October 1, 1998 (P.S.: Oct. 2,4,5,7,8,11,12,13,15,16,18,19,22,26,28,29,30,31)
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
How are you? It is nice to be communicating with you again. Today the whole Church is celebrating the feast of St. Theresa (of Lisieux) of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church.
As most Saints are mystics (as least according to St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church, whose feast day is soon coming), perhaps we should ask the following question which may help us appreciate our true mystics even more: "What is an awesome similarity between various top exploring scientists today and most traditional canonized mystics?" Click here for an answer.
Examples of their great discoveries can be found among various canonized mystics in this month, e.g., St. Theresa of Liesiux (Oct.1), St. Francis (Oct.4), Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct.7), St. Teresa of Avila (Oct.15) and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Oct,16), etc. We will briefly mention at least one of their incredible supernatural or supra-rational discoveries on their feast days.
As a saintly explorer of the mysterious spiritual world, St. Therese has reported back to us many exciting discoveries. One of them is her "little way" which she had taken all her life to explore and develop. It works! Now she is not only canonized but also crowned as a Doctor of the Church. Click here for a summary of her "little way".
One common characteristics of many true mystics is that they have discovered and experienced God's grace everywhere in the world.
Thank you for your patience.
May the Most Holy Trinity, together
with Its whole Family of Holy Angels and Saints, be with us always!
Yours sincerely in Christ and Our
Heavenly Mother,
The editor
P.S. (Oct.2) Today, the Church celebrates the feast of our holy Guardian Angels. As we know, the universe is no longer a vast machine. It is full of mysteries and the unknown. There are also, as the Church teaches, Holy Angels around (who allow God to dwell all in all in them, so that God may work all in all through them) to guide and to guard, "to serve and to protect" (quoting Toronto police's motto) us as God's invisible hands.
Let us be grateful to our Guardian
Angels (click here
for a prayer to our personal Guardian Angel), as well as to the
Chief of our Guardian Angels (click here
for a special prayer to St. Michael the Archangel).
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.4) Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Click here for a living witness of a boy who discovered St. Francis' heavenly exploration into the Divine Heavenly Family.
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.5) The editor is still learning how to share Theology of Energy. Perhaps a better way is for our visitors to visit "Ecumenical", (i.e., The Ecumenical Approach to Grace on our website) once every few weeks or months. This area is designed to host most articles and notes regarding such a theology.
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.7) Today the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. As we know, this form of prayer, i.e., the Holy Rosary, does grant us incredible blessings. However, these offers of Our Heavenly Mother are simply too good to be true to non-believers or non-explorers.
As the most beloved Daughter of God the Father, the most beloved Mother of God the Son, and the most beloved Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she must have been the first to explore and discover (even before the Church did) her incredible intercessory power before the Most Holy Trinity. At the same time, as our most beloved Heavenly Mother, she must have been the first (even before the Church did) to apply and turn this unspeakable power of hers to our indescribable privilege and blessings.
We should then be unceasingly proud and grateful to Our Heavenly Mother. At all times, the Most Holy Trinity is well-pleased with her. She is also well-loved, well-liked, well-trusted, well-known and well-respected by God and all the Holy Angels and Saints (in the heavenly sense of the words). Regarding her God-given ability to make a difference and edge for us, she is well-informed, well-connected, well-planned, well-advised (by the Holy Spirit), well-educated (in science of the Saints), well-off (gracewise), well-rested (healthwise), well-experienced (as a wise mother), well-armed (as Queen of the whole Heavenly Army), well-obeyed (by all the mighty Angels and Saints), well balanced (in her profound humility) and well-focused on God's overall salvific plan for us. Apparently, it was her own initiative, not the Church's, to have appeared during so many genuine apparitions to urge us to pray the Rosary.
Thank you most gratefully, our dearest Heavenly Mother, for being an awesome channel of God's superabundant grace for us, now and ever!
As a reminder, October is traditionally the month of the Holy Rosary. For a quick glance of the blessings of the Rosary, click here.
Today we are also glad to present Rev. Prof. Michael Lapierre's timely article entitled Mariology Today. It offers us information and guidance in our devotion to Mary, Our Mother. To access it, click here.
Thank you!
P.S. (Oct.8) Today the front page of The Toronto Star reads: "Plight of the homeless: a national disaster" and the second page prints: "Aids deaths down dramatically" and "First lady steps in at 11th hour to drum up support for Clinton". Earlier, the front page of The Catholic Register (Week of October 5, 1998 -- Toronto) says: "Don't be silent in face of human suffering." How can they all be connected?
On the one hand, there is no doubt that we should help those who are suffering and going through hell on earth. Otherwise, we can not truly call ourselves followers of Christ.
Yet, on the other hand, if Heaven is our everlasting Home, we simply cannot remain silent for those who may go to Hell for all eternity, i.e., to become the "everlasting homeless" in the worst of the worst human sufferings in all creation. In this modern era of universalism or Apocatastasis (i.e., the teaching condemned by the Church as heretical that everyone, even the demons and the damned, will eventually be saved) [cf. DS 409, 411; G. O'Collins and E. Farrugia, A Concise Dictionary of Theology, pp.14-15], we seem to have forgotten altogether the existence of eternal Hell, an unfortunate reality which the Magisterium has been teaching consistently for all these centuries, e.g., Catechism of the Catholic Church, 633, 1033, 1034, 1035, 1036, 1037, 1861.
While the first lady in the U. S. steps in heroically at the 11th hour to drum up support for someone she loves (who may be going through hell on earth), the First Lady in Heaven has been doing no less similarly for those she loves. Through various apparitions solemnly authenticated by the Church, e.g., Fatima (1917), Our Heavenly Mother has been most heroically and unyieldingly drumming up support in the 11th hour for those who are in grave danger of suffering everlasting Hell. She has been only reaffirming what Jesus told us earlier: "… Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Lk 13:3) It is clearly her dearest dream that these spiritual Aids deaths would come down dramatically if not disappear completely.
While many today are talking about "Plight of the homeless: a national disaster", perhaps we, as people who cannot remain silent and inactive in face of human suffering, should also be concerned about "Plight of the everlasting homeless-to-be: an international disaster". Click here for an excellent way to start helping our most unfortunate brothers and sisters who could not even name their plight.
May God bless all efforts in helping the suffering, especially those who are about to suffer the worst of worst pain, so that they may obtain the best of the best happiness in Heaven.
"O my Jesus! Forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need."
The above prayer was taught by Our Lady in Fatima. [Sister Lucia, Fatima in Lucia's Own Words: Sister Lucia's Memoirs, ed. Fr. Louis Kondor, SVD, and tran. Dominican Nuns of Perpetual Rosary (Fatima, Portugal: Postulation Centre, 1976) p.109.]
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.11) This morning the Church has officially canonized Blessed Edith Stein, Teresa Benedict of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite (1891-1942). She was born a German Jew and a genius. She became an atheist and a professor of philosophy. Through reading St. Teresa of Avila, etc., this great scholar was converted a Catholic. Later she changed her career to spend more time with God, in particular with the Holy Eucharist. Further on, she became a Carmelite nun and was finally killed in the Holocaust.
As her explorations and discoveries in life clearly reflects, what God and hence God's people need are not genii (very smart persons), but saintly persons (or saintly genii if so gifted by God). Historically, ungodly individuals or genii have done untold damage to themselves, their family, country, humanity and even the Church, e.g., Hitler. Saintly persons could then be defined as individuals who seek humble repentance and spiritual growth again and again before God. As the saint told us, "Lay all your cares about the future trustingly in God's hands, and let yourself be guided by the Lord just like a little child."
Saint Edith Stein, pray for us!
P.S. (Oct.12) Today is Thanksgiving Monday in Canada. Let us thank God the Most Holy Trinity, as well as the Most Holy Trinity in the Blessed Sacrament, with all our hearts for all the unconditional love and blessings showered upon us. Let us also thank Our Heavenly Mother and all the Holy Angels and Saints for their unceasing love and prayers. At the same time, let us thank our parents, clergy, neighbours and friends, etc., too for their love and support.
P.S. (Oct.13) In addition, perhaps we should thank God even for every person and thing we have come across. They can be used by God to challenge us to grow as never before. When we look back in the future, we might say: "What a grace!" For further reference, click here.
P.S. (Oct.15) Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Teresa of Jesus, Doctor of the Church (1515-1582). Click here for a summary of her teaching on the nine grades of prayer which would benefit not only all Christians but also every single person outside the Church. As we are all created without exception to reach Grade Nine, let us thank God for this great exploration and discovery of hers.
P.S. (Oct.16) Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). As we know, she was historically commissioned by God to explore (on behalf of the whole Church) and report back to us (including all humanity) the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His perennial promises.
In essence, what is required of these time-tested promises is our expectant faith, hope and love of "the Sacred Heart of Jesus". In reality, looking at it from today's business angle, it amounts to an absolute give-away of the Most Generous Heart. For what is asked of us to do is "the absolute minimum" as compared to "the absolute maximum benefits" which we will receive from "Jesus who loves us with all His Sacred Heart". Click here for a quick glance of such awestruck promises of Our Lord to those who honour His Sacred Heart accordingly.
P.S. (Oct.18) Today is a special Sunday to promote evangelization of all nations. Let us pray for all the priests, both ordained (in accordance with the Sacrament of Ordination) and unordained (in accordance with the priesthood of all the faithful). They are both used by God to spread the Good News. It is especially important that we pray for our ordained priests without whom there is no continuation of Christ's real Body, perhaps to a great extent even His Mystical Body, on earth. Click here for a prayer for priests.
P.S. (Oct.19) It was a year ago today when we officially launched this website. We would like to thank the Most Holy Trinity for this great grace and every wonderful inspiration given to us. We would like to thank also the whole Family of Holy Angels and Saints for their prayers and support. At the same time, we also want to thank our dear advisors for their great wisdom, our dear volunteers for their unfailing help, as well as our dear visitors for their numerous visits. We are very grateful of course to the Ecclesia Web Service who provides us with this spacious website. May the whole Divine Heavenly Family be with them always!
P.S. (Oct.22) The editor is taking his time to do St. Teresa's nine grades of prayer. To visit Grade Two, click here.
Today the first verse of the Gospel during the Celebration and Sacrifice of the Mass reads: "Jesus said to the disciples, 'I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already enkindled!" (Lk 12:49) In a way, this bespeaks the very purpose of Christ's coming to earth and His greatest dream for us. For further elaboration, click here.
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.26) The Gospel yesterday seemed to have shown us an easy way to obtain an ocean of God's grace. To access a comment, click here.
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.28) The seven-Monday St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gregory Palamas Public Lectures entitled "Visions 2000: Christian and Secular, East and West" are soon coming! They will start on November 2, this coming Monday. Let us pray for God's blessings and that His will would be wonderfully fulfilled! "Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Let us be careful never to think we are worth anything by ourselves, but be always conscious of our power and blessings through the power and blessings of the Most Holy Trinity. [cf. Gabrielle Bossis, HE and I (Sherbrooke, Québec: Éditions Paulines, 1985) p.207]
May the whole Family of Holy Angels and Saints be with us too at every meeting!
Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.29) The first reading at Mass today (Eph 6:10-20) is not easy for us to understand. It reads: "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God … with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one…"
As a footnote, if everything ceaselessly radiates, the devil seems to radiate then his diabolic wiles, flaming arrows, laser beams or energies to us unceasingly. While there is certainly no protection from these ceaseless attacks of the fallen angels in Hell, it appears that we may have been substantially protected on earth by the power of God, various Saints and Guardian Angels without knowing.
After we (speaking for most people in the modern world) have largely overcome the death-of-God theology, we still have to do so apparently with the death-of-the-devil-theology. A quarter of the century ago, in an Address on November 15, 1972, Pope Paul VI stated solemnly [see Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger with Vittorio Messoir, The Ratzinger Report (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1984) pp.136-137]:
"The devil is the enemy number one, the source of all temptation. Thus we know that this dark and destructive being really exists and is still active; he is the sophistical perverter of man's moral equipoise, the malicious seducer who knows how to penetrate us (through the senses, the imagination, desire, utopian logic or disordered social contacts) in order to spread error… It would be important to return to a study of Catholic teaching on the devil and the influence he is able to wield, but nowadays little attention is paid to it."
May the whole Divine Heavenly Family be with us always!
P.S. (Oct.30) For Grade 3 of Prayer, click here. Thank you.
P.S. (Oct.31) On the eve of the 1998 St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gregory Palamas Lectures, it may benefit us to make a quick revisit to both the Western and Eastern approaches to grace. For a superb essay written on grace in the Thomistic approach, click here. For a quick view of the Eastern Christian approach to grace, click here. Our speakers do not claim to be great experts at all. We just want to help chart a few important highlights for the benefits of all present in the seminars. Our efforts are in accord with what Pope John-Paul II says in his recent encyclical letter Faith and Reason: "For by its nature, theology is sustained in the search for truth by its ecclecial context and by the tradition of the People of God, with its harmony of many different fields of learning and culture within the unity of faith." (Fides et Ratio, no.101, 1998)
Thank you.
