter of spiritual discernment or science of the Saints than modern scientific investigation. If we begin to measure everything in science exclusively in terms of our faith, we will have many more cases of Galileo over which the Church has publicly apologized over her past mistake. On the other hand, if we begin to measure everything supernatural exclusively in terms of modern science, we may have to agree with Carl Sagan who stated that the material Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Learning to know and accept our limits is thus the beginning of wisdom. While natural realities have to be approached by natural means of investigation, supernatural realities have to be approached by supernatural means of discernment, unless we have the Mind of the Creator to Whom knowledge is one. Come, Holy Spirit! Come! P.S. (May 19) Pentecost Sunday Today is Pentecost Sunday. One may say that the life of a Christian consists in acquiring daily the fullness of the Holy Spirit who fills all in all (cf. Eph 1:23). That may be a substantial difference between a joyful Christian and one who drags on joylessly… As Metropolitan [an Eastern Orthodox title equivalent to Archbishop in the West] Ignatios of Latakia stated in The Uppsala Report 1968 (Geneva: WCC, 1969, p. 298): "Without the Holy Spirit, God is far away, Christ stays in the past, that Gospel is a dead letter, the church is simply an organization, authority a matter of domination, mission a matter of propaganda, the liturgy no more than an evocation, Christian living a slave morality. But in the Holy Spirit, the cosmos is resurrected and groans with the birth-pangs of the kingdom, the risen Christ is there, the Gospel is the power of life, the church shows forth life of the Trinity, authority is a liberating service, mission is a Pentecost, the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation, human action is deified". Is it not true that the Holy Spirit can accomplish all things for us? Next time before we do something significant, let us call on the Holy Spirit and see if it would make a difference. For a powerful prayer to the Holy Spirit, click here. And if we think the subject matter is important enough, perhaps we should make a special Novena to the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible for the Holy Spirit not to get involved personally in helping us. For further information, click here, here, or here. Alleluia! P.S. (May 28) One of the serious issues the Church facing today is vocation. If ever bold suggestions or visions were called for, from many, it is now. Here is a quick one. As we know, the problem lies not with the recent scandals, celibacy, or God who has designated more than enough young people to serve His Church. The problem lies rather with the response, or more specifically, with the sufficient amount of time which young people put in daily in acquiring the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Imagine this: if every young Catholic prays sufficiently daily, it will be impossible for the Church not to be flooded with over a million joyful and eager applicants or candidates within a year. In fact, one million is just a thousandth of a billion of Catholics. Such a percentage seems nothing in comparison with the percentage of young people or population joining the army in war times. As St. Paul boldly reminds us, the Church is constantly engaged in a real spiritual warfare (cf. Eph 6:10-18). On the one hand, in the presence of God, "there is fullness of joy" (Ps 16:11). On the other hand, "[t]o pray, as Abba Agathon reminds us, is the hardest of all tasks. If we do not find prayer difficult, perhaps it is because we have not really started to pray" (Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way, 1980, p. 151). What is constantly hindering us, then, from acquiring the fullness of joy or the Holy Spirit who is everywhere? Ultimately, whether we like it or not, know it or not, it is the condition of original sin or the veil (cf. 2Cor 3: 14-16). The latter, in energy terms, consists in fact of countless layers of spiritual energies which are anti-Christ in varying degrees. Apparently, prayer is the only way to break through this veil. Due to its countless layers, we need to be breaking and re-breaking through them. Every single moment spent before the Blessed Sacrament, as well as every single Hail Mary prayed in the Rosary, for example, are needed for such a purpose. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing [presumably defined in its broadest definition" (1Thess 5:16-17). As a footnote, it is impossible for us not to be filled always with the joy of the Holy Spirit to varying extents if we manage to spend a sufficient amount of time praying daily. How sufficient is sufficient? According to many who have the experience, it is at least three to four hours of fervent prayers. It is like living in a retreat (which allows us to talk). Is it difficult? Of course, it is, at least in the beginning. Otherwise, the Church and the seminaries will be overflowing with people who are grateful and rejoicing in all circumstances (cf. 1Thess 5:18). Exception are: (a) that God wants to test us with a spiritual desert to make sure that we are focusing on the Giver, rather than on the gifts only; (b) that we need repentance and forgiveness of ourselves and others; or (c) situations due to various natural reasons. As another footnote, it appears that those religious orders which are embracing and promoting the three greatest treasures of the Catholic Church are the ones which have received an unusually great number of vocations. As we know, the three greatest Family Jewels of the Church as the Family of God are: the Blessed Sacrament, Our Heavenly Mother, and the Magisterium headed by the Pope. It would be impossible for the Holy Spirit not to send a great number of vocations there to if the Invisible Head (in the Blessed Sacrament) and Visible Head (the Pope) of the Church, as well as Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, are exceedingly pleased. Apparently, one sure way to obtain an unexpected windfall is to try the Perpetual Exposition or Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as our Greatest Trump Card, side by side with the Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. P.S. (May 26) Trinity Sunday Today we celebrate the deepest mystery of the totality of reality, i.e., the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. : Pope John Paul II once said: "God in His deepest mystery is not a solitude, but a family, since He has in Himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love." We may, therefore, call God the Most Holy Trinity the Uncreated Family of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul stated in Rom 11:36, we may also say that from the Uncreated Family and through the Uncreated Family and to the Uncreated Family are the whole family of creation, i.e., all things. However, it is through the God's immediate Family, i.e., Christ and His Church, which God transforms, divinizes, graces, Energizes or Familizes the whole family of creation, bringing in particular the whole human family (except those who refuse such an invitation) into Heaven as members of the Divine Heavenly Family of the Uncreated Family. Has Christ not stated the way Familization can take place: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it" (Lk 8:21)? As we know, Christ was also praising Our Heavenly Mother at the same time, for who in the history of the whole human family had or will have heard the word of God and done it more than her? Alleluia! P.S. (May 31) Visitation of Mary "This feast commemorates the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, and has been celebrated in the Roman liturgy since the 8th century. Recorded in Luke's Gospel, this event is full of rejoicing in wonders of God, as both the barren Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary find themselves with child. Each woman experiences an outpouring of the Holy Spirit: Elizabeth's response is to declare Mary and her child blessed; and Mary's response is the hymn of praise, the magnificat" (Living with Christ, May, 2002, p. 141). Learning to visit each other is an art which can, therefore, be greatly inspired by this feast. For further information, click here. Alleluia! At the same time, let us pray that the visitation or apparition of Our Heavenly Mother at Lourdes, Fatima, etc., would take effect in the Palestine and various places, so that those peace plans which have failed and will invariably fail there would be one with her very peace plan, at least in spirit, without fail. In this way, not only shall we all attain Heaven later, but Jerusalem and other trouble spots on earth would also reflect to a marvelous extent the Jerusalem in Heaven (cf. Rev 21: 1-7). Alleluia! As a footnote, modern existentialism, without doubt, has both its strength and weakness. The former helps us to become realistic, focusing on the daily, the here-and-now, as well as its existential situations. However, its blind spot is that it has become overly existential, "an absolute existentialization of eschatology" (Petro Bilaniuk, Theology and Economy of the Holy Spirit, 1980, p. 198), such that we have forgotten altogether the eternal, the eschatological, in particular the real possibility of entering into everlasting Hell. Unless the Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures, the Magisterium, the various Holy Angels, Canonized Mystics, Saints and Doctors of the Church had been really ignorant, stupid, or consistently deceiving us for the last two millennia, the eternal loss of Heaven (i.e., ending our life forever in Hell) is perhaps the only real failure in life to all individuals without exception. "What does it profit a person if he [or she] gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself [or herself for all eternity]?" (Lk 9:25) This is precisely where the various authentic visitations of the Spouse of the Holy Spirit come in, to help us arrive at a healthy balance with regards our extreme existentialization. Thank you, Our Dearest Mother in Heaven! Alleluia! * Fr. Michael Lapierre, S.J., and the editor John Cheng are currently taking part in this column. While the latter is doing January, March, May, etc., the former is partaking in February, April, June, etc. As usual, we take a summer break during July and August. The hymn in the background here is entitled "Bring Flowers of the Rarest". Alleluia!
May 1 (P.S. May 2, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 28, 31)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
How are you? As we are celebrating May, the month of Mary Our Heavenly Mother, many of us are facing a recurring question which seems ever so inviting yet so difficult to discern, i.e., How much should we love Mary?
In fact, Mother Therese was once asked this very question, i.e., How much should we love Mary? Without hesitation, she replied: "AS MUCH AS JESUS LOVES MARY". Indeed, if Our God the Lord Jesus Himself and how He lives are the perfect standard or measurement of whatever anyone does anywhere in all eternity, this answer ----- brief, simple and sweet ----- is then a perfect answer to every person without exception in the whole humankind, for all eternity.
At the same time, another question was posted to Mother Theresa: "How much should we, then, love Jesus?" Again, she seemed to give another perfect answer: "AS MUCH AS MARY LOVES JESUS".
Let us thank God for such rare divine wisdom!
Today is also the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Although popular devotion to Joseph, head of the Holy Family of Nazareth, began as early as the 8th century, it was not until the 15th century that his name entered in the Church calendar. Since that time, devotion to St. Joseph has been marked by growing enthusiasm and, in 1955, Pope Pius XII proclaimed a second feast day in his honour: May 1, labour Day in many countries. An ordinary carpenter, St. Joseph exemplifies working people who are dignified by their labour and who bring Christ into the workplace (cf. Living with Christ, May, 2002, p. 133).
Without a doubt, St. Joseph the worker is a great example also regarding the following: "Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not people, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ" (Col 3:23).
Thank you, Holy Family of Nazareth, for your most wonderful examples! Pray for us, so that our lives would be more and more pleasing to God!
Yours sincerely in Christ and Our Heavenly Mother,
Editor
P.S. (May 2) Feast of St. Athanasius
Today we celebrate the Feast of a great saint and defender of the Catholic faith. Indeed, what the Church needs today in view of the current scandals is many real men and women who are little St. Athanasiuses. For a shining example, click here.
P.S. (May 12) Ascension Sunday and Mother's Day ---
Both happy occasions seem to remind us that we are all born without exception as dual citizens, both of Heaven (cf. Eph 2:19) and of earth.
May Our Heavenly Lord who is now fully present in Heaven and in , together with Our Heavenly Mother, grand all mothers a very special blessing today!
Alleluia!
P.S. (May 13) Anniversary of the First Apparition at Fatima (1917)
There is no real mother anywhere, whether or not in the Middle East, who is not restless until she sees that everyone in the family is home safely. Living dangerously in the current scary, post-911 global village, in which one never knows when the next September 11 is going to hit (cf. TIME, Canadian edition, May 6, 2002, p. 60), one may begin to appreciate more the pre-911 or the post-post-911 period.
If the continuous threat of 911 is permanent (cf. Can we Stop the Next 9/11? TIME, Canadian Edition, March 11, 2002, pp. 16-26), then the real post-post-911 period will only take place in Heaven where "[d]eath will be no more: mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Rev. 21:4). Indeed, "here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come" (Heb 13:14). Remarked St. Therese: "My life is but an instant, an hour that passes by; a single day that slips my grasp and quickly slides away. O well, you know, my dearest God, to love you, I only have today".
And if one begins to realize that our true home is really Heaven, one may even begin to appreciate more also the tender loving care of Our Heavenly Mother who remains continuously restless until we are all home safely. This may explain. among others things, why She has made so many apparitions to us in the last century, even counting those appearances formally approved by the Church. To be sure, she will continue to do so.
What a great Mother She is! Thank you, Jesus, for sharing with us your own Mother! Here is a beautiful Marian hymn entitled "Mother Dear O Pray For Me". To read parts of the contents, click here. To hear this hymn, click here. [The editor wants to apologize that he could not make it easier for some visitors to listen to this really awesome piece of music. Although the background is somewhat dark and some technological skill is required, it is truly a lovely hymn sung to Our Heavenly Mother.]
Despite all her concerns about Heaven, Our Heavenly Mother nonetheless is as practical as any mother on earth, i.e., we need peace here and now. In view of all those peace plans which have failed and will invariably fail, what, then, is her Peace Plan for us? In this way, not only can we attain Heaven later but that we can also begin to enjoy true peace on earth, living happily together as a big family, building and developing projects for the wonderful well-being of all concerned. For a quick view of Heaven's Peace Plan for us, click here, here or here. It appears that many in the present superbly-scientific-yet-adversely-anti-supernatural age have been ignoring, overlooking or even despising this unfailing Peace Plan from Heaven. How much longer can we afford to do so continuously?
If any one of those (or our) peace plans ever works, it would be because a sufficient number of individuals, however little and anonymous, have responded faithfully to the Peace Plan from Heaven. In other words, the human will finally become the effective instrument of the divine. The two peace plans have become one, i.e., part one and part two. Well, shall we not begin working on part one, while letting the politicians deal with part two? And if we were politicians, political staff or political theologians, etc., ourselves, we will have to work on part one and part two at the same time. Is there any other alternative?
P.S. (May 18)
The existence of "the devils" and "Hell" mentioned at Fatima are two of the most difficult realities to be verified by modern science or modern cosmology. Many disbelieve Fatima because of such mentioning. However, their existence has been mentioned countless times by the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium. In the final analysis, we may have to decide or discern over these two issues: (1) the proper limits of modern science; (2) who can really help us in discernment over the real existence of evil spirits and Hell, the Holy Spirit or the great scientific minds of our age. Regarding the existence of such supra-scientific supernatural realities, it is really more a matter of spiritual discernment or science of the Saints than modern scientific investigation.
If we begin to measure everything in science exclusively in terms of our faith, we will have many more cases of Galileo over which the Church has publicly apologized over her past mistake. On the other hand, if we begin to measure everything supernatural exclusively in terms of modern science, we may have to agree with Carl Sagan who stated that the material Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Learning to know and accept our limits is thus the beginning of wisdom. While natural realities have to be approached by natural means of investigation, supernatural realities have to be approached by supernatural means of discernment, unless we have the Mind of the Creator to Whom knowledge is one.
Come, Holy Spirit! Come!
P.S. (May 19) Pentecost Sunday
Today is Pentecost Sunday. One may say that the life of a Christian consists in acquiring daily the fullness of the Holy Spirit who fills all in all (cf. Eph 1:23). That may be a substantial difference between a joyful Christian and one who drags on joylessly… As Metropolitan [an Eastern Orthodox title equivalent to Archbishop in the West] Ignatios of Latakia stated in The Uppsala Report 1968 (Geneva: WCC, 1969, p. 298):
"Without the Holy Spirit, God is far away, Christ stays in the past, that Gospel is a dead letter, the church is simply an organization, authority a matter of domination, mission a matter of propaganda, the liturgy no more than an evocation, Christian living a slave morality.
But in the Holy Spirit, the cosmos is resurrected and groans with the birth-pangs of the kingdom, the risen Christ is there, the Gospel is the power of life, the church shows forth life of the Trinity, authority is a liberating service, mission is a Pentecost, the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation, human action is deified".
Is it not true that the Holy Spirit can accomplish all things for us? Next time before we do something significant, let us call on the Holy Spirit and see if it would make a difference. For a powerful prayer to the Holy Spirit, click here. And if we think the subject matter is important enough, perhaps we should make a special Novena to the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible for the Holy Spirit not to get involved personally in helping us. For further information, click here, here, or here.
P.S. (May 28)
One of the serious issues the Church facing today is vocation. If ever bold suggestions or visions were called for, from many, it is now. Here is a quick one.
As we know, the problem lies not with the recent scandals, celibacy, or God who has designated more than enough young people to serve His Church. The problem lies rather with the response, or more specifically, with the sufficient amount of time which young people put in daily in acquiring the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Imagine this: if every young Catholic prays sufficiently daily, it will be impossible for the Church not to be flooded with over a million joyful and eager applicants or candidates within a year. In fact, one million is just a thousandth of a billion of Catholics. Such a percentage seems nothing in comparison with the percentage of young people or population joining the army in war times. As St. Paul boldly reminds us, the Church is constantly engaged in a real spiritual warfare (cf. Eph 6:10-18).
On the one hand, in the presence of God, "there is fullness of joy" (Ps 16:11). On the other hand, "[t]o pray, as Abba Agathon reminds us, is the hardest of all tasks. If we do not find prayer difficult, perhaps it is because we have not really started to pray" (Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way, 1980, p. 151). What is constantly hindering us, then, from acquiring the fullness of joy or the Holy Spirit who is everywhere? Ultimately, whether we like it or not, know it or not, it is the condition of original sin or the veil (cf. 2Cor 3: 14-16). The latter, in energy terms, consists in fact of countless layers of spiritual energies which are anti-Christ in varying degrees. Apparently, prayer is the only way to break through this veil. Due to its countless layers, we need to be breaking and re-breaking through them. Every single moment spent before the Blessed Sacrament, as well as every single Hail Mary prayed in the Rosary, for example, are needed for such a purpose. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing [presumably defined in its broadest definition" (1Thess 5:16-17).
As a footnote, it is impossible for us not to be filled always with the joy of the Holy Spirit to varying extents if we manage to spend a sufficient amount of time praying daily. How sufficient is sufficient? According to many who have the experience, it is at least three to four hours of fervent prayers. It is like living in a retreat (which allows us to talk). Is it difficult? Of course, it is, at least in the beginning. Otherwise, the Church and the seminaries will be overflowing with people who are grateful and rejoicing in all circumstances (cf. 1Thess 5:18). Exception are: (a) that God wants to test us with a spiritual desert to make sure that we are focusing on the Giver, rather than on the gifts only; (b) that we need repentance and forgiveness of ourselves and others; or (c) situations due to various natural reasons.
As another footnote, it appears that those religious orders which are embracing and promoting the three greatest treasures of the Catholic Church are the ones which have received an unusually great number of vocations. As we know, the three greatest Family Jewels of the Church as the Family of God are: the Blessed Sacrament, Our Heavenly Mother, and the Magisterium headed by the Pope. It would be impossible for the Holy Spirit not to send a great number of vocations there to if the Invisible Head (in the Blessed Sacrament) and Visible Head (the Pope) of the Church, as well as Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, are exceedingly pleased. Apparently, one sure way to obtain an unexpected windfall is to try the Perpetual Exposition or Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as our Greatest Trump Card, side by side with the Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
P.S. (May 26) Trinity Sunday
Today we celebrate the deepest mystery of the totality of reality, i.e., the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. : Pope John Paul II once said: "God in His deepest mystery is not a solitude, but a family, since He has in Himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love." We may, therefore, call God the Most Holy Trinity the Uncreated Family of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As St. Paul stated in Rom 11:36, we may also say that from the Uncreated Family and through the Uncreated Family and to the Uncreated Family are the whole family of creation, i.e., all things. However, it is through the God's immediate Family, i.e., Christ and His Church, which God transforms, divinizes, graces, Energizes or Familizes the whole family of creation, bringing in particular the whole human family (except those who refuse such an invitation) into Heaven as members of the Divine Heavenly Family of the Uncreated Family. Has Christ not stated the way Familization can take place: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it" (Lk 8:21)?
As we know, Christ was also praising Our Heavenly Mother at the same time, for who in the history of the whole human family had or will have heard the word of God and done it more than her? Alleluia!
P.S. (May 31) Visitation of Mary
"This feast commemorates the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, and has been celebrated in the Roman liturgy since the 8th century. Recorded in Luke's Gospel, this event is full of rejoicing in wonders of God, as both the barren Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary find themselves with child. Each woman experiences an outpouring of the Holy Spirit: Elizabeth's response is to declare Mary and her child blessed; and Mary's response is the hymn of praise, the magnificat" (Living with Christ, May, 2002, p. 141).
Learning to visit each other is an art which can, therefore, be greatly inspired by this feast. For further information, click here. Alleluia!
At the same time, let us pray that the visitation or apparition of Our Heavenly Mother at Lourdes, Fatima, etc., would take effect in the Palestine and various places, so that those peace plans which have failed and will invariably fail there would be one with her very peace plan, at least in spirit, without fail. In this way, not only shall we all attain Heaven later, but Jerusalem and other trouble spots on earth would also reflect to a marvelous extent the Jerusalem in Heaven (cf. Rev 21: 1-7). Alleluia!
As a footnote, modern existentialism, without doubt, has both its strength and weakness. The former helps us to become realistic, focusing on the daily, the here-and-now, as well as its existential situations. However, its blind spot is that it has become overly existential, "an absolute existentialization of eschatology" (Petro Bilaniuk, Theology and Economy of the Holy Spirit, 1980, p. 198), such that we have forgotten altogether the eternal, the eschatological, in particular the real possibility of entering into everlasting Hell. Unless the Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures, the Magisterium, the various Holy Angels, Canonized Mystics, Saints and Doctors of the Church had been really ignorant, stupid, or consistently deceiving us for the last two millennia, the eternal loss of Heaven (i.e., ending our life forever in Hell) is perhaps the only real failure in life to all individuals without exception. "What does it profit a person if he [or she] gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself [or herself for all eternity]?" (Lk 9:25) This is precisely where the various authentic visitations of the Spouse of the Holy Spirit come in, to help us arrive at a healthy balance with regards our extreme existentialization.
Thank you, Our Dearest Mother in Heaven! Alleluia!
* Fr. Michael Lapierre, S.J., and the editor John Cheng are currently taking part in this column. While the latter is doing January, March, May, etc., the former is partaking in February, April, June, etc. As usual, we take a summer break during July and August. The hymn in the background here is entitled "Bring Flowers of the Rarest". Alleluia!