Reclaiming Our Children

Divine Mercy Day 3

Third Day:

Today bring to Me ALL DEVOUT AND FAITHFUL SOULS, and immerse then in the ocean of My mercy. The souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.

Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wonderous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.

 

Healing from Abortion

Divine Mercy Summit

Blessed Margaret of Castello

I did not have very affectionate parents. Products of their own upbringings, I actually never remember them saying they loved me, or showing any signs of outward affection. I am not sure if it was just the way it was in those days, (I know now that my grandmother prayed a rosary in front of a Holy Family image every night with her children)I just always remember feeling separate from the rest of the family.

What I also do remember is being told I was a "mistake", and how my mom had finally gotten her drivers license. The other 3 kids were older, and she felt that being pregnant with me took her freedom away again. It was not a heartwarming thought.

Now, I am not saying my mom did not love me, I know in her own way she did, but she had her own deep wounds, and as with all of us, she brought them into our relationship. My dad was pretty much an absent father with whom I had no relationship. I cannot even remember him ever holding me. He spent most of his time working at his restaurant. It would not be until decades after that we formed any relationship at all.

Needless to say with sisters so much older, and this lack of love and affection, I grew up very lonely with a persistent feeling of not belonging and being unloved, all of which I am sure, contributed to my poor choices and the fact that I became pregnant as a teen. I am not making excuses for myself, but I was searching for love, as they say, "in all the wrong places." Sadly, when I told my parents I was asked to leave the house and forget I was their daughter and they were going to forget it too.  It is hard to put into words that deep abandonment that became part of my life for years.

After much destruction and a failed marriage I came back to the church and was blessed with a spiritual director who formed me in the faith. One of the books he gave me to read was, "The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello".

Blessed Margaret was born with many physical handicaps . She was blind, deformed, hunchbacked and crippled and sadly "unwanted"...the perfect candidate for adverse diagnosis and today's push for abortion. She has been taken by many pro life groups as their patroness because of this.

For me however, she represented a different thing. Her father, a lord,  and her mother, were ashamed of her and kept her hidden away and locked up for 14 years in a cell next to the church. The parish priest was one of her only visitors, who instructed her in the faith and love of God. In spite of her situation, Margaret had great love for her parents and grew in the love of God through her interactions with the priest.

At the age of 20 they brought her to a church hoping and praying for a healing. when it did not happen, they abandoned her there. She sat waiting for them to return but they never did. Although  she was sad and hurt, instead of resentment and anger because of her love of God, she forgave her parents and moved on with her life. She was filled with love and humility and ministered to prisoners.  She was greatly loved by many.

I can still remember when I read the book, it totally touching the part inside of me that felt the abandonment of my parents, who had kicked me out of the house and disowned when I became pregnant. Blessed Margaret through her example helped me to forgive and continue to love them, and heal from the pain of the experience by helping to  draw me closer to the one who would never abandon me, Jesus.

Blessed Margaret's feast day is April 13th, so her novena begins today, April 5th. I have included it here for those of you who may wish to join me in praying to this unwanted, abandoned woman who found the ultimate love in Jesus Christ.

Her body lays incorrupt under the main altar at St Dominic's Church in Costello.

Blessed Margaret of Castello, pray for us!

NOVENA PRAYER
O God, by whose will the blessed
virgin Margaret was blind from birth,
that the eyes of her mind being
inwardly enlightened she might think
without ceasing on You alone, be
the light of our eyes, that we may
be able to flee the shadows of this
world, and reach the home of never-
ending light. We ask this through
Christ, our Lord.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to
the Father.

Prayer for Canonization
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, glorify your
servant blessed Margaret, by grant-
ing the favor we so ardently desire.
This we ask in humble submission
to God's Will, for His honor and
glory and the salvation of souls.

 

If you are interested there is a film about her here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbKbIplfJu8

 

Confession & the Mercy of God

Here is a reflection from my retreat from the book "The Gift of Faith" by Father Tadeusz Dajczer.
I could not help but think of  the many post abortive people who also, in spite of receiving the sacrament of confession, struggle with the mercy of God .

There are condition for the sacrament:
examination of conscience
sorrow for sin
confession
satisfaction/reparation(penance)

I thought this was a great meditation to ponder ourselves in relation to not only confession of abortion but all our sins.

When we look at Judas' behavior after betraying Jesus, we can discover many elements of confession. There is an examination of conscience because Judas thought about what he had done and realized his own evil. Sorrow  appears there as well; Judas was truly sorry. He even wanted to change; hence' he has the intent to make reparation for his sin: There is also a confession of sin: Judas went to the chief priests and said, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood" (MT 27:$). He even made satisfaction for his sin when he threw the thirty pieces of silver that he had received from the chief priests back at them. He did not want blood money. Actually, you can see in Judas' behavior and attitude almost everything that takes place in confession. There is only one thing, the most important thing, missing. That is faith in Jesus' mercy! That is why Judas' confession was so sad and tragic and ended with despair and suicide.

Our confession should be a confession like Peter's: he believed in the mercy of Christ and concentrated, not as much on his own sin, but on forgiveness....

Lenten Meditation

 

Meditation

I can always remember thinking as a kid that I never would have betrayed Jesus like Judas had done. I couldn’t understand how he could have made that choice. It all seemed so obvious.

Now, years later and hopefully wiser, I see that I am not so different than Judas. We both thought we knew better than Jesus.

Instead of trusting in the love Jesus had for him and believing Jesus had his best interest at heart, Judas took the situation at hand on himself. Jesus was not doing things the way Judas thought He should be and the Scribes and Pharisees were looking for someone to sell Jesus out. Judas fell right into their hands, betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

After the arrest, Judas felt instant remorse. The light went on and he realized what a grave mistake he had made. He realized he had sinned, “betraying innocent life.” Judas returned to the Scribes and Pharisees and gave them back the 30 pieces of silver, but they wanted no part of him anymore. They had accomplished what they had set out to do and now told him in his despair, “What do we care about that? It is your business.”

If Judas had gone to Jesus even then, if he had asked forgiveness and trusted in His love and mercy, things would have turned out differently for him. Jesus no doubt would have forgiven him and we probably would be reading the book of Judas in the Bible, speaking about the unfathomable mercy and love Jesus had shown him.

But Judas did not do that; his pride and continued lack of trust held him back. Instead of admitting what he had done and seeking forgiveness he gave in to despair and went and hanged himself.

When I think of my abortion, I realize I too sold Jesus out. I did not trust in the love and mercy of God or His divine providence enough to know He would have taken care of both me and my unborn child. I decided to give in to pressure, to trust that others knew better than God. I decided to allow my abortion to happen.

The Scribes and Pharisees are not unlike our society today. Once my abortion was accomplished the chant of society seemed to be, “What is that to us? It is your business,” — leaving me feeling once again, as I did before my abortion, that no one cared enough to listen or support my feelings.

I am not alone. There are thousand upon thousands of women out there experiencing the same feelings I had. Very often they have been pressured into abortion by husbands, boyfriends, friends or family, and then are left to grieve alone. Ashamed and despairing, their voices often go unheard in the abortion debate.

In this Lenten season, I invite them not to give in to their despair as Judas did, but to gaze at the cross. On the cross is love and mercy itself — Jesus, who died for our sins. Even the sin of abortion.

tb

 

 

Palm Sunday Homily- Fr Francis Mary, CFR

 

Download Homily April 10_Palm Sunday