Sunday Meditation: Honor or Dishonor? Palm Sunday and Good Friday!

What a week this is from Palm Sunday to Holy Thursday to Good Friday to Easter Sunday. We experience a range of emotions from the incredible honoring of Jesus as Christ the King by the crowds on Palm Sunday, to the Last Supper and the institution of the priesthood on Holy Thursday, to the betrayal by Judas and the evil trial by the Sanhedrin that broke every rule in the book during the passion. It's exhausting even to think about the journey including the Stations of the Cross, the last short, but agonizing, stretch to Golgotha.

On the Feast of St. Ignatius, Reflecting on the Writing of two Wise Jesuits

I've shared one of my favorite books before, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence. It's a 
very short work composed of excerpts from the writings of two 17th century Jesuits, Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint Jure and St. Claude de La Colombiere, spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. This little gem has become a regular companion for morning prayer. I finish it; and I begin again. And every reading is fresh and new. Maybe that just testifies to my aging brain, but, whatever the reason, I love these two great men and glorify God for their tremendous wisdom.

On this feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, I offer this meditation from Fr. Saint Jure: 

Nothing happens in the universe without God willing and allowing it. This statement must be taken absolutely of everything with the exception of sin. "Nothing occurs by chance in the whole course of our lives" is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, "and God intervenes everywhere."....

Leaving on Retreat Today: Life is Hard, Treat it with Prayer

My annual five-day silent Ignatian retreat using the Spiritual Exercises begins this evening so I will be pulling the plug on all my gadgets: no phone, no computer, no TV, no social media -- just five blissful days with the Lord and St. Ignatius. It's a great week to go since we celebrate the feasts of St. Peter and Paul and St. Irenaeus, one of the Fathers of the Church. I will be in their spiritual company.

Know that I'll be praying for all of my family, friends, and those who read my newsletter and blog whether you are fan or foe.

On Retreat -- I'll Be Praying for You!

Starting this evening I'll be on a five-day silent retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I've attended this for most of the past 10-12 years annually with a priest from the Fraternal Society of St. Peter, Fr. James Buckley. It's a wonderful oasis of peace and meditation in a very noisy world. I love the silence, both the physical silence of no conversation except with the Lord and the angels and saints and the technological silence: no phones, no internet, no Facebook, no email -- just quiet time to listen to the voice of the one who speaks in silences.

I'm scheduling a few items to post while I'm gone, but I won't be moderating any comments until I return next Saturday. So please be patient and I'd appreciate your prayers for a fruitful retreat. Be assured I'll be praying for all my internet friends and for those who don't know yet that I really am a friend and consider me an enemy, just as they consider Jesus their enemy. May God open your eyes and bring you to realize His love and His truth.

And may our Mother Mary touch your heart and wrap you in the folds of her garment like she did for her little son Juan Diego.