Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The inner Cloister, Gods meeting place in the soul


have you ever had times when you feel run down? have you ever felt that you need a break but have nowhere to go to get away from your current surroundings, noise, confusion of the day? Well it might be time to take a retreat to the inner cloister! the inner cloister (that's what i call it) is a place where we can go deep into prayer and contemplation. it is a quite paradise in which the soul and God meet, it is a place where we can have an intimate rendezvous with the Lord. Saint Teresa of Avila speaks of this place in her book the inner castle, where she explains the development of contemplative prayer. in Teresa's book she tells us that at the soul is a grand castle with many mansions( or rooms) and the biggest room in the center of this castle is occupied by the King ( Who is Christ Jesus) who is the shinning light of each soul! it takes a lot of time and progression in the spiritual life to enter into a long meeting with Jesus, but even so we can still reach brief moments of intimacy with the Lord, which gives so much refreshment to the soul and to our day to day life. so when you down and out retreat to Jesus in the inner cloister!
I recommend that everyone read Saint Teresa of avilas book The Inner Castle, it will do wonders for your spirtual life!

If you have any Questions, and topic request plaese send me an email at

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Praised be Jesus My Dear Children! (a reflection on my pilgrimage to Medjugorje)


Words cannot describe the many and Amazing graces which God sheds on the small Bosnian Town of Medjugorje. as I look back on the last week in Medjugorje I see the week as an intimate conversation between my soul and heart with mom, our mom, the mom of the whole human race, the Mother of the Eternal and living God the Blessed Virgin Mary. words cannot not describe the emotions, the graces, the peace, and most importantly, her Motherly Love which she imparts most generously to each of her children, please bear with me as i try to describe. In this past week I truly understand and see how much Mary loves each and every one of us, how much she truly loves me as an individual, as her own beloved Child,we are all Marys Children, how she wishes to see you and me in heavenly glory with our Brother Christ Jesus. What Mary communicated to my heart was that message of Love, love conquers all things, and achieves all things. It is by Marys motherly love that we truly come to know Christ, and by her love she leads us to Christ. As I climbed the hill of apparitions barefoot Mary touched my heart to know her role in my life and the Christian life. On the Road to eternal Salvation we walk barefoot, vulnerable, without shelter, we are exposed to all elements, all dangerous insects, sharp rocks and pit falls. you could avoid all these things by standing still, but by standing still we make no progress we do not go forward we do not make an effort for the goal which is Christ who is pure and true love, in truth standing still is a worse sin than going forward and falling, being cut by the rocks, and being bitten by poisonous insects. As humans we are pron to try and stay still we don't want to go against the hardships of this life, we say "It is comfortable here, becoming holy is to hard, I am good enough" this is the beginnings of spiritual death. But the Blessed Mother in her Love like any good mother gives her Child a little push and says "Go ahead, I'm here, don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall. I'm right behind you". Through her Love Mary becomes our safety net on the road to salvation. She is who cheers us on to her son our brother Jesus. Through prayer, and trust in her motherly intercession she will give us the strength to carry our crosses, she will follow us on our way of the Cross as we follow Christ, and she will pick us up and console us if we ever fall on the way. Mary never leads to herself she always points us to Christ Jesus she gives us her love so that we may love Jesus more perfectly each day. She wants us to be like her, ever shining mirrors who reflect Jesus the eternal and true sun in all things. And by being this mirror we love as she loves which is with the perfect love and that is the Love of God. we become like her who is "Beautiful because I love"(Our Lady of Medjugorje).

Mary Teaches us the way to true peace at Medjugorje, She comes to us her Children as the Queen of peace. She Teaches us that the way to true peace is through the Mass and the Sacraments ,Holy Scripture, fasting, and prayer especially the Rosary. The Reason the these things lead us to peace is because they are the ways that Love is increased in us, they are the ways in which Christ lives in us. Through the Reception of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament we become his living Tabernacles and allow his love to flow through us to others. When we read Holy Scripture we know Christ, we learn him, we get to know him, we begin to love him. through fasting we realize that only Christ can fill our hunger for Love, that hunger which we fill with so many other things. Through the Rosary we Meditate on the Life of Christ and his most Blessed Mother, through the Rosary we walk with Jesus and Mary, we go on a pilgrimage so to speak in which we live in spirit the important events of the lives of Jesus and Mary, it is by this intimate living that the Rosary communicates graces and virtues through the heart, giving one the strength of eternal love!

There is so much more that could be said!! but for now I'll stop here. know that mom loves You all!!! and that she wants you to come to her to lead you ever closer to her son our brother Jesus!!

To the vocations group i traveled to Medjugorje with, I thank you all so much!! you don't know how much you all mean to me!! you all are always in my prayers! Thank you for being such inspirations, and helping me on my journey to Christ!!

Say the Rosary every Day

+JMJ+

please send questions and topic ideas to

Usagiloveangel22@gmail.com

Friday, July 31, 2009

Pilgrimages Big and Small.


A pilgrimage is a Journey to a specific place for a specific spiritual or religious reason. The most famous pilgrimage in literature is the pilgrimage narrated in the Canterbury Tales. in the Canterbury Tales we have a vivid picture of what a medieval pilgrimage was like on way to Canterbury. In Medieval times there was(and still is) a great sense of penance involved. there was particular danger in going on a pilgrimage first of all many people traveled miles and days on foot or by horse with little or nothing but the clothes on there backs. with being exposed to the elements and long travel, there was always the dangers of being attacked by thieves on the way. A lot of these dangers of this is usually not the case in modern day pilgrimages ( where driving and airplane travel are common). so why do we go on pilgrimages? we usually go on pilgrimages to ask God for special graces in our life especially through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother or the Saints. We also can go on pilgrimages to do penance, and ask God for forgiveness. Pilgrimages are a good way to be spiritually refreshed and renewed. some of the main modern day pilgrimage destinations in the world are places such as Rome, Jerusalem (the Holy Land in general) Fatima and Lourdes just to name a few. But for those of us who can not afford to go out of the country we can make many "day pilgrimages" in most major cities theres a few shrines to Our Blessed Mother and the Saints here are links to shrines in the US http://www.catholiclinks.org/santuariosestadosunidos.htm this list isn't a full list I would ask around see if there are any special shrines in your area.

I ask every ones prayer as i embark on my pilgrimage to Medjugorje tomorrow

+JMJ+

Please email questions and topic ideas to usagiloveangel22@gmail.com

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Da Mihi Animas: Eucharistic adoration leading to booming vocations in Uganda

Da Mihi Animas: Eucharistic adoration leading to booming vocations in Uganda

Have You spent Time with Our Lord Today?


Eucharistic Adoration!
One of the most neglected practices of Our faith today. We should try to spend at least a few moments with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament when we have time. it doesn't matter if Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the Monstrance or if he is reserved in the Tabernacle, spend Time with our Lord and Eucharistic King. I use to think when i was younger that Jesus was very lonely in the Tabernacle all day with kids just casually walking past the the chapel without as little bit as a hello ( I went to Catholic School through 6- 12 grade) so i used to spend part of my lunch break before the Blessed Sacrament, at one point friends would come with me, and spawned a mini unofficial prayer group. Christ pours so many graces into the hearts and souls of those who make special visits with him in the Blessed Sacrament. he gives peace to the mind and heart, and enlightens us in his love. he wants us to be with him always spiritually and Physically (through Holy Communion and Eucharistic adoration). It is a good practice when we can not go to be physically present in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to put yourself spiritually in Christs Eucharistic presence!

Bringing the Church Home


In These Times of Trial,we need to a place to reconnect and renew. Out side of the physical Church walls, this place of reconnect and renew for most people is in the confines of the Home. In today's society we have effectively separated the Sacred and the domestic. In our minds we have created homes devoid of the Sacred. Butr in the reality of it all, the sacred and the domestic are intrinsically linked. here we speak about what Pope John Paul the Great called "The Domestic Church". The Home is where we first encounter God and it is the Home and familly that the Church is modeled after. we can cultivate a place of spiritual renewal, prayer and Sanctuary in our very houses. an easy way to do that is through shrines. small (or large in some cases) reminders of faith, a place within the home where "The Spirit of God dwells". These little shrines can consist of a Family Bible, A Crucifix , a Statue of Our Lady, Saints, Holy Cards etc. This can be wonderful place to bring the familly together for prayer, or for personal prayer and reflection. so Let's make this fun!! send me you pics of your home shrines and I'll post them on the blog! I will put some pictures of mine here later!

Please email me as always at UsagiLoveAngel22@gmail.com
God Bless
+JMJ+

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Confession (the most neglected but necessary Sacrement)


I can recount the countless times that older parishioners, priests,and nuns have told me that when they we're growing up that it was always made a point for the whole family to go to confession, and how many people they saw waiting in that long line to enter the confessional, kneel down, confess there faults, and receive absolution. well as many of us can see those days are gone (but slowly returning) and personally I think the reason for this are in today s American culture is The Loss of a true sense of what sin is, misunderstanding the Sacrament itself, lack of humility, lack of true contrition, and finally the ignorance of the ramifications that our sins cause.

First things first, what is Sin? first we must realize that in Catholic Moral theology all sin is not created equal which stands true to human reason. the two type of sins that one can commit are Venial sins and Mortal sins. Venial sins are according to The Traditional Catholic Catechism by Faerber is a sin in which the matter is less important while a Mortal sin or a Grievous sin, is a sin that the matter is very important. we determine which type of sin is which by our conscience which is formed by natural law,the commandments, our parents and the Church. now that we know what theses sins are lets see what they do to our soul. According to the Catechism when we commit Venial sin we offend God who is all good, we bring on temporal punishment due to our sins, and it gradually leads us to commit Mortal sin. Mortal sin Offends God Grievously, we loose sanctifying grace (which is the life and light of the soul) we lose heaven and all our merits. as you can see committing sin leads us into serious spiritual trouble. in an analogy venial sin is turning from God slightly, while committing a Mortal sin is turning completely away from God and leads to the death of the soul (eternal damnation in hell). its important to realise that no venial sins no matter how many equal a mortal sin, and Mortal sins will never be a venial sin. Sin is like a disease that eats away at the image of God in our soul. we become spiritually sick due to sin. we never loose our image and likeness with God but it is diminished in us. we need confession to get the grace to heal our souls of the wound of sin (and in the case of mortal sin to replenish sanctifying grace).

So how does one commit any sin? that's easy, you commit sin by knowingly and willingly doing what has been forbidden by God. we know what has been forbidden by God by the ten commandments and the teaching instruction of The Church (which is from the ten commandments) The ten Commandments are what follows.

I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Remember to keep holy the Lord's day

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not kill.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

You shall not covet you neighbor's goods.

and here's a link to to making an examination of Conscience based on the ten commandments http://www.scborromeo.org/confess.htm

Many people believe that we only commit sin by actions but this is not true! many people use the excuse "well I'm a good person and I'm not hurting anyone, so I'm good" but we do not just sin by our actions the ways in which we sin are by our Thoughts, desires, words, actions, and omissions. which are all covered in your examination of conscience.

So now that we know what sin is we can move on to what The Sacrament is, The Sacrament of Reconciliation (aka confession,penance) is the usual way that God forgives sins after Baptism. Jesus institutes this Sacrament in scripture when he says the Apostles " He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." John 20: 21-23. and the apostles who were the first priests and bishops have passed this power on for over 2000 years.

It is important to realise that God ( the Trinity Father, Son and Holy Ghost) is the one who forgives sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation . so many people ask why must i confess my sins to a priest? If God forgives my sins why cant i just confess directly to God? these are very understandable questions. it is true that God forgives sins and that his forgiveness is free, God expects a little work on our part, first God requires Contrition (the act of being sorry) and there are two different types which are Imperfect Contrition and Perfect Contrition. Imperfect Contrition is Contrition when we are sorry for reasons other than we offended God(ie. for fear of hell and punishment) who we should Love with our whole heart, and whom by our sins have not loved as we should, while perfect contrition is sorrow for offending God alone. the only type of Contrition that suffices outside of the Sacrament of penance is Perfect Contrition (and even if you think that you've made an act of perfect contrition you should still go to confession) we can never assume that any of our contrition is perfect because as humans we are always fearful of punishment and even a hint of that makes our contrition imperfect. Another thing God asks for us o be forgiven is humility many of us have heard our dads or some one else say "it takes a big man to admit when he is wrong" well the same applies to Confession, it takes humility to tell our faults to another human. It is easier to say God I'm sorry for XY and Z and not have the slightest sense of humility (or contrition) doing so. so God gives us a human to physically confess our sins to (because we are Physical creatures) and God has given the power to that human (the Ordained Priest) to forgive those sins. it is important to not that the priest is in persona Christi which means in the person of Christ which means that what ever the priest does in the sacraments it is really Jesus doing it. so Christ makes himself present to us through his Priests.

Another reason we must confess our sins to a priest have to do with the ramifications of our sins. most people think that sin only affects themselves and is personal, this thought is false. sin no matter how personal affects everyone in the Church and the world , and the universe. Because we all belong to the body of Christ by baptism our sins have an effect on everyone. if your foot, head, or and hurts does it not affect the rest of your body? so it is the same with the Church when one person is wounded in the Body of Christ the whole body suffers if they know it or not! we can never apologise to every person who we hurt by our sins, so the priest is the Representative of every person who we knowingly and unknowingly hurt by our sins.

Another reason for confessing sins to a priest is the mental affect that it gives on the penitent. confessing what we have done wrong gives us peace and solace of mind and hearing that you have been forgiven is a greatly freeing experience.

So what Exactly Happen in The Sacrament of the of Reconciliation?

when you enter the Church you will go to the designated area where confessions are heard (a traditional Confessional or a Reconciliation room in newer Churches)

if there is a line wait in line and make your examination of conscience(if not done prior to coming to Church)

Go into the Confessional and kneel Down on the kneeler in front of the screen (or sit face to face with the priest in a Reconciliation room)

The priest will say the greeting (The sign of the Cross "in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost)

You say "Bless me father for I have sinned its been X days, years,etc since my last confession i am guilty of committing the sins of(here list sins in the case of mortal sins which must be confessed the name of the sin and the number of times committed, it is not necessary to confess venial sins, even though its a good practice to do so)

After you confess your sins the priest will give you spiritual advise and than impose a penance (usually prayers or some Good work to do)

and than Father will give you Absolution (the prayer that takes away your sins)

After you leave the Confessional do your penance or ASAP if you are not able to do right away.



What is a penance?

a penance is prayers or good works that ease the ramifications and punishment due to our sins.

In short Think of your soul as a computer. you download a program that has a virus on it to your hard drive (sin) you take your computer to a specialist (the priest, and God) who removes the program and the virus from the computer (Confession) but you computer may suffer from the affects of the virus after it is removed (temporal punishment due to sin) so you must work to correct these problems (penance)

I hope this is helpful!! if you have any questions please email them to

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Welcome!!!


Welcome to a Voice in the Wilderness, your one stop for all things Catholic Spirituality, Prayer, Popular Devotion, Liturgy, and occasional Theological insight. I want to take as many topic requests and recommendations from my readers. I hope that i will get many!! this blog will be all about Catholic topics concerning what was stated above. I am headed on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje and that will be the topic of my first post!! please email me with you questions and Topic suggestions!! please send all emails to