I want to share with you an excerpt from Mother Angelica's recently published book, "Praying with Mother Angelica Meditations on the Rosary, the Way of the Cross, and other Prayers". I have most of Mother Angelica's books and ordered this book, the day after Easter. On Easter Sunday, Mother finally got to go home to God, after a very long time of suffering. I have been listening to Mother on EWTN for at least the past decade and she has been a huge influence in my life in so many ways. Mother has the ability to bring the Word of God to you in a simple yet deep way through her stories and the life she led and shared with us through her TV show and in her writings. She takes the truths of the bible that are often difficult to understand and talks about them using humor, stories, examples of her life, and through the everyday life and struggles of her viewers and audience. When you watch Mother Angelica Live you hear stories from people that often have the same struggles and crosses in their lives that you and I have. Mother will pray for them and offer her advice, or even just acknowledge their pain, which in itself is consoling. Many times I have heard stories on Mother's show that made me realize that I am not alone in my struggles and Mothers advice and prayers have been a comfort in dealing with my woundedness.
I love Mother Angelica's books because I can hear her voice in the text which rings clear after so many years of listening to her on TV. Fortunately EWTN continues to run her previous episodes so we can still watch her shows. I think Mother Angelica is going to be the new Bishop Fulton Sheen of the 21st century. Of course, nobody can replace Bishop Fulton Sheen, an amazing and captivating man of God who produced the first award winning Catholic TV shows in the 1950's. I still watch reruns of Bishop Fulton Sheen on EWTN and YouTube. The messages Mother Angelica and Bishop Fulton Sheen have for the world, are priceless and timeless.
Back to the Rosary. For decades I have heard and read about the importance of praying the rosary. I believed in the meaning of the rosary, but I had a really hard time getting myself to actually pray the rosary. I didn't grow up with the rosary and only discovered this gem later in my adult life. It was a struggle in the beginning and my time trying to pray the rosary felt so empty and boring. I tried just praying one decade a day and that really didn't help. I felt bad that I eventually didn't want to pray the rosary. Finally, I prayed to God to help me with this problem. Eventually, a friend gave me a list of scripture passages corresponding to the mysteries of each decade. That helped immensely and the richness of this prayer finally began to sink in. Now I look forward to this prayer time.
Since then I have acquired several meditations on the rosary, with Mother's Angelica’s being the most recent. This week I read Mother's meditation on the Luminous Mysteries and was in awe of her meditations on the fifth mystery, the institution of the Eucharist. Here it is:
" I live because of the Eucharist. There's no prayer so high; there's no ecstasy so sublime; no work so great; there's no suffering so severe; there's nothing to compare with that moment when I and the Trinity- Almighty God through Jesus, Your Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit- are one. It is the greatest gift You could ever give us.
And yet in the moments before you instituted the most previous gift, Your apostles disputed who was the greatest. Lord God, help me to abandon the preoccupations that seem so important to me as I approach You in the Eucharist, as on Calvary.
You humbled Yourself by becoming man, by permitting Yourself to suffer, and now by masking Your unparalleled glory in the form of a small piece of bread- all so that I can have You inside of me.
Lord God, if I truly appreciate the majestic humility of the Eucharist, if I fully grasped the opportunity to participate in Your very nature, it would change my life forever. Strengthen my love and my gratitude for this tremendous gift. Give me the faith to understand that the Eucharist makes everything possible."
(Mother Mary Angelica, 2016, pages 52-53)
God Bless,
Paula
Yesterday I participated in a Divine Mercy service at the Carmelite Monastery, in Concord, NH. The Carmelite Monastery is the designated “Holy Door” in the Capital Deanery. The Holy Door pilgrimage is part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy and Catholics are encouraged to pass through the Holy Door. The number one Holy Door is in Rome and the significance of the Holy Door is the passage from this world into the presence of God and profession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Lord, and the Savior who suffered, died and rose for our salvation. “With great courage, a person freely decides to cross the threshold, leaving behind the kingdom of this world so as to enter the new life of grace of the Kingdom of God.” (Catholic Straight Answers). For those who probably won’t make it to Rome this year, contact your deanery to find out where the appointed “Holy Door” is located.
The church was full to capacity and the service was beautiful. One thing I would like to share here is the simple message that was repeated, “the ABC’s of Divine Mercy”. From a teacher's perspective, this struck a familiar chord. In education, we are always looking for ways to scaffold learning and using the ABC’s is a type of mnemonic, memory aid to improve learning.
ASK for his mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.
BE merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others as He does to us.
COMPLETELY trust. God wants us to know that the graces of HIS mercy are dependent on our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.
God Bless,
Paula
