Essentials and Expressions December 19, 2020
St. James the Greater
ADVENT
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GOOD NEWS!
A special year dedicated to St. Joseph
Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a decree launching a special year dedicated to St. Joseph coinciding the anniversary of his declaration as Patron of the Catholic Church, hailing him as a model of fatherhood and a key intercessor in modern times.
Published Dec. 8, on the 150th anniversary of Quemadmodum Deus by Pope Pius IX which declared St. Joseph patron of the Catholic Church, the decree formally instituted a year for St. Joseph, which will run until Dec. 8, 2021.
The document, signed by the head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, said the year would be an opportunity for faithful to follow St. Joseph’s example and “daily strengthen their life of faith in full fulfillment of God’s will.
All faithful will thus have the opportunity to commit themselves, with the help of St. Joseph, head of the heavenly Family of Nazareth, comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations which today afflict the contemporary world,” it said.
To those who meditate of the Our Father prayer for at least 30 minutes or take part in a spiritual retreat of at least one day that includes a meditation on St. Joseph.
- * To those who perform a corporal or spiritual work of mercy
- * To families or engaged couples who recite the rosary together
- * To those who entrust their daily work to St. Joseph and those who ask St. Joseph to intercede for the unemployed
- *To those who recite a prayer to St. Joseph (the litanies of St. Joseph in Latin rite, or Akathistos to St. Joseph in the Byzantine rite, or any other prayer to St. Joseph) for the relief of Christians persecuted both inside and outside of the Church
- *To faithful who recite “any legitimately approved prayer or act of piety in honor of St. Joseph,” with an encouragement to do so on the March 19 and May 1 feasts of St. Joseph, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Byzantine celebration of St. Joseph’s Sunday, and on the 19th of every month and on every Wednesday, which has been dedicated to St. Joseph in the Latin rite
- * To the elderly, sick, dying and those legitimately unable to leave the house, who recite an act of piety to St. Joseph under his title of Comfort of the Sick and Patron of a happy death, provided they offer their discomfort to God and fulfill the conditions for the indulgence “as soon as possible”
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ADVENT
The following video is rather long, almost an hour, yet it should give us thoughtful pause as we reflect on our own spiritual life...how we live it, how we strengthen it.
As we prepare ourselves this Advent and for Christmas, one important aspect of our faith life, a sacrament that gives us grace, is to bring before God all of our transgressions...our actions, thoughts and words, that are against His divine law.
Yes, reconciliation...confession! What a great gift!
To help prepare ourselves to bring before God our sins, I offer an article (following the video) that may help call to mind our sins and failings, as we quietly reflect before we approach the confessional.
God is always forgiving...if we humble ourselves before Him.
Before we begin the article, I offer you this video for you to watch.
(If you would like more information on this webinar series, please let me know.)
Examination of Conscience
by Fr. John Hardon, S.J.
If there is one part of the spiritual life that St. Ignatius stressed, it was the daily--and even twice daily--examination of conscience.
As we read the , we may be overwhelmed by the minute detail of St. Ignatius' treatment of what he calls the particular examination of conscience. At the same time, he is careful to provide, "Some Notes on Scruples."
It is very important, therefore, that we form a clear and correct conscience. This means that we cultivate a sensitive judgment which is alert to the least offense against the Divine will and, at the same time, protect ourselves against the wiles of the evil spirit. "The enemy," says St. Ignatius, "considers carefully whether one has a lax or a delicate conscience. If one has a delicate conscience, the evil one seeks to make it excessively sensitive in order to disturb and upset it more easily. Thus, if he sees that one will not consent to mortal sin or venial sin, or even to the appearance of deliberate sin, since he cannot cause him to fall in a matter that appears sinful, he strives to make the soul judge that there is a sin, for example in a word or passing thought, where there is no sin" (, 349).
It is valuable to reflect on this tactic of the evil spirit before we offer some practical norms for making our daily examination of conscience. Why? Because otherwise, we are liable to overlook the importance of a daily inventory of our moral conduct for fear of becoming scrupulous.
There is such a thing as growing in prudent sensitivity of conscience, without becoming a victim of the "enemy" as St. Ignatius calls him.
We may set this down as a general principle, for those who are sincerely striving to do the will of God:
It is characteristic of God and His angels, when they act upon the soul, to give true happiness and spiritual joy and to banish all the sadness and disturbances which are caused by the enemy.
It is characteristic of the evil one to fight against such happiness and consolation by proposing fallacious reasonings, subtleties, and continual deceptions (Rules for Discernment of Spirits, II, 1).
What are we to conclude from this? That the more zealous we are in trying to please God, the more He will give us a deep interior peace of soul. We should suspect as a temptation from the evil one, when we find ourselves worried or anxious or disturbed, no matter how pious the source of the worry or anxiety may be.
The key to applying this principle is that, before God, I honestly want to do His will even though through weakness, I may fail to live up to my resolutions.
One basic virtue on which we should daily examine ourselves is peace of soul. We should ask ourselves, "Have I given in to worry or anxiety?" "Have I allowed myself to get discouraged?" A good practice is to pronounce the name, "Jesus," when we find ourselves getting despondent, or say some short aspiration like, "My Jesus, I trust in you," whenever we become dejected over something.
PARTICULAR EXAMEN ON THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES
Before applying the particular examen to my own spiritual life, it is well to first ask myself, "What are the virtues that I know from experience I most need to develop?"
The reason why this question should first be answered is that no two of us are equally prone to commit the same kind of sins. Nor are we personally always tempted in the same direction. There is wisdom in first knowing enough about myself, to be able to get to the root of my own moral weakness. Otherwise, I may be ignoring what really needs attention in my spiritual life and concentrating on what is not so necessary for me at this time in my service of God.
Moreover, it would be a mistake to suppose that by attending to my moral failings, I am being "negative" in my pursuit of holiness.
ws us to fail in those areas in which He especially wants us to grow in virtue.
We can fail in the practice of these virtues either by commission, omission, or by tepidity, in not acting as generously as we might in responding to the grace we have received from God.
FAITH
1 Do I make an honest effort to grow in the virtue of faith by daily mental prayer on the mysteries of the faith as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ?
2. Do I make at least a short act of faith every day?
3 Do I pray daily for an increase of faith?
4 Do I ever tempt God by relying on my own strength to cope with the trials in my life?
5 Do I unnecessarily read or listen to those who oppose or belittle what I know are truths of my Catholic faith?
6 What have I done today to externally profess my faith?
7 Have I allowed human respect to keep me from giving expression to my faith?
8. Do I make a serious effort to resolve difficulties that may arise about my faith?
9 Do I ever defend my faith, prudently and charitably, when someone says something contrary to what I know is to be believed?
10. Have I helped someone overcome a difficulty against the faith?
HOPE
1 Do I immediately say a short prayer when I find myself getting discouraged?
2 Do I daily say a short act of hope?
3 Do I dwell on my worries instead of dismissing them from my mind?
4 Do I fail in the virtue of hope by my attachment to the things of this world?
5 Do I try to see God's providence in everything that "happens" in my life?
6 Do I try to see everything from the viewpoint of eternity?
7 Am I confident that, with God's grace, I will be saved?
8 Do I allow myself to worry about my past life and thus weaken my hope in God's mercy?
9. Do I try to combine every fully deliberate action with at least a momentary prayer for divine help?
10. How often today have I complained, even internally?
CHARITY
1 Have I told God today that I love Him?
2 Do I tell Jesus that I love Him with my whole heart?
3 Do I take the occasion to tell God that I love Him whenever I experience something I naturally dislike?
4 Have I capitalized on the difficulties today to tell God that I love Him just because He sent me the trial or misunderstanding?
5 Do I see God's love for me in allowing me to prove my love for Him in the crosses He sent me today?
6 Have I seen God's grace to prove my love for Him in every person whom I met today?
7. Have I failed in charity by speaking unkindly about others?
8 Have I dwelt on what I considered someone's unkindness toward me today?
9. Is there someone that I consciously avoid because I dislike the person?
10. Did I try to carry on a conversation today with someone who is difficult to talk to?
11. Have I been stubborn in asserting my own will?
12. How thoughtful have I been today in doing some small favor for someone?
13. Have I allowed my mood to prevent me from being thoughtful of others today?
14. Am I given to dwelling on other people's weaknesses or faults?
15. Have I been cheerful today in my dealings with others?
16. Do I control my uncharitable thoughts as soon as they arise in my mind?
17. Did I pray for others today?
18. Have I written any letters today?
19. Have I controlled my emotions when someone irritated me?
20. Have I performed any sacrifice today for someone?
Yes, there's a lot here today...but all good!
I wish for all our priests, parishioners and community, a blessed and happy Christmas!
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