The attack on marriage is really an attack on the human person, and his dignity, for the devil seeks to pervert our true purpose, to pervert God's holy design. For many of us, we cannot march in protests or write dozens of letters or call numerous times to urge legislators to vote for the Truth. But one thing we can all do is pray and fast. We have designated one day each week to fast for these intentions:

1. That marriage may be preserved, promoted, and understood as God's plan for creation.

2. For all marriages that they may reflect the love of the Trinity.

3. For broken marriages that Christ bring healing and conversion to the spouses' souls.

4. For those who are married, for the sanctification of their marriage and their spouse. For those who are single, for their future spouse and vocation.


Thursday, May 3, 2012

May 4th Fast

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JMJ

"Any surrender of oneself to God that does not completely lay aside, from the moment of accepting the divine will, all thought and hope of retracing one's steps is false down to its very roots.  To give oneself to God and at the same time to cherish plans, dreams, or projects, however vaguely or theoretically or dimly, which are outside the way one has chosen, is not to give oneself to God at all.  It is too much like looking back when one has put one's hand to the plough; it is like looking out of the corner of our eye at a future we might have chosen if God had not come to us with His all encompassing demands."
(Fr. Frederico Suarez, Mary of Nazareth, p.53)

     Surrender to our vocation, to the path God has called us to, must be complete and continuous if we are ever to attain happiness and peace.  After hearing the path that God has chosen for her, Mary responded:
"Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.  And the angel departed from her." (Lk.1:38)
It is easy to romanticize the Annunciation, meditating upon Mary's beautiful words of submission, but forgetting the complete abandonment to God's will that those words meant.  The power to control one's life is a desire that stems from the sin of pride.   The surrender of this control is the great gift that emanates from the virtue of humility.  Though this surrender appears to be weak to the worldly, it reveals a great strength and wisdom.  It recognizes the true source of strength and power. By relying solely on God, one knows that His Creator will surely guide Him to what he was created for: eternal happiness. 

Complete surrender is not possible without continuous self-sacrifice and denial.  Mary could not have completely received our Lord in her body without first completely emptying her own self. Father Luis Lorda said in the Virtues of Holiness:
"Self-sacrifice is the fuel one must burn to keep a home warm." (p.63)
 The more we empty our hearts of self-love, the more God will fill them with His Love.  We can then more readily love others with His abundant Love. Our love is tainted by the impurities of selfishness, but His Love is spotless, pure and praiseworthy. Our fast tomorrow must spur us on to sacrificing in other ways, to bring to peace to our hearts and to our homes.   St. Theresa of Avila said:
". . . For this body of ours has one fault: the more you indulge it, the more things it discovers to be essential to it." (The Way of Perfection, 11, 3) 
Nothing can be more essential to our lives, our marriages, our families, than to keep the peace of Christ.  Let us strive ardently to completely surrender to His Love, holding nothing back.  God bless you! 





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