Day 18 (Week 1 - Seeking true knowledge of self)

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

God willing, tomorrow we will complete our first week, and yet like the 12 preliminary days before this, we know that our journey is intended to last for a lifetime. In other words, we can’t completely rid ourselves of the world in 12 days, nor come to a complete true knowledge of ourselves in one week – but by God’s Grace we can begin to understand better every day, how God is enabling us to grow in stages from beginners to proficients and finally into the perfection of charity.

Humility is absolutely necessary at every stage of growth! By God’s Grace we need to listen to God’s Word, to His Church, and to the wisdom He has given His saints who traveled this path to holiness and learn from Jesus and Mary to become meek and humble of heart. Let us pray to the Holy Spirit with confidence in God’s Mercy and Mary’s intercession.

See HERE

 

[hazcompat]

Accipe signaculum doni Spiritus Sancti…

CCC 1300

Peace

 

[MariaChristi]

Accipe signaculum doni Spiritus Sancti…

CCC 1300

Peace

Thanks, for your reply, hazcompat, and the reference to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

CCC 1300 - The essential rite of the sacrament follows. In the Latin rite, “the sacrament of Confirmation is conferred through the anointing with chrism on the forehead, which is done by the laying on of the hand, and through the words: ‘Accipe signaculum doni Spiritus Sancti’ (Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.).” In the Eastern Churches, after a prayer of epiclesis the more significant parts of the body are anointed with myron: forehead, eyes, nose, ears, lips, breast, back, hands, and feet. Each anointing is accompanied by the formula: “The seal of the gift that is the Holy Spirit.”

(Underlining above is mine for emphasis on translation of Latin to English)

Too few Catholics, it seems to me, appreciate the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Those Sacraments are received only once but we can continue to renew them in our hearts and continue to be renewed by God’s Graces given through those Sacraments.

Persons baptized and confirmed as adults, perhaps, can have a vivid memory of the words of the liturgical ceremony, while we who were baptized as infants have no memory of assenting to our baptismal promises because our assent was spoken for us by our Godparents. We who were confirmed at a young age may have missed much of the beauty and significance of the sacramental liturgy which adults can retain better.

By God’s Grace, may we “see” by faith all we owe God!!! The Life of the Holy Trinity was infused into our souls at Baptism and we were “sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit” in Confirmation! Confirmation is the “completion of baptism” given to strengthen us in the battle as Catholic Christians. Lovingly and gratefully may we continue our 33 Day Journey to Total Consecration, which is “a perfect renewal of our baptismal promises”. Let us thank God with humble hearts that we have been “sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit”.

 

[Googler]

Hi sister, I wish you contiued success in your perseverance of this wonderful consecration to the majestic Queen of Heaven and earth and our sweet merciful Blessed Mother Mary.

A quick question you could help me with…
As a godfather to twins, men now in their thirties and entering marriage vocations, what is my duty to them now?

 

[MariaChristi]

Hi sister, I wish you contiued success in your perseverance of this wonderful consecration to the majestic Queen of Heaven and earth and our sweet merciful Blessed Mother Mary.

A quick question you could help me with…
As a godfather to twins, men now in their thirties and entering marriage vocations, what is my duty to them now?

Dear Brother,

Great question! And not completely off topic, since the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary as written by St. Louis De Montfort is intended to lead persons to “a perfect renewal of baptismal promises” (cf True Devotion, paragraph 126).

Becoming a Godparent for a child may be easier than to be one for adults, but in all cases it is a serious responsibility. The Church requires of Godparents that if there is only one Godparent that person must be a Catholic in good standing, and if there are to be two Godparents, then the other may be a Christian (not necessarily Catholic) but also must be one who can give a very good example to the child or adult.

The Godparent is the Church’s way of assuring the child (or adult) has someone to help him/her grow in holiness according to Christ, into Whom the person is being baptized, and the Church Christ founded – in the event that the child’s parents die or fail to live up to their primary responsibility. Parents have the primary responsibility to teach their children. If these men are anticipating Marriage, I hope their prospective spouses are good Catholics.

In the case of adults, their parents may not be Catholic, and so the Godparent may need to help the newly baptized to grow with adult understanding but to understand also he is yet a beginner. Like a child he needs trust in God, enabling him to make steady progress. Baptism is the beginning of a lifetime of learning to live Christ. Adults need adult ways of learning and not “childish” ways, but they need to be humble as little children.

That is why I think being a Godparent for a child is easier. We start children off early and with their parents we help them grow into mature Catholic Christians. Adults, on the other hand, can think they know everything Some adults are more humble than others and are ready to learn more and more – as all disciples need to learn. Each person is unique.

Pray to the Holy Spirit, that you may help your newly baptized men become good disciples of Jesus; (the word disciple means "learner). If there is a good Catholic Bible Study in their parish, they may want to participate in that, and if not, you may want to invite them to one in another parish. If there is no Catholic Bible Study available, encourage them to read good commentates on the Gospels – especially on Sundays, after Mass.

Homilies are short, so rarely explain all the Readings and the Psalms but reading perhaps from the Navarre Bible Series on the Gospel will enable the newly baptized to listen more carefully to Scripture in order to live the Truth they hear. These men need to keep learning for themselves and as prospective heads of families. Their children need to be raised in the Catholic Faith.

Learning to love Mary more is also important, so you may want to encourage them to pray the Rosary, and learn more about Mary. If they do not have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church – that might be a nice gift for you to give them, or encourage them to buy a copy for themselves. They can use the index to find many references to Mary and the answers to many questions they may have. If the Rosary is hard for them, maybe start with a decade a day, or a fervent praying of the “Hail Mary”

After a while, you may want to introduce them to Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, but be careful not to “overload” the newly baptized with too much too soon.

Hope that helps a bit.